How to calculate horsepower in an engine. What is torque? What is horsepower? What kind of unit is this, what is it equal to?

In Russia, owners of all types of vehicles, except agricultural ones, are required to pay transport tax annually.

These payments cover the costs of road repairs and maintenance, and also pay for damage to the environment.

The law introduced a unified scale of transport tax on horses, but the Tax Code allows regions to increase and decrease rates at their discretion.

Although horsepower is no longer the official unit of measurement of engine power in the Russian Federation, it is still used when calculating the insurance premium for compulsory motor liability insurance and the transport tax rate.

People themselves are also accustomed to this measurement. At the same time, many are concerned about the question of why the transport tax depends on engine power.

The logic of legislators is clear. The more powerful the car, the larger it is, and accordingly, it creates an increased load on the road surface.

Since repair costs are compensated by taxes, their amount for owners of more powerful vehicles should be more significant.

Engine power is usually measured in horsepower. 1 l. With. shows the power required to lift a load weighing 75 kg to a height of 1 m in 1 s.

Usually this indicator is measured in kW, but the value of l. With. varies in some countries. In Russia, 1 horsepower is equal to 735.5 watts.

There are several methods to determine the horsepower of a vehicle engine:

  1. If you have documents for the car, you need to look at them for the engine serial number. Then you should add the last 6 digits in pairs and divide the result by 8.5. The resulting value is the number of horses.
  2. You can look for a service center that has units for calculating engine power. They allow you to set the value to 100% accurate.
  3. Knowing the power in kW, you should multiply it by 1.35962.
  4. You can divide the car's power by 0.735, but the result will not be as accurate as in the previous case.

The law does not establish a uniform procedure for calculating the number of horsepower, so measurements may be difficult. The tax office recommends rounding the resulting value to two decimal places.

The rate according to the Tax Code depends on the number of litres. With.

Detailed table of transport tax by engine power, current for 2019:

Type of vehicle Engine power, l. With. Tax rate, rub. for 1 l. With.
Cars up to 100 2,5
100,1 — 150 3,5
150,1 — 200 5
200,1 — 250 7,5
from 250.1 15
Trucks up to 100 2,5
100,1 — 150 4
150,1 — 200 5
200,1 — 250 6,5
from 250.1 8,5
Motorcycle/scooter up to 20 1
20,1 — 35 2
from 35.1 5
Bus up to 200 5
from 200.1 10
Snowmobile/motosled up to 50 2,5
from 50.1 5
Speedboat/motorboat up to 100 10
from 100.1 20
Jet Ski up to 100 25
from 100.1 50
Yacht and other motor-sailing vessels up to 100 20
from 100.1 40
Airplane/helicopter and other powered vessels with 1 l. With. — 25
Non-propelled vessel With 1 ton gross tonnage - 20
Airplane with jet engine with 1 kg of traction force – 20
Other vehicles without engine from 1 unit TS – 200

Thus, the transport tax changes depending on the engine power: the greater it is, the higher the rate.

For example, the tax on cars and trucks changes every 50 horsepower. If the rate is 150 l. With. equals 5, then for 170 horses it is the same, but for 200 horses it will already be higher.

For other types of transport, most often there are only 2 tax rates - one for engine power up to 100 hp. s., the other - for a power of more than 100 hp. With.

If we consider what the transport tax is for 150 horses in different regions, it turns out that in some regions of the Russian Federation it is zero, and in others it reaches 25 rubles. for 1 l. With.

This variation is explained by current legislation. Regional authorities have the right, at their discretion, to reduce or increase the rate tenfold.

For example, for cars with engines up to 100 hp. With. The tax rate in the Perm Territory, Vologda Region, Bashkiria and Sakhalin is a maximum of 25 rubles.

In the Kaluga, Kaliningrad, Tomsk regions, Khakassia and North Ossetia, this figure is significantly lower - 5-6 rubles.

In the Khanty-Mansi and Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, as well as in Chechnya, the tax rate is zero for vehicles with an engine power of up to 150 horses.

How to calculate the amount of payments?

