Discussion
As we've heard from the man himself in the past, Clarkson has no idea what torque is, or how to explain it, but he knew it was important for some reason or other. Maybe we should just lighten up and treat it for what it is: ENTERTAINMENT....
He did the same with carbon emissions tonight as well, "this car has only 300 carbons..." or some such.
Sit back, chill out, be entertained. Or switch off.
He did the same with carbon emissions tonight as well, "this car has only 300 carbons..." or some such.
Sit back, chill out, be entertained. Or switch off.
As said above, it's just a Car Entertainment program - hence Sunday nite slot. JC is a bit(lot) of a nob, we all know that, especially if you saw the ice-cool/cool/not-so-cool board they use to rate cars -
He just has to have the final say every time....yawn...
The Robin Reliant Space Shuttle experiment really was brill and dead funny tho' - you gotta give Hamster & the other guy that!
He just has to have the final say every time....yawn...
The Robin Reliant Space Shuttle experiment really was brill and dead funny tho' - you gotta give Hamster & the other guy that!
Edited by RedSpike66 on Sunday 18th February 22:48
slinky said:
We are in the minority, this is programming for the majority..
Does the average joe on the street know the difference between HP and PS? Between lb/ft and Nm? no, they are arbitrary figures to them, the bigger the better..
Does the average joe on the street know the difference between HP and PS? Between lb/ft and Nm? no, they are arbitrary figures to them, the bigger the better..
www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=218056&EL=3146741
Wacky Racer said:
slinky said:
We are in the minority, this is programming for the majority..
Does the average joe on the street know the difference between HP and PS? Between lb/ft and Nm? no, they are arbitrary figures to them, the bigger the better..
Does the average joe on the street know the difference between HP and PS? Between lb/ft and Nm? no, they are arbitrary figures to them, the bigger the better..
www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=218056&EL=3146741
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Peak torque is a pretty meaningless figure anyway, without the revs being quoted and the general shape of the torque curve available for investigation. Given that, and the fact that few journos understand it and even fewer Joe Publics, I don't know why it's even discussed. Power is all that really matters in performance cars.
Didnt grate at all.
I picked up on it and on "carbons" and thought about it for a moment and then decided he was right. Ppl dont know what carbon emmissions are measured in and frankly they dont care. What they will recognise though is if somebody just says 200 carbons. It sounds like common sense, its close enough to what the real technical measurement should for it to be understandable and it is easy to remember. The same applies for his torque comment. Unless you are a sad t
t car geek...which we all are... you arent going to know the measurement involves foots and pounds or Newtons really. Car measurements are now coming in much more commonly in BHP and PS, feets and pounds *and* Newton metres. It is far easier if you just say a number and a catchy unit name...Torques will do as good as anything. We all knew what he meant and others can get the jist.
And no, it doesnt matter he didnt give the measurement scale...those who dont already know dont *want* to know.
I picked up on it and on "carbons" and thought about it for a moment and then decided he was right. Ppl dont know what carbon emmissions are measured in and frankly they dont care. What they will recognise though is if somebody just says 200 carbons. It sounds like common sense, its close enough to what the real technical measurement should for it to be understandable and it is easy to remember. The same applies for his torque comment. Unless you are a sad t
t car geek...which we all are... you arent going to know the measurement involves foots and pounds or Newtons really. Car measurements are now coming in much more commonly in BHP and PS, feets and pounds *and* Newton metres. It is far easier if you just say a number and a catchy unit name...Torques will do as good as anything. We all knew what he meant and others can get the jist. And no, it doesnt matter he didnt give the measurement scale...those who dont already know dont *want* to know.
mars said:
Peak torque is a pretty meaningless figure anyway, without the revs being quoted and the general shape of the torque curve available for investigation.
True, but
mars said:
Power is all that really matters in performance cars.
Not true, peak power with other parameters will determine a car's top speed, otherwise power is just a function of torque and engine speed so your earlier comment is more relevant. Torque is what determines the acceleration so when you drive a car it is the shape and size of the torque curve that you "feel"
DJC said:
Unless you are a sad tt car geek...which we all are... you arent going to know the measurement involves foots and pounds or Newtons really.
t car geek...which we all are... you arent going to know the measurement involves foots and pounds or Newtons really. Or an engineer who knows that a number without units is meaningless and a number with incorrect units is worse, it is misleading. But Clarkson is one of thise journalists who doesn't care about getting things right because the entertainment factor is more important (why spoil a good story with the truth). I'm not saying that is wrong per se, but it is misleading.
What would you think if you bought a car and the seller quoted the price as 15 000 currencies? Sounds ridiculous doesn't it?
Edited by profstoff on Monday 19th February 08:39
profstoff said:
DJC said:
Unless you are a sad tt car geek...which we all are... you arent going to know the measurement involves foots and pounds or Newtons really.
t car geek...which we all are... you arent going to know the measurement involves foots and pounds or Newtons really. Or an engineer who knows that a number without units is meaningless and a number with incorrect units is worse, it is misleading. But Clarkson is one of thise journalists who doesn't care about getting things right because the entertainment factor is more important (why spoil a good story with the truth). I'm not saying that is wrong per se, but it is misleading.
What would you think if you bought a car and the seller quoted the price as 15 000 currencies? Sounds ridiculous doesn't it?
Edited by profstoff on Monday 19th February 08:39
I *am* an engineer and I still said all that. Getting something right is irrelevent when your target doesnt care about the details, its just waste oxygen. They just want the salient bit...the number...what the hell context measurement is is neither here nor there to them. Clarkson could have said pounds, feet, Newtons, Volts, Amps, leptons, etc, etc and 90% of last night's audience would not have been any the wiser and/or cared any less or more or frankly had anymore of a clue what he meant. Only the number mattered purely to convey the impression the bigger the better.
The currency thing is misleading, it is an entirely different situation. One matters, the other does not. The principle is irrelevent.
profstoff said:
DJC said:
Unless you are a sad tt car geek...which we all are... you arent going to know the measurement involves foots and pounds or Newtons really.
t car geek...which we all are... you arent going to know the measurement involves foots and pounds or Newtons really. Or an engineer who knows that a number without units is meaningless and a number with incorrect units is worse, it is misleading. But Clarkson is one of thise journalists who doesn't care about getting things right because the entertainment factor is more important (why spoil a good story with the truth). I'm not saying that is wrong per se, but it is misleading.
What would you think if you bought a car and the seller quoted the price as 15 000 currencies? Sounds ridiculous doesn't it?
Edited by profstoff on Monday 19th February 08:39
Your geographical location and knowledge of the local currency would cover you there.
If you did not understand it then you are either thick or ignorant. If ignorant on this matter you can go and look it up if you wish to, that's a choice we all have. If thick then nobody cares and you are not wanted. We already carry more than enough baggage as a nation.
If people are complaining about this sort of thing then God help this country.
At least people have stopped crying about giving 50p to some air ambulance and not receiving their free colon inspection from Hammond.
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