Performance Parts News

From a driver’s perspective, torque is the only thing that a driver feels, otherwise known as “seat of the pants,” and horsepower is just sort of an esoteric measurement in that context. Three hundred foot pounds of torque will accelerate you just as hard at 2,000 RPM as it would if you were making that torque at 4,000 RPM in the same gear.

In contrast to a torque curve (and the matching pushback into your seat), horsepower rises rapidly with RPM, especially when torque values are also climbing. Horsepower will continue to climb, even well past the torque peak, and will continue to rise as the engine speed climbs until the torque curve really begins to plummet, faster than engine RPM is rising. However, horsepower has nothing to do with what a driver “feels.” The technical term: the moment of a force; the measure of a force’s tendency to produce torsion and rotation about an axis, equal to the vector product of the radius vector from the axis of rotation to the point of application of the force and the force vector.

In layman’s terms(quoted from one of Crane’s techs.), “torque is what breaks the nut loose; horsepower is how fast the nut comes off “

Lobe separation is the distance in camshaft degrees that the intake and exhaust lobe centerlines are spread apart. This separation changes cylinder pressure and determines where peak torque will occur within the engine’s RPM and power range. Tight lobe separations, such as 106°/108° or shorter, will increase cylinder pressure, causing peak torque to build earlier in the RPM range and peak-out in a short amount of time. This is great for dirt track racing, so the car comes out of the corner hard. The shorter lobe separation will also give that rough idle everyone loves to hear. A broader lobe separation, such as 112°/114° or wider, will reduce cylinder pressure. This causes the torque peak to come in later in the RPM range, but also allows the torque to build over a wider RPM range, giving you more mid-range and top-end power. This type of lobe separation is needed in many applications, such as fuel injected, nitrous and blower applications.

From the SuperChips web site:

How big is the new brute in the Dodge lineup? Big.

With 325 horses and 471 ft/lbs off the factory floor, it can haul almost anything. Add 130 more horses and 270 ft/lbs more torque with Superchips and the truck becomes a veritable monster!! Get your Flashpaq (SuperChips 3805), for use on all Dodge Diesels 2003-2007. Then go race your friends with Powerstrokes and laugh all the way to the finish line.