Quote:
Originally Posted by Gearhead999s
An engine with less internal inertia will be a quicker engine if all other factors are equal(HP& Torque) as it will have less resitance to change speed.I know this from 1st hand experiance with a E30 race car many years ago.We went from a 30 lb flywheel to a 12 lb one in combination with a 3 puck lightweight clutch setup.The car was a joy to drive with the lightweight setup and the speed of the shifts and braking was improved greatly.In quanitive terms we picked about a second in lap times on a 1.30 lap and over 7kph at the end of a 1 km straight.But on a dyno (not a dynojet) it showed no difference in RWHP or torque.A reduction of rotational weight is almost is a free lunch!
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I understand what you are saying and is absolutely correct but these are second degree variables.
Fundamentally, engines do not generate HP, they are actually generate Torque. The torque generated at any rpm is what drives the shaft. Power is how fast that Torque can be applied within a time frame, ie torque applied per unit time. So HP relates to efficiency of the engine, how fast the engine takes in fuel, and how it quickly expels the burnt fuel. If an engine can perform this cycle faster than another with the same amount of fuel intake, then that engine will naturally have more Power.
Like you rightly pointed out, at the engine the mass of the components(piston+cylinder heads etc) in the combustion chamber does affect the amount of energy(torque) that is required to initiate motion.