> 'There is a special place in hell reserved for the people who came up with
> the "Chinese Ton" and the "Sears Horsepower"'
So very true! I remember a friend who had an old 7hp riding mower, a Case I
think. It finally died and he bought a Murray 7hp. It couldn't get up the
hill in his front lawn, let alone mowing as it did so. An expensive lesson
in the difference between rated hp and usable hp; or the value of torque in
the part of the rpm band that the engine will actually see in use.
Like my 1995 Escort 1.9 which had great power starting at 4100rpm. Needless
to say, it was useless to me since I seldom came anywhere near that rpm in
an Escort wagon. But, hp is the number that sells cars, so that is the
number the engine is optimized for.
If they would optimize for peak torque at the rpm that the engine would be
at in high gear at 50mph, they would wind up with cars that were more fun to
drive, got better gas mileage, but were harder to sell. Oh well
David Lieb
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