Fellow fiends:
I was talking "car stuff" with a friend and I realized that there are some
basics of car and engine performance that I don't really understand well
enough. Even though this doesn't apply exclusively to lbc's I thought I
could bring them up here and get some education. This must be love,
because these are pretty elementary questions.
1. I have seen graphic analysis of engine performance data and have
always wondered why neither torque nor horsepower have a strictly linear
relationship with rpm. That is, at high rpm both either level or drop off.
Why is that?
2. Why is it that torque and horsepower do not always peak at the same
rpm? Related to this question: how do torque and horsepower relate to each
other in light of the driver's perception of car/engine performance (not making
a distinction here between acceleration rates and top speeds).
3. With torque and horsepower peaks in mind, what is the preferred shift
point with maximum acceleration intended? In otherwords, isn't it pointless
and even sort of stupid to red line if torque or horsepower peaks at lower
engine speeds?
As you can see, I must have been out of town during most of high school, but
any comments would be appreciated.
Many thanks and happy holidays!
Will Zehring (aka wzehrin@cms.cc.wayne.edu)
"Isn't this great!" whats-his-name in "Animal House"
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