What is "Fast"?

I also think anything under 8 seconds & top speed over 120 mph is nippy. I really can't call it average... Average is what I call the average 1.6 focus/astra around here.

So, what is "Fast" to you? A Zero to sixty time within X amount of seconds? An impressive top speed? Absolutely relentless acceleration? Something that is just a little bit quicker than your average family car? Or do you subscribe to the "Screw all of this straight line willy waving, it's the corners and only the corners where it counts" mode of thought?
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Zero to sixty yeah.
Top speed yeah.
Faster than an average family car yeah.
Quick cornering means bugger all to me but I guess that differs per area where you live in, nothing but flat & straight roads here.
 
fast is different things to different people.

To your nan, a BMW 330D that will do 0-60 in around 6 seconds will seem like a saturn 5 rocket.

To somebody who drives a ferrari Enzo every weekend however, a 330D must seem like its going backwards

Only when we all realise that different people have different perceptions of speed can this discussion move on.

I think the differences in the first 40 posts or so already highlight that !
 
Morba said:
Bored by the start of this thread already.

Day to day normal car - 8s 0-60 is fast.
Compared to supercars or heavily modded cars - 8s is terrible.
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MrLOL said:
fast is different things to different people.

To your nan, a BMW 330D that will do 0-60 in around 6 seconds will seem like a saturn 5 rocket.

To somebody who drives a ferrari Enzo every weekend however, a 330D must seem like its going backwards

Only when we all realise that different people have different perceptions of speed can this discussion move on.

I think the differences in the first 40 posts or so already highlight that !
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This is just it, its entirely subjective and relative.

Stats also can't be used in isolation, handling and feel have a lot to do with how fast a car feels. Pretty pointless discussion IMO
 
On paper my 400bhp car is fast with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds but it doesn't 'feel' fast. The speedo says otherwise though. My 300bhp Astra VXR was fast too with a 0-60 time of 5.8 seconds but it actualy felt fast due to the power delivery.
 
For a car enthusiast? 8 seconds isnt fast.

For everyone else in the real world, 8 seconds is fast. I gave a lift to a friend at Uni once who was utterly amazed when I replied with '3.0' when they asked how big the engine was, and followed up the answer with 'Whoa and I thought my mates 1.9 TDI Golf was proper fast!'.

Most cars on the road do 0-60 in considerably more than 9 seconds, frankly, let alone 8.
 
The other thing too, hence why I referred to drivers in my OP, is that most people may have a car that'll do 60 in under so much a time but whether they can actually get it to do it, or have the commitment or lack of mechanical sympathy to do it, is another thing altogether.

When they get into the car with someone who drives it properly it seems 'fast'.
 
Joe T said:
It all depends on context.

/end thread.
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R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
No offence mate, but I find that comment laughable - Given that I am often held up by cars despite my 9.54* BHP per ton kind of puts that in perspective for me.... ;)

*420BHP HGV @ 44ton Gross weight....
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How is it laughable when a power to weight ratio/drag coefficient is the first thing to consider when designing a fast car?

I shall expand on my previous post, the origional question was,

"What is fast" referring to a car, not a truck or the fact that if someone holds you up in traffic and your speed drops by 10mph you have to drop several gears to get back into the power band again.

A fast car is a car designed with 300+ ftlb torque per tonne and 300bhp+ against a drag coefficient of between 2.5-3.4. They could use a lower Cd however this would sacrifice downforce and in turn the cars handling. These figures are for a road car. Formula 1 cars are an execption with a significantly hight Cd otherwise they would take off.

I base this on the fact that a cars acceleration is based upon torque to weight upto around 80mph and bhp to aerodynamics ie Cd at speeds above that.

I could go further into gear ratios against acceleration, top speed and the range of the power band within an engine revolutions but its a Sunday.

As said previously in the thread and rightly so. A fast car is based on the drivers perspective. The above is my perspective but i'm use to rally/track cars.
 
Why do people think 0-60 is the bee all and end of?

In that case my EVO is stupidly fast with a 4.1s 0-60mph time, when infact its not a stupidly fast car at all, yes its a quick car, but not as fast as its 0-60mph would have you believe.

Now the Mustang was a fast car, yet it was slower 0-60mph but it was hugely faster than the EVO.

So please forget 0-60 its rather meaningless when were talking about fast cars, the EVO is quick, the mustang is FAST.

Another example is an E46 M3, with a 0-60 of 5s and yet a Subaru Impreza can also hit 60mph in 5s, are they the same speed, no way, the M3 will walk away from an Impreza above 80mph.
 
Gibbo said:
Why do people think 0-60 is the bee all and end of?

In that case my EVO is stupidly fast with a 4.1s 0-60mph time, when infact its not a stupidly fast car at all, yes its a quick car, but not as fast as its 0-60mph would have you believe.

Now the Mustang was a fast car, yet it was slower 0-60mph but it was hugely faster than the EVO.

So please forget 0-60 its rather meaningless when were talking about fast cars, the EVO is quick, the mustang is FAST.
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not sure I agree, the mustang was quick in areas the evo would be FAST :)

I guess it comes down to the 'twisties' though... god did I just say that
 
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