Vehicle owners do not need to calculate the amount of tax - the Federal Tax Service will do this for them.

Federal Law No. 52 of 04/02/14 requires citizens to independently register their vehicles, which are subsequently subject to tax. Otherwise, the car owner faces a fine.

Another situation with legal entities. Their law obliges them to independently calculate their transport tax and submit data to the Federal Tax Service in a timely manner.

It is not difficult to make such calculations: you need to clarify the tax rate at the place of registration, and then simply multiply it by the number of horses in the car.

Transport tax is levied on all vehicles equipped with engines.

However, there are exceptions to this rule. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation clearly defines until how many horses the transport tax is not paid.

It is not charged for cars with a power of up to 100 horses, purchased with the assistance of social services, and motor boats with a power of no more than 5 horses.

Regardless of the number of l. s., vessels used by industrial enterprises for fishing and transporting goods, as well as agricultural machinery, are not taxed.

In many regions, a zero tax rate also applies to cars converted for the needs of disabled people, and for cars of large families.

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2 comments

    Hello. Please tell me, I am a combat veteran, registered in Moscow. I have a VOLVO S80 car. 204 hp I know that I don't pay tax up to 200 hp. Will I pay the full car tax or will there be any discounts for me? Thanks in advance.

Traditionally, car engine power is measured in horsepower (hp). The term was coined by Scottish engineer and inventor James Watt in 1789 to demonstrate the numerical advantage of his steam engines over horses.

This is a historical unit of measurement of power. It is not part of the International System of Units (SI) and is not unified and generally accepted, nor is it derived from the unified SI units. Different countries have developed different numerical values ​​for horsepower. Power is more accurately described by the watt, introduced in 1882. In practice, kilowatts (kW, kW) are more often used.

In many PTS, the engine is still characterized by the number of “horses”. When this value needs to be converted into kilowatts, the main thing to remember is how many kilowatts are in horsepower. There are few calculation methods; with their help, values ​​are calculated quickly and easily.

How to convert horsepower to kW

There are several options for the mutual translation of these units of measurement:

  1. Online calculators. The easiest and fastest way. Requires constant access to the Internet.
  2. Correspondence tables. Contains the most frequently occurring values ​​and is always at hand.
  3. Translation formulas. Knowing the exact correspondence of units, you can quickly convert one number to another and vice versa.

In practice, the following numerical values ​​are used:

  • 1 l. With. = 0.735 kW;
  • 1 kW = 1.36 l. With.

The second correspondence is most often used: numbers greater than one are easier to work with. To carry out calculations, the kW indicator is multiplied by this coefficient. The calculation looks like this:

88 kW x 1.36 = 119.68 = 120 l. With.

The reverse calculation – conversion from “horses” to kW – is carried out by division:

150 l. With. / 1.36 = 110.29 = 110 kW.

For ease of calculation, the value is 1.36 liters. With. often rounded to 1.4. This calculation gives an error, but for the general conversion of kilowatts into horsepower with an approximate estimate of power, this is enough.

Why 0.735 kW

1 l. With. approximately equal to the value of 75 kgf/m/s - this is an indicator of the force required to lift a load weighing 75 kg to a height of 1 m in 1 second. Different countries use different types of this unit with different meanings:

  • metric = 0.735 kW (used in Europe, used in standard conversion from kW to hp);
  • mechanical = 0.7457 kW (previously used in England and English-speaking countries, almost out of use);
  • electric = 0.746 kW (used for marking electric motors);
  • boiler = 9.8 kW (used in the USA in the energy sector and industry);
  • hydraulic = 0.7457.

In Russia, the European, called metric horsepower is used, equal to 0.735 kW. It has been formally withdrawn from use, but continues to be used in calculating taxes.

Practical aspect

The amount of transport tax in Russia depends on engine power. In this case, the unit of account is taken as l. pp.: the tax rate is multiplied by their number. The number of payment categories depends on the region. For example, in Moscow there are 8 categories for passenger cars (prices are valid for 2018):

  • up to 100 l. With. = 12 rub.;
  • 101-125 l. With. = 25 rub.;
  • 126-150 l. With. = 35 rub.;
  • 151-175 l. With. = 45 rub.;
  • 176-200 l. With. = 50 rub.;
  • 201-225 l. With. = 65 rub.;
  • 226-250 l. With. = 75 rub.;
  • from 251 l. With. = 150 rub.

