Which is better in an nitro engine: HP or Torque, and why?

Torque, Hp is measured at a certain rpm so getting to the rpm without torque poses a problem. if your car has low torque and high hp, your acceleration stinks but top end is fast, but you will run out of room to achieve this. The best is to have a balance between both

Torque. Think of it this way: A 100-watt bulb Painted black emits no light while a 60-watt clear bulb gives far better brightness, here wattage is horse power and the actual brightness is like torque---something you can use.

In a nitro engine a high torque engine would be better than a high horse power motor. One reason is you can still gear it up to do high speeds if you have a lot of low end punch to take off at slow speeds.

I must say that is a BAD question, because the Dyno measures the "power" of the engine output in torque applied to the dyno, and that will (if calabrated correctly) give you the amount of torque that tht engine is capible of outputting. HP on the other hand is a math formula that is based off of the amount of torque that is produced. There is also the saying torque = the amount of "power' the motor makes and that HP = how fast you can use the "power" the motor is able to output. With that in mind you need to take in both factors and decide what one is better for your needs, do I want slow mad "power" or a quick "springy" blast?

Which is better in a Nitro Engine: HP or Torque? I would have to say that it depends on the application of the engine. Are you running on-road, off-road or monster trucks? If you are running monster trucks then I would have to say torque. The reason being that monster trucks are generally heavy, used in rugged conditions and have more rotating mass than other types of r/c vehicles. They need all the torque they can get.

If you are running off-road (rc10gt or other nitro stadium truck) then I would say try to get a good compromise of hp and torque. They don't have the rotating mass of monster trucks, they do however, have more than their on-road counter parts. In off-road you need good bottom end "punch" coming out of the corners and decent top end as well. A lot would depend on the track type, short and twisty (need good torque, acceleration is king) or long and straight (fast, can deal with less torque but more hp for top end).

If you are running on-road I would have to say hp would be a good solution. With on-road cars, they usually have two speed transitions so torque is not so much of a problem. For what an engine lacks in torque you can usually make it up with gearing. Also on-road cars have less rotating mass than monsters and off-roaders. They are usually lighter as well. I hope this helps who ever asked the loaded question. :) Good Luck Benjamin B.

my opinion is: it takes HP to have torque, or better yet torque is a type of hp also known as power that is produced in the lower rpm range. great for most off road cars & trucks. The other hp is high end (rpm) higher top speed but less torque. usually better for on road driving, Gearing your car is very important when there is less torque avail to pull you out of the turns & down the straightways. so lower rpms top speed =more torque best for off road, mid - high rpms higher top speed but less torque best for on road racing where higher top speeds are needed. A tight on road course lots of turns short straights would benefit from more of a off road type power band =low rpms more low end torque.

hp because it is a better seller and it is better quality than torque

I would have to say that it depends, is it a tight technical offroad track or an open fast track. I would go for more torque on the tighter tracks and I would go with more hp on larger open tracks. Ideally though, you want both equally for any situation. Hope this qualifies as an answer.

In the super-small "engines" in RC vehicles, the HP and Torque curves can really only be measured in decimals, so it's almost a moot point. That said, (on principle) torque is the more important measurement. Higher torque will give the vehicle higher ability to regain traction, unstick itself from a bind, and run heavier aftermarket parts without damage. For example, many of the highway hauling trucks use relatively low horsepower engines, say 4-600 HP, but the torque levels are built very high in order to get the load moving.

I would have to say an engine with torque, torque is what gets the vehicle moving from a standstill, this equates to acceleration. Unlike electric motors Nitro engines do not have alot of torque at the very lowest RPMs. The more torque the better your hole shot or acceleration.

Well HP and torque are pretty much the same. You may be thinking of top speed versus torque. It depends on what the engine is mounted to. Road racer, stadium truck, monster truck, etc. My opinion is for an overall everyday setup, I would go with torque because there are not many occasions where I have a long, wide open area to run where I need to get to top speed such as a drag race and since I do more bashing and thrashing than racing, torque is a higher priority. (I own both the MGT and RC10GT.)

horse power because you have better acceleration

HP, it really depends on the preference but HP is awesome! I love speed

torque is definitely better. what good is 10 horses if you cant transmit the power to the ground

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