I'm not trying to start or contribute to any flame wars, I just wanted to make one small point about torque (with regards to the F1 engine example):
Horsepower is derived as a function of torque. I believe the equation is horsepower = torque * (rpm/5250). Because of this, you will notice that on any correct dyno graph, the HP and torque will always cross at 5250rpm. Torque will always be higher than HP before that point, and lower after that point.
I belive a google search for "horsepower formula" will yield tons of pages explaing this in greater depth.
There are two basic ways to increase horsepower:
A. Increase torque
B. Spin the engine really fast
Formula 1 engines choose the latter route: they may only produce 400 lb/ft of torque, but they make crazy horsepower figures by revving the engine to over 10,000rpm.
I believe that in general, having a longer stroke will tend to produce more low-end torque, while having a shorter stroke will tend to be more friendly to revving to high RPM (because of lower piston velocity).
I freely admit that that I'm talking from my arse, but I'm pretty sure I'm right on all these points. I'm just tossing this in because this is something I had been trying to understand for years before I stumbled across that magic google search recently.
