Updated on January 29, 2020
From Now On, Horsepower and Torque Will Be the Same Thing
Automotive engineers say they’ve “had it up to here” with trying to explain the difference to the general public.
“We’ve explained and explained until we’re blue in the face,” said exasperated automotive engineer Aroma Sue Crouch. “We give up.”
After listening to a detailed explanation, 24-year-old Abbott Woosley tries to grasp the difference between horsepower and torque. “This is a typical response,” says engineer Aroma Sue Crouch. “This illustrates why we need to revise the terminology.”
This pervasive confusion had led the National Bunch of Automotive Engineers (NBoAE) to declare that horsepower and torque are now one and the same.
“Basically, people are blockheads,” said a frustrated Crouch. “Hopefully, this will simplify things.”
The change, which takes effect tomorrow at 9:00 AM Chamorro Standard Time (1:30 PM Eastern, 2:30 PM everywhere to the left of that), will replace the terms horsepower and torque with the single label, horque.
As an example, up until now, one version of the new Ford Power Stroke V-8 turbo diesel was rated at 475 horsepower and 1050 pound feet of torque. Those numbers are added together, and then divided by two to determine the new rating of 762.5 horque.
Ford immediately released a statement claiming top honors in the diesel pickup horque wars, although Ram countered that, while their truck has only “625 horques,” it carries a greater payload than the Ford. GM was too busy managing recalls to respond.
