View Single Post
Old 02-18-2005, 04:11 PM   #3
notyouraveragegirl
AF Enthusiast
 
notyouraveragegirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Port Hueneme, California
Posts: 110
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to notyouraveragegirl
couldn't have put it better myself, chix... but some more advice:

If you're still at the point where your learning the difference between horsepower and torque -- you'll probably just want to read up on some car stuff in general, so that you understand what people are talking about

It'll be important too, so that you can make your own INFORMED decisions about suggestions and whatnot that you may receive on parts, mods, and whatever

seriously, pick up an easy book like auto repair for dummies -- even if you just browse through it at your local barnes & noble or wherever and don't actually take it home and start from there

and yes ASK ASK ASK!! that's the best way to learn

but a quick primer, just to answer your first qustions - and bear with me guys, i wrote this out as simply as possible:

Horsepower vs torque:
**torque is the "go" power: hp is the "keep it going" power
**torque is also what comes higher as a standard on most suv's and trucks, because they are designed to hold larger loads and/or tow trailers and whatnot -- so the benefit of higher torque in a lighter car is... well a faster and more powerful start
**horsepower comes two ways:bhp and whp (this is how I learned anyway) - bhp is base horsepower - what your motor is capable of producing outright -- whp is wheel horsepower, or how much power your CAR is putting out once it makes it to your wheels, which is what matter
** as a general rule, your whp is going to be less than your bhp: there are MANY components that will affect this that you can change to allow you to close the gap... but i don't want to get into that right now

I have a few questions for you, now:

your brother said something about 200HP? If you are driving a 93 accord, does he mean that your engine has 200hp? because if he does, and your block is stock... well that's not true as far as i know

check your engine code... if you look on the motor itself it will be a barcode sticker on the right side -- it should say "F22A...etc" -- unless your car doesn't have a stock motor in it

also are you driving standard or automatic?
is your car a dx ex or lx?

then i can give you a better idea of what to expect from your car

(ps - if it does read F22A1 or F22A6 - this is a stock block but bhp isn't more than 165 if no mods have been done)

hope that wasnt too much for ya
notyouraveragegirl is offline