Driven5 wrote: The reason that the power vs torque debate has never been laid to rest, and never will be, is that when used correctly they are both equally valid and accurate methods of representation...Regardless of what each 'side' wants to believe. This is due to power being directly derived from torque. If you follow the torque calculations forward at any given point in time, you'll necessarily end up with power. And if you back calculate from power at the same point in time, you'll necessarily end up with torque. Basically power tells you what is happening, torque tells you why it's happening. Personally, I believe the less abstract concept to be the more effective descriptor. But as repeatedly illustrated since page 1 of this thread, obviously some people's minds think more like mine and others don't. In reality though, among those who genuinely understand how both work, it's just six in one and half a dozen in the other.
No, power is all that matters. Torque is only one component of power, the other is speed. Again, P=T(w). If I give you torque alone you can't calculate power. Sure, you can tell me which car will accelerate harder but if one is moving at twice the speed then its a disingenuous comparison and doesn't mean anything anyway.
Torque can be altered at will, thats what gearing is. Does your engine make different amounts of power depending what gear its in? No, of course not . So obviously torque is only one part of the picture, you need to consider the speed at which the torque is delivered. Which is....POWER.
Maybe this is what's holding people up. If you have 2 identical cars with only different gearing and they are both producing the same power (they are at the same RPM point), then yes, the car with more wheel torque at that period of time accelerates faster. But this is not a valid comparison, because the other car is already traveling faster! Since the are making equal power, although the one car is accelerating harder, it has given up speed to do so. You can't have both without more power. This is why POWER is the fundamental unit we need to be concerned with.
I'm not exactly sure what the confusion is. Maybe someone can reframe the question? I really need to find that article...
