Where has all the torque gone?

[TrickTT]

I was watching Clarksons latest DVD, where he was testing the Audi R8, Aston V8 Vantage and 911 GT3. Now all these are producing roughly the same sort of power as my supe (within 10% of my 418bhp), but the torque figures are way down at around 300lb/ft (mine is 437lb/ft) I did a bit of searching on the manufacturer websites of some of the modern day 2 seat or 2 + 2 GT cars and got:

Aston V8 Vantage:

380bhp 302lb/ft

 

Audi R8

420bhp 317lb/ft

 

BMW M3 (new one)

414bhp 295lb/ft

 

Jag XK-R

416bhp 413lb/ft

 

Maserati Granturismo

399bhp 339lb/ft

 

Porsche 911 GT3

415bhp 298lb/ft

With the exception of the Jag they are all well down on torque, and the only one lighter than mine is the 911. Now since there are only really 3 factors affecting acceleration; torque, weight and gearing, why are these modern sports cars heavy with no torque. They must be like riding a sportsbike, all revs and gearchanges.

Given that they are mostly V8's which should be naturally torquey engines, why do they all seem to be designed like 2-strokes, with all the power at high rpm and nothing low down.

Discuss!

[n boost]

U will notice that torque missing when u drive them cars. I myself have a e46 m3 now but my single turbo supra produced mountains of LOW down torque compared to the m3.

u really need to wind the stick to get the best out of the m3. But the m3 is very fast in the higher rev ranges and also is heavier in weight than my supra.

No match for my supra on the straights but handling makes up for power on twisty stuff.

I think what is important is the SPREAD of torque rather than PEAK torque. U will really need to see the torque graphs of these cars as one might only have say 300Ib/ft but it may be available from like 1500 rpm through till 5500 rpm and another may be 380Ib/ft but may only be available between 3k-6k, so which one do u think will feel better on daily driving?

a, 300Ib/ft vs 380Ib/ft? ....... numbers are decevieing as spread is more important in real world driving.

[Scooter]

isn't this down to forced/non forced induction..........

[jaymdee]

Agree with Scooter. Super charged or Turbo charged cars always produce more torque than NA equivalents, but it generally comes in a narrower rev band.

 

One of my mates has got a Honda S2000. 250bhp but only 150ftlb. Feels really slow as there's no 'kick' when he accelerates, just revs and revs...

[Tricky-Ricky]

The big difference in the feel of how the car drives, is down to just how soon in the RPM range decent torque is developed, and how flat the curve is.

[dandan]

It's not accidental....lower torque can yield equal performance through the use of increased rpm and matched gearing... the cars can still be just as fast.

 

By intentionally keeping the torque "low" a lot of drivetrain components can be lighter, smaller and potentially cheaper.

 

I agree that the sluggish lazy torquey feel is lost though.