What is the torque of a car?

Horsepower is the total power output of an engine, while torque measures the “turning/torquing ability” of the engine. Practically, torque is a better measurement of how quickly your car will accelerate, while horsepower (relative to weight) is a better measure of your car's top speed.Apr 21, 2009 read more

Cars: If you are talking about a car, the torque curve tells a lot more than the about the engine than the horsepower curve, and the horsepower curve can easily be derived from the torque curve. ——the question changed a little —-The quoted numbers for torque and horsepower are the peak numbers over the operating range. read more

The torque specification they give is the maximum torque of the internal-combustion engine, which is usually a higher value than the actual torque on the wheels. (See wikipedia for more details.) But this torque can tell you a lot about how fast the car can accelerate. read more

What the dynamometer is really doing, however, is measuring the torque output of the engine. In a vehicle, torque is measured at various engine speeds, or revolutions per minute (RPM). These two numbers are fed into a formula -- torque times RPM divided by 5,252 -- to arrive at horsepower. read more