Earlier today I was out for a ride. Top was down. Wife by my side. Beautiful sunny day. On the freeway ramp. In front of me was a big rig (a torque monster) and a car (slightly less, but still a torque monster). I could tell the car was wanting to get around the truck just as bad as I did. As we came to more lanes, all of them being open, I realized this is what I have an SC for! The speed was about 45 mph. I went to 2nd gear, stomped it and took a clear lane, leaving room for the car (torque monster it was) to do his thing as well. The only thing I could see was clear road ahead and a truck way back and a car falling further behind. Well, I didn't say on it. Shifting to 3rd I was already over the speed limit so I slowed and looked at my wife. "I love this car," I said. She smiled and said, "Yep, just like a man."

It's either torque or knowing how to shift gears - both can accomplish pretty much the same thing. Now I know that our car is a bit touchy to launch (torque is the culprit), but once I'm up to 40 mph all I need to do is find the gear that puts the tach at about 7000 rpm and I've got all the torque I need. That guy stepping on his V8 to torque around the truck looked like this

It was then that I remembered. All this "torque" talk about the S. And I realized, it's a myth. You don't need more torque. You just need to be able to find the torque you already have. Why grunt when you can scream?

Yes, I know I'm on a bit of a high. I always feel like this when I get back from a weekend outing in the S. I continue to be amazed at this little car. All four of those cylinders step up the plate when called on. I've already decided I like scream over rumble. With a Ford, Chevy or Chrysler big block it's expected. With 2.0L it's a miracle!

 

Gary,
Do you know your revised tq with the sc?

 

Without torque there would be no horsepower

Torque describes what load can be pulled, HP describes the work done over a period of time.

Cars with good torque might have good HP if they could just keep breathing at higher RPM...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Garyj
[B]All four of those cylinders step up the plate when called on.

 

it's not just that the s2k has a higher redline, but that the torque doesn't change much over most of that rpm range!!! If our torque curve dropped off as much as many cars do, we'd be moving about at quick as a geo metro What gives the s2000 its advantage is a flat torque curve combined with the high redline and efficient gearing to take advantage of the engine's consistent power output.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Unabageler
[B]it's not just that the s2k has a higher redline, but that the torque doesn't change much over most of that rpm range!!!

 

I'll never deny the abilities of the S2000 when driven hard. They can be quick, and with a SC they can be VERY FAST if driven correctly. Unfortunately for those used to American iron, you need to downshift to get access to that power. You can't just stomp on an S2000 and expect the car to leap forward. For that kind of laziness you need displacement. Period. However, if you are willing to drive the car like it was meant to be driven the S2000 is capable of amazing things. With a centrifugal SC (which I believe GaryJ has) you need to take advantage of gearing to get access to that power. If you accept that, the S2000 is amazing.

 

No I really don't - haven't run on a dyno. I can only tell you what the difference is in driving and it's very noticeable.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by snoopy
[B]I'll never deny the abilities of the S2000 when driven hard. They can be quick, and with a SC they can be VERY FAST if driven correctly. Unfortunately for those used to American iron, you need to downshift to get access to that power.

 

I'm sure that when people say that "S2000 has no torque" they are reffering to taking-off from the lights or at speeds bellow 30mph. In these circumstance the "learn to drive" phylosophy does not hold ... you're already in the 1st gear and have it floored - S2000 just not have here as much torque there as a lot of people would like.

Once you're over 30mph then you can alowas 'substitute' the needed toque with HP (ie. revs); though bellow that your only option is to light-up the rear tyres but I'm sure that 99.9% of us here don't do that everytime we leave the traffic lights.