What does this mean “261 lb-ft of torque” in a car

Question

I know torque means acceleration speed, but what does 261 lbs ft mean

In: Other

Answer 1

It is a measure of twistiness. It means the cars engine can twist the driveshaft with the same amount of twistiness as a 261 foot long wrench with a 1 pound weight attached to it, or a 1 foot wrench with a 261 lb weight attacked to it.

Pounds are a unit of force, but since cars use rotation to move you want to know how that force is applied. Try closing a door from the doorknob and then from near the hinges, if the same force is applied the door will close easier when you push near the knob, because there is more torque. The engine has to twist the drive shaft which twists the wheels (oversimplifying of course), so the more twistiness the engine can produce the faster it can make the wheels go from not spinning to spinning very fast. This matters when you want to accelerate quickly.