TRUCKS | PERFORMANCE Power isn’t all the same THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HORSEPOWER AND TORQUE anufacturers love to boast about numbers when they sell trucks — the pounds they can haul, the fuel efficiency of Mtheir engines and their tow ratings for pulling a trailer. For every company, though, though many buyers may not So, which one is better? do a lot of towing, torque is attention to because it's a the two most important num- know the difference between Horsepower or torque? the most important power factor in more ordinary driv- bers seem to be horsepower the two. It all depends on how you figure to look at. It's going to ing — not just starting from and torque. Every brand use your truck. have the biggest impact in a standstill. wants bragging rights your day-to-day experience for having the high- because this is the force you est horsepower or TORQUE: feel most when pulling a IT'S MORE the greatest TWISTING FORCE heavy load. COMPLICATED amount of Torque is the twisting Of course, anything involv- torque, even force that your HORSEPOWER: ing physics is difficult to boil engine creates. In down into simple English. If extremely simplis- WORK MEASURE you search the Internet tic terms, this is Horsepower, on the other about torque and horsepow- the force that hand, is a measure of work. er, you'll find countless argu- helps your truck It's an approximation from ments about which one is accelerate from a the era of steam engines that better. Every truck enthusiast stop, pull a estimates how much work a has an opinion, it seems. trailer or horse could do in a given That's also because power, climb a steep amount of time. when reduced to a single grade in the Horsepower is the force number, is always going to mountains. that will keep you cruising be an inaccurate reflection of In other on the highway or accelerate an engine. It's typically words, if you under normal conditions. If advertised as "peak" horse- you don't use your truck to power achieved at a very do much towing, or if you specific engine speed, or like to race quickly from one RPM. place to another, horse- In the real world, your power is the number engine will never spend you should pay most much time at that one par- ticular engine speed, so it matters a lot more how smoothly the torque or horsepower is spread out MORE THAN NUMBERS over a wide range of RPMs. A When shopping for a truck, you’ve got truck's performance is also to look at a lot more than the horsepower changed drastically by its and torque figures. The transmission, gear ratio transmission and gear ratios. and other factors will make a big difference in That's why it's far better to the performance you can expect to get from your pick a truck based on a test truck — from how well it tows to how much fuel drive than it is on a single, it uses while doing its job. albeit impressive, torque or horsepower number.