The price is given for 1 liter. With. Accordingly, with a power of 132 hp. With. the car owner will pay 132 x 35 = 4620 rubles. in year.

Previously, in the UK, France, Belgium, Spain, and Germany, vehicle tax depended on the number of “horses”. With the introduction of the kilowatt, some countries (France) abandoned l. With. completely in favor of the new universal unit, in others (Great Britain) the size of the car began to be taken into account as the basis of the transport tax. In the Russian Federation, the tradition of using the old unit of measurement is still observed.

In addition to calculating transport tax, in Russia this unit is used in motor vehicle liability insurance (MTPL): when calculating premiums for compulsory insurance of vehicle owners.

Another practical application, now of a technical nature, is calculating the actual power of a car engine. When measuring, the terms gross and net are used. Gross measurements are carried out on a stand without taking into account the operation of related systems - generator, cooling system pump, etc. The gross value is always higher, but does not show the power produced under normal conditions. If the kilowatts indicated in the documents are converted into l. With. In this way, only the amount of engine work can be estimated.

For an accurate assessment of the power of the mechanism, this is impractical, since the error will be 10-25%. In this case, the actual performance of the engine will be overestimated, and when calculating transport tax and compulsory motor liability insurance, prices will be increased, since each unit of power is paid for.

Net measurement on a bench is aimed at analyzing the operation of the machine under normal conditions, with all auxiliary systems. The net value is smaller, but more accurately reflects the power under normal conditions with all systems operating.

A dynamometer, a device connected to the engine, will help you measure power more accurately. It places a load on the engine and measures the amount of energy delivered by the engine against the load. Some car services offer the use of dynos for such measurements.

You can also measure the power yourself, but with some error. By connecting a laptop to the car with a cable and launching a special application, you can record the engine power in kW or hp. at different speeds. The advantage of this option is that the program will display the calculation error immediately after the control assessment, and will also immediately convert from kilowatts to horsepower if the measurement was carried out in SI units.

Non-system units of measurement are gradually becoming a thing of the past. Power values ​​are increasingly specified in watts. However, as long as horsepower is used, there will be a need to convert it.

Let's look at 5 popular methods how to calculate car engine power using data like:

  • engine speed,
  • engine volume,
  • torque,
  • effective pressure in the combustion chamber,
  • fuel consumption,
  • injector performance,
  • machine weight
  • acceleration time to 100 km.

Each of the formulas that will be used to produce engine power calculation the car is quite relative and cannot determine with 100% accuracy the real horsepower of the driving car. But by making calculations for each of the above garage options, based on one or another indicator, you can calculate, at least, the average value, whether it’s a stock or a tuned engine, literally with 10 percent error.

Power- the energy generated by the engine is converted into torque on the output shaft of the internal combustion engine. This is not a constant value. Next to the maximum power values, the speed at which it can be achieved is always indicated. The maximum point is reached at the highest average effective pressure in the cylinder (depending on the quality of filling with fresh fuel mixture, combustion completeness and heat losses). Modern engines produce the greatest power on average at 5500–6500 rpm. In the automotive industry, engine power is measured in horsepower. Therefore, since most results are displayed in kilowatts, you will need

How to calculate power through torque

The simplest calculation of car engine power is possible determine by the dependence of torque and revolutions.

Torque

The force multiplied by the leverage of its application, which the engine can produce to overcome certain resistance to movement. Determines how quickly the motor reaches maximum power. Calculation formula for torque based on engine volume:

Micro = VHxPE/0.12566, Where

  • VH – engine displacement (l),
  • PE – average effective pressure in the combustion chamber (bar).
Engine speed

Crankshaft rotation speed.

The formula for calculating the power of an internal combustion engine of a car is as follows:

P = Mkr * n/9549 [kW], Where:

  • Mcr – engine torque (Nm),
  • n – crankshaft speed (rpm),
  • 9549 is a coefficient so that the revolutions can be substituted in rpm, and not in alpha cosines.

