best torque curve?
Moderator: scottm
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- Posts: 12
- Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2004 1:00 pm
- Location: nashua
best torque curve?
ok this isnt only for hemis but wht is the best torque curve shape? and y?
Flat. Flat as a board. Ideally, you want an engine that makes huge torque from idle to 5000 rpm, and you have to be able to turn high revs. Which is why the Hemi was so good. Huge power over a broad rang, and the ability to turn big rpm. Richard Petty always said that the Hemi's real strength was that you couldn't gear the car wrong. If it made X amount of power at 5000 rpm, it made the same power at idle. Remember, torque moves the car, and horsepower isn't really a measure of power at all. It's a measure of torque vs. rpm, or work done over a given amount of time. I don't know if you've ever driven a 4.6 liter Mustang, but it's a good example or a peaky power curve. I've owned two of these cars, and they are fun, but the torque curve looks like Mt. Everest, straight up and straight down. You dump the clutch, and it slowly builds up, until you hit around 3500 rpm, and then it explodes like it had a supercharger. But it's all over by 5000 rpm. And an engine with a flat curve is, all other things being equal, more driveable, because if you're going to race it, it doesn't require a rediculously low gear to run hard. Most 4.6 Mustang racers will tell you that if you plan on seriously racing a new Mustang, count on running at least a 4.56 or 4.88 gear. Even with overdrive, there went your drivability. Anyway, that's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.