car question: torque v. horsepower

[balda]

Correction:

Nissan Maxima won "10 best engines award" 8 years in a row.

 

[dividend]

ok thanks for that link...
clears some stuff up, still kinda doesnt explain what "power" means... i'm assuming its speed...

so according to
Power (hp) = Torque (ft-lb) * RPM / 5252

hp is a function of the engine torque... in that case, hp is sort of the same as torque, like celsius can be converted to fahrenheit...

so torque and hp are pretty much the same "animal"... just different units. that's my final assumption.

 

[dividend]

Quote from balda:

Correction:

Nissan Maxima won "10 best engines award" 8 years in a row.

but how's the reliability on them nissans?

im kinda shy on nissans because of their flagship infiniti brand is kinda shady in terms of quality, esp interior quality ... (but especially their SUV)...

however, in japan, skyline seems to be pretty popular... (called g35 here)

 

[Haroki]

Layman's explaination -

My Chevy pickup has a Duramax diesel, ad about 600 ft/lb of torque, and about 310 Hp. The 6.0 gas engine has about 380 ft/lb, and but also about 310 Hp. I used to have the truck with the gas engine too.

When pulling a HEAVY load, the diesel's torque gets the vehicle accelerated much quicker than does the gas engine. However, going up a grade, once the max speed is reached, they will both do about the same mph with the similar load - figure, pulling about a 10k lb trailer.

So the torque gets you accelerated, but the Hp keeps you going up the grade.