Torque and Horsepower: What's the Difference?

We all know that torque is what slams you into the seat and that horsepower is what carries you at 100 MPH (or at least we're told), but when it comes down to it, how many of us actually understand what torque is and what horsepower is?

Curve of Horsepower and Torque Vs. RPM Source

Think of it this way: both have definitions that can come from your physics text books that can be easily applied to your favorite automotive hobby.

A Car's Wheel on a Dynomometer Roller Source

There is a specific equation relating the two via RPM value, but more simply put, power is defined as "the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed."  Basically, the more horsepower you have, the higher the rate at which you transfer rotational energy from your wheel and tire to kinetic energy, moving your car forward.

This Honda S2000 produces about 125 horsepower per liter, but very little torque in comparison-- very good for road racing in stock form but not fun for the drag strip where force is an important part in getting down the drag strip in a short amount of time.  Source

Torque, however, is defined as "the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot."  In other words, the more torque your car has, the more ability your car has to twist the wheels.  If you have a lot of torque, but little horsepower, like in a diesel car, you'll be able to turn the wheels with great force, but the rate of energy transfer from your wheels' rotational movement to your car's forward movement will not be as great.

Jetta TDi's are well known for their high mileage due to the amount of work they extract out of the fuel they run off of and they are also known to produce more torque than horsepower (nearly double for this model).  Source

I hope this helps you to familiarize yourself with the differences between horsepower and torque.  This writeup is only intended to help you acquaint yourself with the concepts rather than understand the mathematical relation.  But still, it should make you sound a little more knowledgeable if the topic ever comes up.  ;)

Until next time, Lexi.Laron signing off.

The Daily Werks Crew November Cruise and Shoot

Last Sunday my boys and I headed out to Core Creek Park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania to meet up and chill, eat some food, and talk about our favorite subject: cars.

A couple of different whips rolled up, including but not limited to some swapped Hondas (like the one you saw in my last article), Toyotas, Euros, and even some American cars.

Check out the photos!

Edd Lalo's Mean Muggin Bimmer!

She lookin' at you.

The man himself!

My boy's Integra GSR clone!

Nice little M3, wouldn't you say?

The boys lined up at Oxford Valley Mall in PA to get some grub!

A gift from my boy in the silver Teggy <3 .="." p="p">

My baby <3 .="." her="her" love="love" much.="much." nbsp="nbsp" p="p" so="so">

Look at that face, smooth and sexy but elegant and smooth all at once.

Lookin over her shoulder and into the distance.

Watchin the creek with my boo.

This knob is from eBay, but honestly it does just what a shift knob should do (be heavy and shfit) and it looks so good.  Accented with a clean interior and some lanyards from WEKFEST, how can you go wrong?

Gotta have faith!

I see you!

After taking some solo shots of my car, my boy Andres pulled up to the waterfront with his white DB8 integra.

Stanced side-by-side, the two cars, white and red, accented eachother quite well with a blue backdrop.

As far as specs go, Andres' Teggy is mainly stock, but it's lowered and sitting on some rims.  It's also awaiting a manual transmission swap.  It's amazing what wonders tech school can teach!

Bug-eye o___o

Mean-eyed D:<

After the day was over, all I can say was that we had a good time.  I got to spend some seriously relaxing and fun time with my bros and it allowed me to get an appreciation for my car despite the fact that I take it for granted sometimes.

Take care, fans.

Brandon's Raw and Real EJ Civic

I don't think that the Civics and older Hondas represented in Honda Tuning Magazine and in other import magazines properly represent what Hondas look like on the street.

Yes, often times you see a Honda on the street and it's not perfect!  It's usually riced out with a huge wing and a giant fart can.  They're a far cry from the culture of engine swaps and suspension drops of the Hondas in the magazines.  Yet there are Hondas out there boasting engine swaps with suspension drops out there, daily driving it up.

But I still don't think that the magazines represent those cars properly...

