An OT question for the gear heads 'round here...

by Jared, Monday, February 09, 2015, 09:05 (3515 days ago) @ Paul

All else being fairly equal! Of the first 3 the first has by far the best looking numbers . On anything that drives I love low end torque. The torque is what gets you going. the more your can produce at a lower RPM the better.

I am not a fan of high revving engines that have all of their power at the top end. It makes the ride much more uncomfortable, plus a engine that is working harder will normally wear out quicker. I like a car that can run around all day while keeping the RPMs low, our car starts making over 300 Lb ft of torque at about 1200 RPM so you can drive around at under 2000 RPM and still accelerate faster than most vehicles. At 75 MPH in 6th gear it is only turning around 1700 RPM. For me that is way more fun to drive than a 4 cylinder car that you have to rev up to 4000+ RPM to climb a steep grade. I remember crossing the continental devide a few years ago in my Ram with the Hemi. We were going 60-65 (the speed limits) up a steep grade with no trouble, and I was passing multiple vehicles that were only able to pull the grade at 30-45 MPH. Sure I burn a little more gas but it is nice to be able to maintain speed going up hill.