What defines a fast car in 2020?

Dominic-Toretto · 29 Dec 2020 at 16:52

Will Gill said:
I don't think, I know

Also he almost never replies to any of his posts....

I do read through all the responses

I also see many people getting hung up on the "most cars can do under 4s 0 to 60" comment. Performance cars are the reference here. Thought that would be obvious.

Ie: A E92 M3 was doing 3.9 to 60 12 years ago

Akagi · 29 Dec 2020 at 17:04

[TW]Fox said:
No it wasn't. As stated by others above it takes serious performance to do 60-100 in the same time as 0-60. Your own uncalibrated YouTube video calculation misses it by at least 1.5 seconds which is a huge gap in this context.

Because I'm sad I ran it through MPC-HC which has a millisecond readout and it was 5.3 seconds from 0 - 60 (indicated) and 6 seconds dead from 60 - 100 (indicated).

So no, not the same. But not quite 1.5 seconds off.

Squidward said:
I also see many people getting hung up on the "most cars can do under 4s 0 to 60" comment. Performance cars are the reference here. Thought that would be obvious.

Why would it be obvious that you meant something completely different to what you said?

Even your amended statement depends on your definition of a "performance car".

Steven Rimmington · 29 Dec 2020 at 17:27

Any Tesla

Or a Golf GTD. Heard they can do 200mph.

Savan_P · 29 Dec 2020 at 18:47

Audi A6 2.0TDi Avant Special Edition Multitronic

:cool:

TomO · 29 Dec 2020 at 19:46

Squidward said:
Ie: A E92 M3 was doing 3.9 to 60 12 years ago

who quotes 3.9? its early 4s most places, especially 0-62mph(100kph). unless its an american review with 1ft rollout - so add around 0.3s for a real time.

TomO · 29 Dec 2020 at 19:47

WJA96 said:
Yes. 60-100 in the same time as 0-60 is VERY fast. Maybe a Veyron or a Rimac could do it these days.

my remapped F80 M3 essentially was. best times I got were 0-60 3.8s, 0-100 7.7s - so 60-100 was 3.9s. One of the main reasons would be traction limitations.

Diddums · 29 Dec 2020 at 19:47

Will Gill said:
I don't think, I know

Also he almost never replies to any of his posts....

Dunno what you're waffling about mate, even a beetle can do 0-60 in less than 4 seconds

Dominic-Toretto · 29 Dec 2020 at 19:51

TomO said:
who quotes 3.9? its early 4s most places, especially 0-62mph(100kph). unless its an american review with 1ft rollout - so add around 0.3s for a real time.

Car and Driver, yes likely with 1ft rollout. Seems to be some UK reviewers using similar methodology too. Vbox historically logged with 1ft roll out as well.

ninjag · 29 Dec 2020 at 20:09

In-gear acceleration is what I look for. SAAB were always good for this, in their vehicle class of course.

I would love to get an XFR-S, but the potential for some big bills due to inherent faults is too risky for me.

theone8181 · 29 Dec 2020 at 20:31

Bear said:
I’m quite confident that my car can repeatedly do sub 4secs 0-60s on an average UK road. Finding a road that you can do it repeatedly without getting into trouble is another thing altogether

I feel like that needs a car to tell us more. I know the e92 reckons 4s to 60 but it feels so slow, my last car (sorry to mention it, was a 996 turbo with the same power but felt much quicker, and I'm sure it was). And that was a manual Vs dct.

Will Gill · 29 Dec 2020 at 20:49

I have no idea what the percentage is, but I'd happily guess that most cars that can do 0-60 in under 3.5s would have to have 4WD (or a variety thereof), my hairdressing car has 550hp ish, and it struggles hugely for traction when being launched - even with a 30+% power reduction in the first two gears - but once it's stopped spinning it's wicked quick.

Case in point, I had a drag race against my RS6 and it slaughtered me from a standing start (RS6 has no launch control just brake boosting), the opposite was the case once we were rolling.

Nasher · 29 Dec 2020 at 21:05

The V6 Exige (RWD) 410/430 will get to 60 in less than 3.5 sec. Light and RWD really launches from a standstill.

sideways14a · 29 Dec 2020 at 21:07

I class a fast car as one that can take bends and twisters without having to hit the slow down pedal, ok i dont mean doing it in a 3 wheeled 2hp tricycle but you see what i mean.

Bear · 29 Dec 2020 at 21:27

theone8181 said:
I feel like that needs a car to tell us more. I know the e92 reckons 4s to 60 but it feels so slow, my last car (sorry to mention it, was a 996 turbo with the same power but felt much quicker, and I'm sure it was). And that was a manual Vs dct.

It’s an E63S

sideways14a · 29 Dec 2020 at 21:31

Anyone here ever done drag racing, proper drag racing where you get slips n everything - not some podgy bird with a couple of bra's swinging about at traffic lights?

Will Gill · 29 Dec 2020 at 21:32

sideways14a said:
Anyone here ever done drag racing, proper drag racing where you get slips n everything - not some podgy bird with a couple of bra's swinging about at traffic lights?

I like to think I dabbled, my god parents owned santa pod so I spent most of my 20s destroying differentials & clutches (et al!) there

Akagi · 29 Dec 2020 at 21:47

sideways14a said:
Anyone here ever done drag racing, proper drag racing where you get slips n everything - not some podgy bird with a couple of bra's swinging about at traffic lights?

Yes I got an 18.3 in an 89HP diesel Skoda full of stuff

And a 14.88 in a Corolla T-Sport

For some reason I never ended up at Santa Pod in the Volvos.

turbot1984 · 29 Dec 2020 at 21:49

Squidward said:
I do read through all the responses

I also see many people getting hung up on the "most cars can do under 4s 0 to 60" comment. Performance cars are the reference here. Thought that would be obvious.

Ie: A E92 M3 was doing 3.9 to 60 12 years ago

Mine wasn't that fast.... but i had a manual? I realised at the time that 400+ hp was daft for uk roads, but having, say a 700hp Mclaren or Ferrari is nothing to do with being sensible is it? Its about being ostentatious.
So what defines a fast car? A 1.5 MX5 is fast and so is a Chiron, and the new £75k M3, thats fast, its got 510hp, so 170hp more than my 2003 M3, which was also 'fast'.

Chris1712 · 29 Dec 2020 at 21:51

It’s all relative, personally I prefer something which feels fast and involving to something which is just fast on paper. My 4c would get absolutely mauled by most hot hatches nowadays at the traffic light GP, still know which one I’d rather be sat in!

Ninco! · 30 Dec 2020 at 00:13

Comical thread. I love supercars only would I ever buy one - nope.

Firstly who the hell drag races? How many times nowadays, you witness someone in a powerful BMW/Audi blast past and then slam on the anchors as they have overcooked for instance, to exit a dual carriageway?