The term horsepower is something that I, like most people, have heard a lot throughout the years, both in relation to cars and other vehicles. When it comes to brake horsepower in particular, the definition might be different than what you expected.
What is brake horsepower? Brake horsepower, very similar to regular horsepower, is a measurement of speed and power that is contained in the braking system of a car. More specifically, this calculation will return the result of the power from within the engine, not including any additional power losses.
While the term horsepower is commonly used to measure speed and strength in different aspects, most people are unfamiliar with the concept of brake horsepower. If you were just as curious as me to get all of the details on this subject, the information in this article will provide you with everything you need to know.
What Is Horsepower?
Before we can get too deep into the discussion of brake horsepower, it is important to get a good grasp on the topic of horsepower itself. To begin, we will briefly discuss what horsepower is, when the concept was created, and everything else in between.
Take a look at the list below for a general explanation, and keep reading to find out more.
Horsepower:
- Invented by James Watt
- Measurement of amount of work that could be done in a minute
- Work consisted of a horse lifting coal out of a coal mine
- Horsepower was originally 33,000 foot-pounds
- Can be converted into other units of measurement
- Most commonly used to measure how powerful the engine of a motorized vehicle is
Horsepower was initially invented by someone named James Watt several years ago. It is defined as the measurement of the amount of work that can be done in a minute. The work that is describe in this definition referred to how much coal a single horse could lift out of a coal mine in just sixty seconds.
Originally, horsepower was considered to be 33,000 foot-pounds, however, it can be converted into almost any other unit of measurement in the current day, such as watts.
The most common use for horsepower today, though, is to measure how powerful the engine of a motorized vehicle is. If you have ever looked into fast and exotic cars, you might have heard this term in connection with the vehicle.
However, this is still a separate concept from brake horsepower, which we will get into in the next section.
What Is Brake Horsepower?
Now that we hove covered the basic explanation of what horsepower is on its own, we will be able to answer the main question of what brake horsepower is.
In the list below, you will find an outline describing the characteristics of brake horsepower, with some comparisons to the traditional concept of horsepower that was described previously.
Brake Horsepower:
- Measures the horsepower of the car’s engine
- Does not include the power loss that is incurred by the engine (ie generator, gearbox, etc.)
- Torque of engine is measured by applying break to the flywheel (must use a torque converter for traditional horsepower)
- Measured without any additional tools
Brake horsepower is very specific to measuring the horsepower of the engine of a car. The result of this measurement does not include the power loss that is incurred by the engine from the generator, gearbox, or any other individual component inside of the engine.
The torque of the engine is measured by applying break to the flywheel, instead of using a torque converter like you would in order to measure traditional horsepower. In other words, it does not require any additional tools to find the brake horsepower, which is something that the two units do not have in common.
How To Calculate Horse Power
After reading all about what horsepower is and how it can apply to the brakes of your vehicle, it is realistic that you would become curious about how to find out the brake horsepower in your own car. In this section, we will be going over how you can calculate this number.
Take a look at the simple breakdown that is listed below. It will explain the process of calculating horsepower with just one easy equation involving only two steps.
How To Calculate Horse Power:
- Multiply the torque and engine speed together
- Divide by the average rate of radians per second that define horsepower
In order to calculate the horsepower of your car, you will need to multiply the torque and engine speed together. This will obviously require you to find the values of these credentials before you are able to begin your calculations.
After you have found these values, you will be able to plug them in to the horsepower equation, which will involve dividing the entire result by the average rate of radians per second that define horsepower, which is 5,252 radians.
For a more simple explanation of this concept, the list down below will outline the actual formula of this equation. With the values that you have located, from the engine speed to the torque, you will be able to easily plug them in and find the actual horsepower levels of your vehicle.
Horse Power Calculation Formula:
- Formula: (RPM * T) / 5252=HP
- RPM = speed of the engine
- T = torque
- 5,252 = radians per second
As you can see, the formula for the horsepower equation begins with multiplying the speed of the engine by the torque. This step should be completed first, since it is in parenthesis.
The result of this calculation should then be divided by 5,252 radians, which will ultimately return the result of the horsepower levels in your vehicle.
As you can see, calculating the horsepower of your very own car or truck is not only possible, but it is also a very simple process. Through the multiplication and division of three simple values, you are able to return the final result of horsepower.
How To Test The Brake Horsepower Of Your Car
For a more simple way to find the brake horsepower of your car, without doing any math, you can conduct a test instead. The list below will outline the possibilities for testing BHP in cars.
Testing BHP In Cars:
- Place the engine on a test bed
- Run the car on a rolling road to measure power in wheels
The first option for testing the brake horsepower of your car is to place the engine on a test bed. This will obviously require you to have access to this kind of equipment so that you can put the car on top and quickly find out how much brake horsepower is contained in your engine.
If you are not able to get your hands on an engine test bed, you can perform another test instead. This one will involve running the car on a rolling road to measure the power in the wheels.
As you can see, the concept of brake horsepower is very similar to regular horsepower in theory, only it applies directly to the braking power of an automobile.
The term horsepower has been around for years, and has become associated with high levels of speed and power. When paired with the engine of a vehicle, it can become an advanced feature and even an attractive selling point.
If you were interested in brake horsepower before you began reading this article, you have probably learned everything that you wanted to know, along with some additional tips that you might not have expected to pick up.
