Tiff Needell takes the new Aston Martin DBS coupe that’s powered by a 6.0 liter V12 engine that produces a total of 510 horsepower and 420 lb-ft. of torque. That gives the car the ability to do 0-62 mph in 4.3 seconds with a top speed of 191mph. But that’s not all, as Tiff invited Adam Kirley, 007′s stunt driver in the the latest James Bond film, Casino Royale, to find out who is the better driver in a series of challenges.

When talking about the torque of a car, it is the force which is related with the engine of the car. The engine applies a certain force on the shaft and also on the transmission. This is called as torque in simple words. When we multiply torque with the rotational speed, we’ll be getting what is called as power. You would have already come across the word horsepower, hp. It is nothing but 550 foot pounds of torque per second.

Well, your car and your friends car may sometimes be producing the same power. But the torque of the two cars may not be same. Do you know why? The reason is simple. It all depends on two factors and they are :- the distance moved, and the number of pounds moved. For the same reason, if we move 550 pounds 1 feet, and if we move 1 pound 550 foot, we would be getting the same horsepower which would be equal to exactly one horsepower. So, this is the reason why two cars with different torque produce same power.

Another reason for the above fact is that, the high torque engine would be would be rotating at a much slower rate than the low torque engine. So, both of the cars, even they are with different torques, they would be producing same power.

So, if you ask me, which is more important – torque or horsepower? I would say that torque is more important and we should be having good knowledge about what it does and how it helps the driver at various situations.

Ever wondered of accelerating smoothly from a standalone position. Well, it requires you to balance the torque and traction at the same time. You should be considering the engine revs as well. If the revs are pretty low, then the engine won’t be able to provide the tyres with the required torque. This way, it won’t be going smoothly as it should on the roads. On the other hand, if the engine revs are very high, then it would be more than the limit, and thus it’ll be causing the wheels to spin and nothing else. So, your ultimate aim should be to attain maximum acceleration in a better way. But, don’t expect it every time. That’s because, it is not possible to deliver such smooth acceleration at every situations. But still, you should keep in mind, the torque and traction factor that plays a good role in deciding a smooth acceleration.

Well, you would be at first gear, and at such a situation, it’s not that easy to increase the acceleration pretty fast and drive the car accelerating to top speed smoothly. Not just that, at low speeds, while you are in first gear, the road surface also, won’t allow you to go for smooth acceleration in a rapid manner. You should be a real expert who is able to keep the engine revs at high, and at the same time balance it using the clutch at the right time.

So, for the same reason, you should be aiming for controlled wheel spin. Push the engine revs to the power band. This will help you in letting out the clutch and thus allowing to spin the wheels and balance it before it tries to make things worse. You may follow this until you are at the required speed. Once you feel, that you are at the right speed, and everything is going smoothly, you may continue with things as you do usually.