[DeTomaso] Low end torque OR upper RPM power

[Sean Korb]

On 10/1/07, Fredrik Gustavsson <pantera at kommevalla.se> wrote:
>
> When building a street engine; what is the goal? Low end torque or  upper
> RPM power?
>
> Stupid question maybe but I'm still learning!


It's not a stupid question.  If you're a Pantera person, you want it all, so
why not both?

You do have to figure out what is useful to you, and realize that whatever
you settle on, you'll want more.  I find it useful to think of Horsepower as
what I need to go very fast, and Torque is what I need to get there.  Since
torque is a component of power, it gets confusing and we start using math so
it gets a little dreary sometimes.

The answer is different depending on what you want to do.  A 500HP engine
can be a peaky beast, and traffic can be unpleasant since you need to keep
the revs up, but you'll do fantastic if you don't have any traffic (at a
track event, of course).  I just like to take people for a ride to about
120MPH and back down to 80 fairly quickly due to my allergy to Crown
Victoria back seats.  That's also the range I expect to use at a Solo II
event, so a high torque motor is what I want; I only expect about 350HP.

Of course, with boost or large displacement... you can have both :)

-- 
Sean Korb spkorb at spkorb.org http://www.spkorb.org
'65, '68 Mustangs, '68 Cougar, '78 R100/7, '71 Pantera #1382
"The more you drive, the less intelligent you get" --Miller
"Computers are useless.  They can only give you answers." -P. Picasso