There's a raw feel to the normally streeted Honda that those magazines miss out on.  And while these everyday cars may have minor flaws, they also have a sort of character that I truly admire.

Enter Brandon's Civic, a car that I saw roll up at my local car meet about a month ago and had the opportunity to shoot at the Daily Werks Crew November Cruise and Shoot. I really enjoy this car because it is so raw and represents a true daily-driven workhorse that still gets up and goes.

Cheers, Brandon!

Stanced in front of some treeezzz.

Autumn is here.  <3 br="br">

A picture OF his car IN his car!?  I think so!

There's something about the old interiors in these Civics that I love-- simple and clean, there's not much to them and I kind of miss that about old Hondas.

Drivin' like a mugg.

Stanced once more.

Let's finish this one up with the boys!

Until next time, WE OUT (or ME out...)

The '13 Subaru BRZ STi-- What can we Expect?

Picture this...

The sun recedes and nightfall is upon you.  Cruising into the dusk, listening to music, hearing the engine of your car rev, and you're on top of the world.  This is one of the greatest feelings someone can get from their baby.  It's amazing and there is no stopping the love that you feel for your life at that moment.  Your problems, your fears, your troubles, and tears all flow away with the wind that washes by your car's body at cruising speeds.

Source

And as we all know these moments may be interrupted, even though they are still great.  But what better way to interrupt this moment with this?

Sitting at the stop light your heart and mind are at peace.  You are rested and waiting for the change from red to green, from work to home and all of a sudden you hear a low rumble.  It approaches you slowly from the left and you can TELL that it's a stick shift, but you KNOW that it's a Subie.  You hear the exhaust being chopped by the dynamic pumping effect and you hear the unequal length headers supplying that exhaust.  It's magic.

Source

The light turns green, and you both go.  And although you, in your car may not be able to keep up, the Subaru is gone-- RIGHT off the line.  No big-block, no muscle, just pure volumetric efficiency.  That, was a Subaru STi.

Source

Now break focus.

That was freaking awesome.  That was what made everyone love the STi brand.  And brand loyalty bull aside, you gotta admit that STi's are pretty awesome.  Having said that, it goes without saying that a Subaru sports car should have an STi variant of its base production model, right?

Enter the BRZ (or FR-S).

Source

Motor Trend released an article on October 31st talking about the possibility of a Subaru BRZ STi after spotting a test model being tracked at Nurburgring in Germany.

Source

Look at that shark-like car perusing the bends of the Deutsche track, preying on asphalt like it's job and with minimum body-roll as it appears.  Yes, yes it looks wondrous, but how wonderful is it really?

Source

I usually start an analysis of how "wondrous" a car is by first reviewing specs, then going over numbers, and presenting any dates that are relevant (that is after i do all of the artsy crap first).  And in favor of the tradition  I'll continue this blog with some specs.

In favor of Subaru Tecnica International's performance-oriented image, the car will be tuned to provide even more of its intended driveability.  I mean, by the looks of it, there is no turbocharger because there is no intercooler, so it may not be turbocharged, but it does look like it has a rear wing, front diffuser, bigger STi, four-pot brake calipers in front and back, with BBS Rims.  It's lower and it's showing less signs of body roll than a typical BRZ being pushed to the limits, so Subaru Tecnica International will most likely be modifying the car's suspension.

And although the car was shown as a concept without a hood scoop for a turbocharger's intercooler, there is a possibility that Subaru will be seeking more punch for power-- possibly in the form of a free-er flowing exhaust and ECU tune-up (source).

Source

Keep in mind that this idea was made for the spirit of driving.  Sure, slapping a turbo in it and boosting torque levels and horsepower to infinity would be a thrill, but would it really be "driver-spirited" if it was sliding around and over-steering everywhere from the factory?  No, it wouldn't be, and so keeping that in mind I'll try not to focus on numbers...that and I can't find numbers!