Since according to the formula, we get the result in kW, then, if necessary, you can also convert to horsepower or simply multiply by a factor of 1.36.

Using these formulas is the easiest way to convert torque to power.

And in order not to go into all these details, a quick calculation of the power of an internal combustion engine online can be done using our calculator.

If you do not know the torque of your car’s engine, then to determine its power in kilowatts you can also use a formula of this form:

Ne = Vh * pe * n/120(kW), where:

  • Vh - engine volume, cm³
  • n - rotation speed, rpm
  • pe is the average effective pressure, MPa (for conventional gasoline engines it is about 0.82 - 0.85 MPa, for forced ones - 0.9 MPa, and for diesel engines from 0.9 and to 2.5 MPa, respectively).

To obtain engine power in “horses” rather than kilowatts, the result should be divided by 0.735.

Calculation of engine power based on air flow

The same approximate calculation of engine power can be determined by air flow. The function of such a calculation is available to those who have an on-board computer installed, since it is necessary to record the flow rate when the car engine, in third gear, is spun up to 5.5 thousand revolutions. We divide the resulting value from the mass air flow sensor by 3 and get the result.

Gw [kg]/3=P[hp]

This calculation, like the previous one, shows gross power (bench test of the engine without taking into account losses), which is 10-20% higher than the actual one. It is also worth considering that the readings of the mass air flow sensor are highly dependent on its contamination and calibrations.

Calculation of power by weight and acceleration time to hundreds

Another interesting way to calculate engine power using any type of fuel, be it gasoline, diesel or gas, is by acceleration dynamics. To do this, using the weight of the car (including the pilot) and acceleration time to 100 km. And in order for the Power Calculation Formula to be as close to the truth as possible, it is also necessary to take into account slipping losses depending on the type of drive and the speed of reaction of different gearboxes. The approximate loss at start for front-wheel drive will be 0.5 seconds. and 0.3-0.4 for rear-wheel drive cars.

Using this internal combustion engine power calculator, which will help determine the engine power based on the dynamics of acceleration and weight, you can quickly and accurately find out the power of your iron horse without delving into the technical characteristics.

Calculation of internal combustion engine power based on injector performance

An equally effective indicator of the power of a car engine is. Previously, we looked at its calculation and relationship, therefore, it will not be difficult to calculate the amount of horsepower using the formula. The estimated power is calculated according to the following scheme:

Where, the load factor is no more than 75-80% (0.75...0.8), the mixture composition at maximum performance is somewhere around 12.5 (rich), and the BSFC coefficient will depend on what kind of engine you have, naturally aspirated or turbocharged (atmo - 0.4-0.52, for turbo - 0.6-0.75).

Having found out all the necessary data, enter the indicators into the corresponding cells of the calculator and by clicking the “Calculate” button you will immediately receive a result that will show the real engine power of your car with a slight error. Please note that you do not necessarily need to know all the parameters presented; you can clear the power of the internal combustion engine using a separate method.

The value of the functionality of this calculator lies not in calculating the power of a stock car, but if your car has been tuned and its weight and power have undergone some changes.

In practice, this is obvious. But how can you calculate the power of a car engine in another way? It's very simple: if you want to find out how much horsepower is in a car's engine, you connect the engine to a special dynamometer. A dynamometer places a load on the engine and measures the amount of energy the engine can develop against the load. But, nevertheless, in order to calculate the engine power, there is one more step that must be overcome, and we will talk about this now.

Torque

Imagine that you have a large socket wrench with a handle on it that is 1 meter long, and you press on it with a weight of 100 grams. What you are doing is called applying, which also has its own unit of measurement, and in this case it is calculated as 1 newton*meter (N*m) because you are pressing 100 grams (which is approximately equal to 1 Newton) with a "leverage" "1 meter. You can get the same 1 Nm if, for example, you press a 1 kg weight on a socket wrench with a handle length of 10 cm.

