The Torque engine needs to be upgraded before any major upgrades to the game can be made. For instance, this could not happen unless Torque was upgraded to a second (or whatever #) version, thus allowing for more wiggle room and expandability.
uhh no
What the engine version is doesn't matter, all that matters is how much work the cider is willing to put into the product. For example achieving x result with engine y or engine z is still possible, just one engine might not require so much effort coding.