When it comes to select a truck with excellent performance, it always occurs to the customer’s mind that horsepower and torque as two main factors measuring whether it is worth purchasing or not. Obviously, horsepower and torque are the most important technical parameters that decide the performance of vehicle. Therefore it is a necessity for customers to have a certain knowledge of their definition, function, relation and optimal selection methods.

What is horsepower and how does it make a difference to the truck?

People used to misunderstand its notion and thought it was kind of force, but in fact, it is a unit of the power of vehicle. To get a better understanding, let’s further explain it. The concept of power is the force that an object has made per unit time. The higher the power is, the more the force will be. For example, if someone carries 5 bricks a time, moving bricks four times in a minute, the total number of moved bricks is 20 pieces, which is the power he generates. There is a formula of the exchange of power and horsepower. 1KW is equal to 1.36 horsepower. Mathematically speaking, a metric horsepower is equal to the force made by a way of raising a 75KG object to one meter in a second and it is 0.735KW.

Horsepower is the key factor of the performance of vehicle. If the horsepower is higher, the engine will release more power when it works at the same time. If the horsepower is higher, the vehicle runs faster, accelerates more easily and generates the highest speed. As a consequence, the horsepower is crucial to the performance of vehicle.

What is torque and how does it make a difference to the truck?

Except for horsepower, torque is another vital factor of the performance of vehicle. However, how to understand torque and its function is a topic worthy of discussing. In a brief, it is the force twisting a certain object. The exact explanation is that the torque is a kind of force measuring how many forces generated when trying to rotate an object. The torque of vehicle is the momentum of output shaft of an engine. Its unit is N.m. It reflects the force outputted from the end of crankshaft when an engine operates.

The higher the torque is, the more the strength of an engine is. For instance, one can carry 5 bricks, the other can carry 8 bricks. The latter has higher torque. When it comes to vehicle parameters, the most output torque is frequently discussed by people. Assuming the most output torque is 4000 mm, the engine rotates 4000rnm, and the torque is the highest. When a vehicle is in a rated power condition, the torque is inverse proportion to the rotation speed of the engine. The torque exerted on wheels affects the acceleration of the vehicle. Because of the different designs of gearboxes and transmission systems, the torque will be different. The torque has an effect on the performance of the vehicle in some degree, but it is not the direct factor. In a word, high torque determines more hauling strength and gradeability.

What is the relation between horsepower and torque?

As two parameters measuring the performance of the engine, torque and horsepower are in direct proportion. Horsepower is equal to torque multiplied by revolution speed and divides by 9550. Horsepower is power. When the power reaches the most, the rotation speed is the most, contributing to much higher terminal velocity. Torque is the accelerating capacity of a vehicle. Especially in starting acceleration, the more the torque is, the higher the accelerating speed is and the faster the vehicle runs.

How to select a truck considering horsepower and torque?

When selecting a truck, different usages vary in requirements of different horsepower and torque. Let’s take trucks running in long-journey trunk lines for example. Due to long distances, various topography, and changing climate, drivers are eager for more powerful, reliable and effective engines. On August 22^nd, 2022, Sinotruk joined hands with WeiChai and launched remarkable T series engines, whose most horsepower reaches 680HP. The brand new T series engines include WP12T, WP13T, WP14T, WP15T diesel engines and WP13NG and WP15NG gas engines, which have great advantages in diesel and gas economy, high efficiency, long service life and more reliability.

WP12T, excellent light weight, a higher altitude of energy economy. 48.5% terminal efficiency, 899KG dead weight, and 500 max horsepower.

WP13T, top horsepower, benchmark of diesel economy. The maximum horsepower reaches 560HP, covering from 480HP to 560HP. B10 service life reaches 180,0000 kilometers.

WP14T, powerful horsepower, free ride. It covers from 560HP to 610HP. Its service circle is 120,000 kilometers, greatly reducing drivers’ frequency of station maintenance.

WP15T, the king on the road, emerges as the times require. It ranges from 580HP to 680HP, the max torque reaches 3,200N.m, and it is one of engines with most horsepower. Its powerful horsepower brings huge momentum to trucks running no matter in flat or tough roads.

WP13NG, gas economy, takes the lead. It is a gas engine, with horsepower from 400HP to 480HP. When in 800rmp, its torque can early reach the maximum. Due to the feature, its accelerating speed is higher and gradeability is stronger.

WP15NG, no fears of surpassing mountains. Its torque is improved to 2,500N.m, Spec.torque reaches 171N.m/L. It is able to adapt to complicated road conditions.

Horsepower and torque are key factors measuring performance of engine and vehicle. Horsepower decides the momentum of engine. Torque decides the strength of engine. If the buyer prefers high speed, then he will be more interested in high horsepower. If the truck needs do a lot traction work and low speed traveling, the torque seems very important. Therefore, the buyer needs to select horsepower and torque according to his actual requirements. Then he will purchase his favorite engine and truck. For drivers, achieving the balance between torque and horsepower is extremely necessary. Horsepower and torque are on equal foot and both of them should be highly valued when making a selection of vehicle.