Columns & Advice There’s a TV advertisement for a pickup truck,
now running, that extols the virtues of torque. Fair enough —
more torque is, in most respects, a good thing, especially in a
truck. But one of the snappy sound bites and tag line in the ad
says: “Torque is power!” It’s not true. Torque is not power,
except in some metaphoric sense, perhaps; certainly not
technically. It’s a common mistake and such advertising, while
well-meaning, helps perpetuate the confusion. I’ve addressed the
difference between power and torque previously in this column,
but it’s such a pervasive misunderstanding that the difference
bears repeating. It needn’t be a source of confusion, for the
relationship between the two is straightforward. In the context
of engine performance, torque is one component of power; the
other is engine speed. For those mathematically inclined, the
relationship is expressed as a simple formula: Power = Torque x
engine speed / K, where K is a constant number that depends on
the measuring system be