[DMCForum] Explaining HP to Jim Strickland for the Last Time (Hopefully)

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Consider my trusty 1985 F150 (4.9 liter inline 6):

170 maximum HP

Sounds pitiful, eh? Andrei's Porsche is advertised with nearly twice
the HP. Makes my truck sound very unpowerful in comparison! 

Yet it was able to pull 5,000 lbs of Lincoln & dolly over the
mountains at 25 mph. How could that be? 

The answer:

My 170 max HP is produced at 3,600 RPM -- probably half the engine
speed of Andrei's Prosche at it's maximum HP rating

At a mere 1,800 RPM my truck produces 285 lbs of torque -- more power
at the crankshaft than Andrei's Porsche will ever produce, no matter
the engine speed

Andrei's Porsche, bless it's little German heart, has very little
power in the RPM range where loads are hauled. With 5,000 lbs coupled
to it, I don't know if he could even let the clutch out without
stalling. I absolutely guarantee he couldn't reach his power band
pulling such a load over a mountain. 

Andrei's Porsche has power, don't get me wrong, but only after he's
rev'ed it very high. Until then, he has very little power.

Torque, torque, torque.

Bill Robertson
#5939

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