AHC: Torque Emphasized in Automobile Advertisements

Delta Force

Banned
Automobile advertisements tend to emphasize horsepower rather than torque, unless the advertisement is for a truck. Historicall, almost all vehicles would have had more torque than horsepower, as few engines would be capable of reaching the torque/horsepower crossover point of around 5,252 revolutions per minute.

Why didn't advertisers choose to emphasize the higher torque numbers instead of horsepower, especially with torque being key for practical tasks such as acceleration and moving cargo?
 
I suppose it's more romantic to use horsepower. It causes the potential customer to imagine the horses within the engine, and (somewhat on purpose) being blown away by the picture. Torque is a bit more arbitrary to imagine, and not quite as endearing a term. What is one torque? How does it apply to performance?
 
I suppose it's more romantic to use horsepower. It causes the potential customer to imagine the horses within the engine, and (somewhat on purpose) being blown away by the picture. Torque is a bit more arbitrary to imagine, and not quite as endearing a term. What is one torque? How does it apply to performance?

One "torque" is a foot-pound (or Newton-meter, if you prefer), and it's a more directly relevant number than horsepower when it comes to acceleration (though in the modern day, "horsepower" is actually found by measuring torque and then doing some math, rather than directly analyzing power output).
 
One "torque" is a foot-pound (or Newton-meter, if you prefer), and it's a more directly relevant number than horsepower when it comes to acceleration (though in the modern day, "horsepower" is actually found by measuring torque and then doing some math, rather than directly analyzing power output).

I asked more as a rhetorical question. Most people who aren't engineers wouldn't innately know what a torque is, but everyone can imagine the 'power' of one horse. This was even more true when Watt was trying to sell his steam engines (he was trying to replacehorses, effectively speaking), and the terminology stuck.
 

Delta Force

Banned
I'm sure some slogans or marketing phrases could be developed to explain torque and what it does. Perhaps companies manufacturing high torque engines for rural and industrial use (or even just practicing market segmentation) could compare their offerings to a mule or similar working animal that keeps going and is reliable, while comparing horsepower to highly stressed race horses that need a lot of care and aren't as reliable. After all, an engine tuned for horsepower has to reach high RPM, but an engine tuned for torque tends to produce more of it at lower RPM.

It could even be a way to segment the market without having to produce multiple engine variants. A company could promote one engine as a reliable high-torque workhorse, while producing a high-horsepower variant for people who want something with more of sporting or luxury feel.
 
I asked more as a rhetorical question. Most people who aren't engineers wouldn't innately know what a torque is, but everyone can imagine the 'power' of one horse. This was even more true when Watt was trying to sell his steam engines (he was trying to replacehorses, effectively speaking), and the terminology stuck.

Sorry :(

I guess what's needed is for one company to decide that instead of competing on horsepower like everyone else, they'll introduce this new buzzword.
 

Delta Force

Banned
Sorry :(

I guess what's needed is for one company to decide that instead of competing on horsepower like everyone else, they'll introduce this new buzzword.

Marketing could help an older engine to last longer in working applications, or possibly even consumer vehicles as well. If a company can't get more horsepower out of an engine for whatever reason, they could optimize it for lower speed operations and get more torque. At lower RPM heavier components can be used that wouldn't be suitable at higher RPM.
 
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