Not to be confused with gas bagging, torque is a term used a lot in automobile literature. The internal combustion engine is mounted on an automobile’s chassis for one main reason. That is to transport the vehicle, its occupants and any luggage from A to B.

The engine is a workhorse. It is designed to perform work and to be the driving force behind the vehicle. In order to be this, an internal combustion engine takes the linear motion of the pistons pumping, and converts it into rotational motion along the crankshaft. Through some well designed and rotating gearing mechanisms, this twisting motion is harnessed and fed ultimately to the twisting driving wheels of the motor vehicle in order to provide the force to move the vehicle and its load from one place to another. It is the rotational twisting motion, which is fed by the engine’s combustion process, which is known as torque. Torque is the effort, provided by the linear combustion process, devoted toward twisting or turning a rotating component.

A car with loads of torque is a satisfying drive, particularly if the torque output curve is high and flat for most of the available engine revs from way down low up to the engines maximum rpm output. Hop in a Ford FPV or Holden HSV and you’ll see what I mean. It’ll give you something to torque about.We hope that helps answer the question ‘What is What is Torque?’!

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