The more torque an engine has, the more pull (or acceleration) it offers at lower revs. Torque refers to the amount of pulling power an engine delivers when working at different speeds. A kilowatt (kW) of power equates to around 1.34bhp.

You may see some carmakers quoting the power of their engines in kilowatts – especially on the continent – but this measurement is used far less frequently than PS or bhp. One PS is about 98.6% of a brake horsepower – the two are virtually interchangeable, and PS is sometimes referred to as 'metric horsepower'.

PS explainedĪlthough it’s still commonly used by carmakers, PS or Pferdestärke (horse strength in German) was actually replaced by kW as the EU's ‘legal’ measurement of engine power in 1992. We review all types of cars including city, electric and estate cars best sports cars. For example, an entry-level Toyota iQ has a 68bhp engine, while a supercharged Jaguar XF packs 503bhp. Powerful engines have a higher bhp figure. Unlike ‘horsepower’, which refers to an engine’s total output, brake horsepower only looks at the amount of energy left once other parts such as the gearbox, alternator and water pump have all been powered. It's measured at the road wheels, not at the flywheel. What is bhp?īrake horsepower – or bhp – is the most widely used measure of engine power alongside PS (see below), although it's often not clear which unit manufacturers are using in their brochures. This handy calculator lets you convert quickly and easily between the three main measurements used – bhp, kW and PS. There are other units of measurement, including: MHz (megahertz), GHz (gigahertz), cps (cycles per second), rpm (revolutions per minute), BPM (beats per minute), among others.Carmakers sometimes quote the power outputs of their engines using different units, which can be confusing when you're trying to compare new cars. The International System of Units (SI), uses the rotation per second as standard, the hertz (Hs) was defined to represent the frequency measurement unit. We also have the sound frequency, statistical frequency, which follow the same pattern as the electric one, that is, it is the number of cycles or events that occur in a unit of time. In the area of circuits and energy, we have the electrical frequency, which determines the oscillations per second in the alternating electrical current. It is the quantity that quantifies the number of occurrences of the same event during a certain period of time (cycles, turns, oscillations, etc.).

Bpm to rpm converter