Differential gear ratio?
Thread Starter
Can I get a Baum!!
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 31
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From: Dekalb, Illinois
No it's not. It's a FORCE applied at a DISTANCE... ("Leverage" is just a distance)
Technically speaking... horsepower does NO work...
Horsepower is a RATE at which WORK gets done. It's not the actual WORK itself...
(But if you wanted to find out how much WORK got done, you'd use the HORSEPOWER curve for your calcs)
If 'ya get right down to it... WORK actually is physically done by TORQUE (fuel/air/sparky go boom, applying a force at a distance to make things go spinny...). However, the RATE at which that WORK gets done is HORSEPOWER (a force applied at a distance during a period of time).
ACCELERATION is the result of WORK being done to the car... So it's pretty simple, really... Do you want to talk about FORCES, or RATES? You have to talk apples and apples, here... So talking RATES means you talk about HORSEPOWER and the RATE OF ACCELERATION.
So if you want to know how FAST WORK will get done, you want to talk about HORSEPOWER. TORQUE won't tell you how quickly the WORK can be done; only how much FORCE is gonna' be added at any second.
RG:
Unfortunately, you're not quite there when talking about what is doing the actual WORK. HORSEPOWER can't do work; it's a RATE at which WORK gets done. TORQUE is the actual force, applied at an actual distance, and if the car is turned on, then it's being done over an actual amount of time. This is the WORK being done by the engine.
BUT, that doesn't tell you how quickly it's being done; for that, you need to talk HORSEPOWER (which you already know, and some others haven't quite gotten there, yet.), which adds the last physical property, revolutions of the engine, into the conversation.
Everybody else, pay attention!
RG is 100% right that HORSEPOWER is what's important in discussing acceleration rates. Torque is NOT a RATE, and therefore is NOT going to give you any information regarding how fast a car accelerates!
Technically speaking... horsepower does NO work...
Horsepower is a RATE at which WORK gets done. It's not the actual WORK itself...
(But if you wanted to find out how much WORK got done, you'd use the HORSEPOWER curve for your calcs)
If 'ya get right down to it... WORK actually is physically done by TORQUE (fuel/air/sparky go boom, applying a force at a distance to make things go spinny...). However, the RATE at which that WORK gets done is HORSEPOWER (a force applied at a distance during a period of time).
ACCELERATION is the result of WORK being done to the car... So it's pretty simple, really... Do you want to talk about FORCES, or RATES? You have to talk apples and apples, here... So talking RATES means you talk about HORSEPOWER and the RATE OF ACCELERATION.
So if you want to know how FAST WORK will get done, you want to talk about HORSEPOWER. TORQUE won't tell you how quickly the WORK can be done; only how much FORCE is gonna' be added at any second.
RG:
Unfortunately, you're not quite there when talking about what is doing the actual WORK. HORSEPOWER can't do work; it's a RATE at which WORK gets done. TORQUE is the actual force, applied at an actual distance, and if the car is turned on, then it's being done over an actual amount of time. This is the WORK being done by the engine.
BUT, that doesn't tell you how quickly it's being done; for that, you need to talk HORSEPOWER (which you already know, and some others haven't quite gotten there, yet.), which adds the last physical property, revolutions of the engine, into the conversation.
Everybody else, pay attention!
RG is 100% right that HORSEPOWER is what's important in discussing acceleration rates. Torque is NOT a RATE, and therefore is NOT going to give you any information regarding how fast a car accelerates!
wow,
i got really board at about page 3.
rg, so glad you are back!!!!
so, to make this simple and provoke thought..
there is a difference between quick and fast!!
quick is tq, and a low rear gear, fast is what is at the end of the long straight should be areo dependent.. has nothing to do with tq, and a lot to do with rear gear..
beers
i got really board at about page 3.
rg, so glad you are back!!!!
so, to make this simple and provoke thought..
there is a difference between quick and fast!!
quick is tq, and a low rear gear, fast is what is at the end of the long straight should be areo dependent.. has nothing to do with tq, and a lot to do with rear gear..
beers
i think any fi rx8 would be better off with a 4.10 or even a 3.90! sure is might not be quicker in the .25 mile. (but i bet a lot it would be
) but every day, and on a track! sweet..beers
The Local Idiot
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 406
Likes: 0
From: Big D, Texas
Even on an NA car 1st is pretty steep... but I don't know that I'd go quite so far as to call it useless (at least not with good tires). It all depends on what you're doing with the car. I think the stock gearing is pretty good for a lot of autocross courses.
When FI gets thrown into the mix I would definitely start looking for a lower rear gear though.
When FI gets thrown into the mix I would definitely start looking for a lower rear gear though.
Registered
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 9,134
Likes: 26
From: Houston
At most autocrosses once you get it into second you leave it there. Rarely do you ever need to shift. The occasional 3rd gear might happen but I've never seen anyone downshift into first and actually be quicker than just staying in second.
The Professor
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,479
Likes: 7
From: Omaha, NE
What you just said is exactly the same as saying="its possible to not be moving, and yet have velocity"
5 pages of senseless argument and the fact remains the same that a 4.777 diff will make your car accelerate faster. 
A swap from 3.42 to 4.10 in my vette made my 1/4 mile 8/10 faster with no added power.
A swap from 3.42 to 4.10 in my vette made my 1/4 mile 8/10 faster with no added power.
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