Time for a rant guys, i've had a really bad day with everybody i know seemingly talking some other language to me, dont ask me why......but i have spent the day confused as hell asto why today seems to be so out of whack. Not this thread per say, but the off tangent nature just prompted me.
Torque is the straight forward torsional force applied to a point at the suggested distance from the centre. So, 1lb.ft torque would be the same as hanging 1lb weight from a 1 foot stick.
Torque in an engine isnt capped, it is the result of the force implied from the burn on the piston, through the mechanical leverage of the conrod onto the crank. So, if you change any factors you will change the torque.
You can alter the force on the piston by changing the amount of pressure within the cylinder, as it isnt the burn which generates the force, but the resultant rise in pressure after it. So, in laymans, if you make the pressure higher by increasing the amount of air and fuel you can fit in the cylinder at any single rpm point, then you will increase torque. Turbos do this artificially, which is why they can make more torque (thus power) at the same rpm levels with the same capacity cylinders.
However, the amount of air you can squeeze in, reffered to as volumetric efficiency, is affected by the efficiency of the engine system itself. And this is what 'tuning' or modifying an engine is all about. We are only trying to increase the VE. We use camshafts that hold the valves open longer, we design induction systems which provide less restriction, more efficient cylinder heads, exhaust systems etc.
But each time we modify one area and increase torque, it will result in a decrease in torque at another point (once we go over a certain level from std). This is because we are trying to increase bhp, and to do that we have to increase the efficiency of the engine at higher rpm's, or rather its ability to hold VE at higher rpm's, but this will decrease efficiency at lower rpm's primarily due to the camshafts design having increased overlap between inlet and exhaust valves, which allows the fresh charge to blow straight through the cylinder.
Ok, this is going absolutely nowhere and i'm makiing zero sense.
In total rant form.
bhp = workdone = force*distance = torque. Increase torque you increase VE. Increase VE = increased system efficiency = increased valve off seat time = longer duration higer lift cams = use of natural phenomenons like inertial ramming from high velocity intake flow, pulse tuning from induction and exhaust lengths = loss of lower rpm efficiency = then torque can be affected by igniton timing factors, which then depend of r/s ratios as to where you want peak pressure to occur after TDC, which then depends on how fact you can get the burn to happen, which depends on det sensitivity, which depends on piston and chamber design, which depends on how well you can manipulate an engines design characteristics. Then going back to rod/stroke ratio you can affect the amount of torque you get from exactly the same burn time and force. Then you have static and dynamic CR's come into affect, which then depends on what engine system your running.
basically you have asked a never ending question........you've asked how to tune an engine.
Torque isnt capped, it all depends on how much you can afford to change within the engine. The limit its currently 'at' is only because nobody has spent more to actually change anything within the engine subtantially and made use of those changes.
What you want to be looking at is area under the graph, peak bhp and even torque numbers mean zilch.
People have written books on the question you asked lol and still not answered it all.......infact, the question will never be answered in full, by anyone!