2000 Bentley Continental T

Wonderfully Nauseous
It's odd that horsepower has always been the "bragging rights" number. You know: "How many horses 'ya got unner the hood?" Don't get me wrong; horsepower is cool, but it's mountains of torque that give you that wonderfully nauseous feeling in your gut from too many high-g launches. For me, it's the Viper all the way, though the V-12s from BMW and Ferrari are alluring. They're certainly powerful, and plenty fast in a velvet-covered-fist kind of way. But if we're talking fists here, then the maximum-strength Dodge V-10 becomes the case-hardened steel one. Booting the Viper in second gear at 3000 rpm yields all the information about torque anyone should need to know.
-Matt Stone

Torquenstein
The question comes up about as often as a baby's breakfast: "What car would you own, if... For this test I cooked up a Frankenstein vehicle with the gorgeous Ferrari body, Bentley's awesome engine and dash, comfy Corvette cockpit, and Jaguar stealthiness. But when I really got to thinking about it, nearly all of those things already exist in the Jaguar XJR. The XJR is so elegant that I could [and did] drive it to and from my wedding. It's so surprisingly fast that I could [and did] annihilate some wrist-driving wanker in a so-called musclecar. And it's so comfortable that I could [and did] drive it in tedious L.A. traffic without a worry or gripe. This car will undoubtedly be remembered as "that really fast Jaguar" and, like the legendary Pontiac GTO, will win bench racing wars for years to come.
-Chris Walton

Torque is power......in more ways than the obvious. Sure, it can be showy; it can be framed in tire smoke and squealing rubber. But the essence of having 350 or more pound-feet of torque at your disposal is the unadulterated, self-ingratiating, instantaneous power to make things happen now. It's passing on a twisty two-lane road in a slim window of opportunity that would have other drivers clutching their wheels in impatience. It's being able to accelerate cleanly out of every corner while climbing a steep mountain road, while less-equipped drivers are learning the virtue of patience. It's being able to milk the best from every road, whether snaking backcountry byway or high-speed autobahn. Torque, to me, is never being at a loss for power.
-Rik Paul