# Formula for finding the optimal weight for a given torque and vice versa

Whenever i see videos of two trucks pitting with each other to see who has a stronger, i always see comments that sounds like:

If you load the other truck more it would beat the other one

That truck is an all wheel drive and the other is 4 wheel drive

It got me thinking how to you calculate the optimum weight for a given torque of a four wheeled vehicle.

To make everything simple lets assume that out truck is a Tesla truck where each motor can generate torque equally on all the wheels and the wheels are evenly spaced. If the the motor on each wheel can lets say generate a 1000kg-cm of torque how would i find the optimal weight so that the truck can push to its maximum potential.

My follow up question would then be. What happens if the other truck has double the torque at half the weight which one will be able to push better? What would then be the formula for the pushing power?

• Can a light breakdown truck rescue a heavier truck? Answer is yes... – Solar Mike Jan 5 '20 at 20:39

This implies a truck with a smaller torque if loaded say two times as much on each tire as the truck with higher torque will win. $$F_{friction}= weight*\mu$$