Torque and power

The key is that torque and power and very closely related by power = torque x revs

I think of power as being 'a big bucket of energy ready to do business' and torque is a small cup being used to scoop out this energy and put it to the tarmac.

• If you use a small cup you need to scoop faster (higher revs) to get the same energy flow

• If you use a large cup you need to scoop slower (lower revs) to get the same energy flow

• The size of the cup is determined by the gearing, crank throw, etc

• The amount of energy in the bucket is determined by fuel type, igntion, etc

• Torque is the scoopfulls of energy

• Power is the energy reserve in the bucket

Bigger scoop, same speed = more torque.......but same power (the engine max power is unchanged by gearing)

This means that top speed (max energy flow) is related to 'how fast you can scoop a big'ish sized cup'.

You can scoop small cups fast, or big cups slow. Depends on engine design/rev limits etc.