Eh, well, for you turbo lovers I know you may be disappointed, but for those of you who are in favor of a well-balanced cars with less than phenomenal amounts of torque, you'll be pleased to know that this car is intended to hit showroom floors in Japan in 2013 and soon after over here in the states (Source).

Until then, we'll be watching out.  Expect an article on Toyota's possible developments for the Scion FR-S.  Remember, it's the same car!

Have fun guys, and be safe!  :)

Car Brand Loyalty-- Good or Bad for the Community?

We've all been there-- you roll up to a meet and see some of your favorite muscle cars and a couple of 80's American Cars with big block engines as well and your jaw drops.  You hear the loud rumble of an All-American, All-Motor V8 rumbling and it gets your skin tingling.  All of this is going on to your amusement, when all of a sudden-- "RICER"-- someone has to be "THAT GUY."

Who hasn't seen this picture?

 

 

 

I myself drive a Honda-- yes a two-liter, four-cylinder that makes 100 horsepower per liter, and yet the critics STILL have something negative to say about my ride like, "there's no replacement for displacement" or "there's no torque."  (Even though a Mitsubishi Evolution or Subaru WRX STi owner will disagree saying..."TURBO!")

 

All-American big block with turbos Source

 

All-American, naturally aspirated drag car on the dyno Source

 

Yes, mine and many other Hondas are torque-deficient, but did you ever think of them as being well-balanced cars for road courses or for auto crossing?  No one ever said a car had to be ultra fast to be fun, and no one ever said a car had to be fun to be fast, get it?

 

And it's not just the oldheads that talk trash, it's the tuner community too.  We got tuner on tuner violence (Volkswagen and Honda(?))!  We got car meet drama!  We got meanie heads!  Ok-- retract that last statement, it doesn't make me sound cool...

 

Source

 

But anyway, the truth is I wish sometimes people would look past how fast they are on a straight line or how well they can drive on the street and I wish people could look at the mechanical integrity of the owner's car or even the owner's passion if they can't appreciate their car.  We're all in this together.  What's all the fuss?  Is this all just a result of brand loyalty?  I have the best car?  Or is it something less friendly-- is it something less loving-- is it something that is hurting our community?

 

Till next time, this is Lexi.Laron signing off.  Have a good one!





New Mazda RX-7???

Browsing the wonderful Site of Facebook this afternoon, an acquaintance within the Philadelphia Car Community posted a status.  No, this wasn't any usual status.  He wasn't complaining and he wasn't talking about Hurricane Sandy or power outages, or any of the other things that people in the area have been ranting about for the past couple of days.

No, this fellow was talking about THIS.

Proposed concept for 2013 "RX-9 Coupe" Source

Or maybe THIS.

FD3S Mazda RX-7 Source

WHATEVER, he was talking about the all-new, in-the-works project for Mazda-- a successor to the RX-7.  Yes, much to the dismay of the beloved RX-8 (or was it?), another successor will be taking its place.

However, this time, the new Mazda is rumored not to be turbocharged as the last FD3S model, which was the first RX-7 to come from Japan with a sequential, twin turbo system that Hitachi helped to design.  It is actually supposed to be naturally-aspirated!  Amazed?  Well get this, the new RX-7 is even supposed to meet European emissions standards, perhaps making it more likely to arrive in the US according to my judgement.  

A Hitachi Turbocharger Source

Mazda's "Sports Car Chief" (Source) also declared that the new motor is "capable of"  approximately 300 horsepower using an increased displacement of 1.6 liters from the new 16X Rotary to help fling out those exhaust gases using those little triangle things that Mazda loves so much.  Whether the motor actually produces 300 horsepower or not is beyond me, but the light chassis which is predicted to weigh approximately 2900 lbs should help in that department-- 300 horsepower or not!

Proposed release date is 2017, the 50th anniversary if the Cosmo.  ;)

16X Rotary Engine Concept from the Tokyo Auto Show Source

Stay tuned for the next installment of Lexi.laron and more news from the automotive and tuner industry!