Is it just us, or does the center gauge on this 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe say "torque"? If it does, then its the first car we know of to come with a torquemeter. What function could a torquemeter have and how does it work?
The photo above comes from what appears to be the first images of the new Genesis Coupe's interior captured by TheKoreanCarBlog, which also has more images of the car in case you've been in a self-imposed Hyundai media blackout for the last week. It appears to say "torque" though could also say lots of other stuff.
Torque is the mechanical work performed by and engine. Commonly expressed in Lb-Ft, that's force times distance, so the amount of force it can exert on a one-foot arm extending from the crank. Commonly ignored in favor of sexier horsepower, it's torque you actually feel when your car accelerates.
So why include a torque meter? Well, there's no real practical application. Knowing the number of Lb-Ft or Newton Meters or whatever that your engine is kicking out isn't really going to help inform your driving. Instead, it's likely just a whizz-bang feature that you can brag about to your friends. "Torque just kicked in, yo!"
And how does the torque meter work? Well, it's unlikely that Hyundai has installed some sort of portable dynamometer on the Genesis Coupe, so it's probably just a basic calculation done using revs. A little gremlin sits behind that dash with a spreadsheet, reading the tachometer and then displaying the amount of torque the engine is said to produce at whatever RPMs the engine happens to be at. Neat, but useless.
UPDATE: A commenter points out that the Tiburon had one. The current Genesis has a digital one, which isn't as cool. The Camaro SS was also apparently supposed to have one.