Likewise, if you attach a motor shaft instead of a socket wrench, the motor will provide some torque to the shaft. A dynamometer measures this torque. And then you can easily convert torque into horsepower using a simple formula and thus calculate the power of the car. This formula looks like this:

Engine power = (Revolutions per minute * Torque)/5252.

You can get an idea of ​​how a dynamometer works like this: Imagine turning on your car's engine in neutral and pressing the accelerator pedal to the floor. The engine will run so fast that it may explode. This is not good, but with the help of a dynamometer you can measure the engine torque at different speeds. You can connect the engine to a dynamometer, step on the gas pedal, and put enough load on the engine in the dyno to keep it running at, say, 7,000 rpm. You write down on paper what maximum load the engine can handle. Then you begin to apply additional load to reduce the engine speed to 6,500 rpm and record the load again in a new mode. Then you will load the engine down to 6,000 rpm, and so on. You can do the same all the way down to the critically low 500 or 1,000 rpm. What dynamometers do is actually measure torque and then convert the torque into horsepower, calculating horsepower.

However, although torque increases along with power as the speed increases, the power value is not always directly proportional to torque. Yes, yes If you plot power and torque against engine RPM in 500 RPM increments, what you end up with is an engine power curve. A typical power curve for a high-performance engine might look like this (using a 300-horsepower Mitsubishi 3000 as an example):


This graph indicates that any engine has peak power, which can be calculated with a dynamometer - the value of revolutions per minute at which engine power reaches its maximum. The engine also has maximum torque within a certain RPM range. You can often see in the technical specifications of cars an indication like “123 hp at 4,600 rpm, 155 Nm at 4,200 rpm.” Also, when people say that an engine is “low-speed” or “high-speed,” what they mean is that the engine’s maximum torque is achieved at a fairly low or high speed, respectively (for example, they are low-speed in nature, and therefore (but not only for this reason) they are often used on trucks and tractors, but gasoline engines, on the contrary, are high-speed).

Horsepower is certainly one of the most ironic units of measurement. Its presence in mechanical form has practically eliminated the need to use “biological” horsepower, but we still measure the power of any car in the good old “horses”. Imagine if we were still judging the brightness of a light bulb in candles! So where did this term come from?

It turns out that it was invented by James Watt, a famous Scottish engineer and inventor. In 1763 he was asked to repair a working model of Newcomen's steam engine. The prototype was equipped with a two-inch cylinder and had a piston stroke of six inches. After a series of experiments, Watt replaced the metal cylinder with a wooden one lubricated with linseed oil and dried in an oven, and also reduced the amount of water raised per cycle.

The prototype worked, and the inventor became convinced of the inefficiency of the steam engine and made numerous improvements to the design, which increased productivity by more than four times. As a result, Watt's work marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, first in England and then throughout the world. But in order for steam engines to sell well, buyers needed to clearly and clearly explain their advantages.

For example, to demonstrate how many horses can be replaced by these same steam engines. At that time, in England, barrels with a volume of 140.9 to 190.9 liters were used to lift coal, water and people from mines. One barrel weighed 172.4 kilograms, and two horses could pull such a barrel using a rope thrown over a block. The effort of an average horse during 8 hours of work is 15% of its weight or 75 kilogram-force for a horse weighing 500 kg.

Watt concluded that a 180-kilogram barrel could be pulled out of a shaft by two horses at a speed of 2 mph. Then, multiplying ½ barrel by 2 mph, we find that one horsepower is equal to 1 barrel · mph. Rounding the calculations to pound-feet per minute, the inventor decided that the horsepower would be 33,000 pound-feet per minute. In most European countries and Russia, horsepower is defined as 75 kgf m/s, that is, as the power expended during a uniform vertical lift of a load weighing 75 kg at a speed of 1 m/s and standard acceleration of gravity.

In this case, 1 hp. is exactly 735.49875 watts - this value is also called “metric horsepower”. At the Second Congress of the British Scientific Association in 1882, a new unit of power was adopted - the "watt", named, in fact, in honor of James Watt. But instead of virtual watts, we prefer to use good old horsepower. Agree, it’s much clearer this way.