How to read specs

A short guide to the numbers on every engine page, and which way is better.

Engine

Power (Hp): How much work the engine can do; it mostly decides top speed and how hard the car pulls at high revs. Higher is stronger.
Torque (Nm): The twisting force the engine delivers. Lots of torque at low rpm makes a car feel effortless in everyday driving, which is why diesels feel strong despite less power.
“Power at” / “Torque at” (rpm): The engine speed where the peak is reached. A range like 1,750–2,500 rpm means the peak is held across that band.

Acceleration 0–100 km/h: Seconds from standstill to 100 km/h, as published by the manufacturer. Lower is quicker. The 0–60 mph figure is calculated from it. 0–200 km/h isn’t published by manufacturers, so it’s only shown where a road test measured it.
Maximum speed: Many German cars are electronically limited to 250 km/h, so several engines can share the same figure.
Fuel consumption: Litres per 100 km: lower is more efficient. “Urban” is city driving, “extra urban” is open road, and “combined” mixes both and is the best single number to compare. In imperial units this becomes miles per US gallon, where higher is better.

Kerb weight: The car ready to drive with fluids and a mostly full tank, without passengers or luggage.
Trunk (boot) space: Minimum is with all seats up; maximum is with the rear seats folded.

A range such as 5.4 - 5.5 l/100 km means the figure depends on wheels, tyres or equipment.
A dash (—) means the value hasn’t been published.
A slash (/) means the figure doesn’t apply, for example 0–200 km/h for a car whose top speed is below 200 km/h.
Figures come from the manufacturer’s official technical data where it’s available. When another published source gives a different figure, it’s shown underneath as “Also published”, as data can change between model years and markets.
Use the units button in the header to switch between metric and imperial; your choice is remembered.
On a generation page you can sort the engine list by power, acceleration, top speed or consumption, and the compare page puts two engines side by side.