Rather have a Buick

**Mr70** · #1 06-02-2005, 07:10 PM

There's a really interesting interview on pages 64-71 in the July issue of Muscle Car Enthusiast.
They talk to Veteran Buick Engineer Dennis Manner,and ask him some pretty good questions about Stage 1-2-3 & what else was going on 40 years ago.
Some notable replies from him:
"Buicks were always heavy and loaded up w/everything from A/C to power seats.Torque moves iron,so we put a lot of our effort into Torque."....................."The Horsepower of an engine is the function of air flow,not the fuel.The more air you can get through an engine,either by porting,supercharging,or turbocharging,the more Horsepower you'll get."

**Born30YrsLate** · #2 06-02-2005, 10:07 PM

I find it interesting that an engines horsepower and torque will always be the same at 5252rpm...

**njsteve** · #3 06-03-2005, 12:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I find it interesting that an engines horsepower and torque will always be the same at 5252rpm...

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that true??? If so that is rather metaphysical...remember coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous

Chevy454 · #4 06-03-2005, 12:26 AM

Nothing fancy here, just basic math...torque can be measured, but horsepower is derived via a formula (torque = 5252 x horsepower / rpm).

**Born30YrsLate** · #5 06-03-2005, 01:06 AM

Yup - learned that in engineering school, how the formula is derived is a little more involved, but that's what it boils down to and that's one formula I'll never forget!

**njsteve** · #6 06-03-2005, 03:55 AM

Sounds like we are starting an evolution versus creationist debate on the board here. Creationists would say this is proof of a Divine plan, while evolutionists would argue that it is simply a scientifically proven fact.

(I just love being an agent-provocateur.

**Born30YrsLate** · #7 06-03-2005, 04:59 AM

Jesus drives a CHEVY!...

**Lynn** · #8 06-03-2005, 06:30 AM

You can credit (or blame) James Watt for the formula. Funny how he is more know for the measure of electical power (you know, the watt) than for horsepower. He should have changed his name to James Horsepower.

Excellent article written in lay terms:

http://www.v8914.com/Horsepower-v-torque.htm

After reading this article, you will see that horsepower and torque must be identical at that RPM. Now if Watt had been observing a slower horse, say only 10 inches per second with that 550 lb weight, then I guess torque and HP would match at a slightly different RPM. Really was a little arbitrary.

Lynn

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