ELI5 what the difference is between 750 hp sports car and 750 hp 40 ton truck. Does it mean they can both theoritcally tow the same weight?
ELI5 what the difference is between 750 hp sports car and 750 hp 40 ton truck. Does it mean they can both theoritcally tow the same weight?
Comments
No. While the engine have the same output (presumably at peak RPM) they are connected to very different transmissions, the parts of the car that move energy from the engine to the wheels. Towing capacity depends on traction, torque and other factors where the sports car is far worse a platform for towing, even with the same engine power.
More then that, the truck’s motor is likely made to operate at 80% output for long periods of time for climbing large hills while towing a load.
The sports car’s engine is made to briefly put out full power to accelerate then run at high (but nowhere near maximum) power to sustain high speed. It’s made to throttle up and down very fast, but it can’t sustain full power for very long.
The truck will generate 750hp at much lower revs than the car, cam probably sustain it for longer without overheating, will have more gears (meaning they can stay in the power band easier), and will have a heavier duty clutch, meaning they can apply more power when pulling away.
Also the truck is heavier so they will find it easier to maintain traction and not be moved so much by their own trailer.
The car probably can’t use it’s full power until it gets to like 30mph, because it will need to be close to the redline in first gear. Below that speed you either have lower rpm (so less power) or slip the clutch to compensate for the rpm difference between the engine and wheels (losing power to heat and to destroying the clutch). The truck might redline at like 5mph in first, it’s why they can have like 16 gears.
Horsepower measures power. Towing is a lot more involved than raw energy.
The most obvious example is wheel traction. Many sports cars have front wheel drive, although these are more for the casual driver. That’s a big no-no for towing. The vehicle itself is also, by design, very light. That’s bad for traction, as a vehicle’s ability to grip the ground depends directly on its weight.
But beyond that, the design of the frame and suspension and transmission and brakes must all take towing into account. At least, when it comes to towing the heaviest load you can. These are not optimized for towing in a sports car.
The difference is torque. Horsepower is a function of torque times engine RPM. ELI5 is basically torque is how much a car can pull and horsepower then tells how fast it can do it. Trucks usually have tons of low RPM torque, meaning they can pull heavy loads, but not too fast. A 750hp sports car may not tow as much, but it sure as hell is way faster than a truck.
In theory yes. Some people will say “but torque!” but you have to remember that torque can be amplified by gearboxes.
But even then, the engines are designed and tuned for different purposes, so using one for the other would be very inefficient and cumbersome. A truck engine is probably diesel, which has a limited rev range and is ideal for long-range driving at regular speeds, while a sports car is based on gasoline and is designed to accelerate quickly and go fast at high revs.
Even if both a 750 hp sports car and a 750 hp 40-ton truck use identical engines, they’re designed very differently to apply that power. The key difference lies in torque, gearing, traction, and vehicle mass.
Power (hp) is a measure of how fast work can be done, but towing ability depends more on torque at the wheels and traction. Here’s the core idea:
Power = Torque × RPM × constant
(In metric: P = τ × ω, where τ is torque and ω is angular velocity.)
The truck uses heavy-duty gearing and very low gear ratios to convert the engine’s power into high torque at low speed. Combined with large tyres and weight over the driven axles, it maximises tractive effort (force at the tyre-road interface). This is what allows it to tow huge loads without losing grip.
In contrast, a sports car is geared for speed, not force. Even if you tried towing a trailer, eventually the tyres would lose grip (slip) because the car isn’t designed to apply that much force to the road surface.
In short: same power, but trucks are optimised to apply it slowly but forcefully for towing, while cars apply it quickly for acceleration. It’s not just engine power—it’s how it’s geared, applied, and gripped.
“Power is nothing without control” Pirelli