What defines a fast car?
Discussion
Surely what is fast is dependent on the roads it is used on. An S type Merc could be considered fast on German autobahns but around the lanes of the Lake District it would be quite slow compared to many other cars.
Conversely something that covers the narrow twisty lanes quickly could be very slow on autobahns in comparison to other vehicles.
On a rutted forest track a V8 Defender could even be considered fast but on anything else it would be positively slow in comparison.
For me a fast car is anything that can make my heart pump faster and get some adrenaline flowing and that largely depends on the road its on. Motorways rarely do that for me.'B roads on the other hand can (even with as little as 100hp under the right foot).
Conversely something that covers the narrow twisty lanes quickly could be very slow on autobahns in comparison to other vehicles.
On a rutted forest track a V8 Defender could even be considered fast but on anything else it would be positively slow in comparison.
For me a fast car is anything that can make my heart pump faster and get some adrenaline flowing and that largely depends on the road its on. Motorways rarely do that for me.'B roads on the other hand can (even with as little as 100hp under the right foot).
king fast'. 
It does rather amuse me that if you take the most searching standard so far on this thread, cars that are not considered to even be fast would include the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, the Ascari KZ1 and the Ultima GTR 5.7 litre. One wonders what you'd call them...nippy?
Perhaps we should say that the answer to "what defines a fast car" should be, "being one of the top 3 fastest road cars that have ever existed" and literally everything is slow.
Perhaps we should say that the answer to "what defines a fast car" should be, "being one of the top 3 fastest road cars that have ever existed" and literally everything is slow.
Edited by T0MMY on Monday 29th June 11:20
T0MMY said:
It does rather amuse me that if you take the most searching standard so far on this thread, cars that are not considered to even be fast would include the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, the Ascari KZ1 and the Ultima GTR 5.7 litre. One wonders what you'd call them...nippy?
Perhaps we should say that the answer to "what defines a fast car" should be, "being one of the top 3 fastest road cars that have ever existed" and literally everything is slow.
It depends where you get your reference points from. In terms of road cars, those cars are blisteringly quick, but in terms of cars overall (including track only cars), they're pretty slow. As usual on General Gassing, I was assuming we were talking about road cars in my reply, perhaps others weren't?Perhaps we should say that the answer to "what defines a fast car" should be, "being one of the top 3 fastest road cars that have ever existed" and literally everything is slow.
Edited by T0MMY on Monday 29th June 11:20
swerni said:
Next you'll be saying the mx5 isn't slow
My god, are you just pursuing me round the forum now to continue your crusade against the mighty MX5? I can only assume your wife ran off with a hairdresser or something to generate this hatred
I'd never deny they're slow, at least in the context of sportscars, all I ever said was that being slow doesn't preclude them from being a lot of fun to drive.RobM77 said:
It depends where you get your reference points from. In terms of road cars, those cars are blisteringly quick, but in terms of cars overall (including track only cars), they're pretty slow. As usual on General Gassing, I was assuming we were talking about road cars in my reply, perhaps others weren't?
For sure I think we have to be talking about road cars or else you'd have to be doing comparisons with drag cars! In that context an F1 car would look slow, on the assumption that by "fast" we mean basically straight line performance.BORN2bWILD said:
SidewaysSi said:
What do you mean "piss over"? I assume you purely get a kick out of being faster than anything else on the road? If that is only what floats your boat then fine but personally being able to hit 100mph in a second must surely get a bit boring? Or is it purely the knowledge that you can? Out of interest, if you see a quick car on the road, do you feel the need to show them who is faster?
Personally I would find it pretty tedious to have a car that weighted nearly 2 tonnes as a sole machine. I admire the GTR but would only have one as part of a fleet (it would be the practical family car) - I would find it too blunt and heavy and ultimately unsatisfying, despite being able to "piss over" Lambos etc.
And I assume you have driven an F1 car?
Personally I would find it pretty tedious to have a car that weighted nearly 2 tonnes as a sole machine. I admire the GTR but would only have one as part of a fleet (it would be the practical family car) - I would find it too blunt and heavy and ultimately unsatisfying, despite being able to "piss over" Lambos etc.
And I assume you have driven an F1 car?
As I said already not everyone wants a GT-R, but it is obvious from some comments on here it is from people who have never even driven one, so how can you knock it?
I have driven lots of fast cars, I decided on the GT-R after trying Audi R8 and Ferrari.. it was the right decision.
Look at all the reports about the car.. I have never seen a negative one.
The pro drivers at Dunsfold rated it as their best car, but you don't have to agree.
By piss over I mean;... it drives better, gear changes 100% better, handles better, gets around the track faster, accelerates faster 0-60, has the best launch control out there on any production car... still holds the record around the Nuremburg Ring as far as I'm aware.
What do you drive?
,
or
The GTR doesn't hold any Nurburgring record by the way.
ORD said:
10 seconds to 100 is glacial.
Anything that can't do 0-100 in 5 seconds or less cannot be called fast these days.
My heavily modified GTR/991 Turbo S/ willy can do 0-100 in less time than it takes me to hide my feelings of inadequacy behind ridiculous comments.
I wouldn't even bother getting into a car that does 0-150 in less than 8 seconds, you'd be better off saving your road tax and using a bicycle!Anything that can't do 0-100 in 5 seconds or less cannot be called fast these days.
My heavily modified GTR/991 Turbo S/ willy can do 0-100 in less time than it takes me to hide my feelings of inadequacy behind ridiculous comments.
My one off modified 200kg 5L V8 track car will eat ferraris for breakfast, veyrons for lunch and snack on Atoms in the evening. But tbh I'm so used to it now that it doesn't even feel quick, not compared to my turbo'd hyabusa drag bike (road legal), you're eyes can't phyiscally follow it it's so quick.
swerni said:
That's better
All things should be taken with a pinch of salt and a huge dose of humour
As Rob says, it is all about points of reference and how you define fast.
What's fast to one person isn't necessarily fast to another.
Are we talking real world fast, point to point fast for just brutal acceleration.?
My feeling is that:All things should be taken with a pinch of salt and a huge dose of humour
As Rob says, it is all about points of reference and how you define fast.
What's fast to one person isn't necessarily fast to another.
Are we talking real world fast, point to point fast for just brutal acceleration.?
a)anything faster than what you're used to might feel fast to you (my GF thinks my 125bhp company car is fast
)but, and this is where I find parts of this thread amusing,
b)there comes a point where a car feels fast even if you're used to something faster. You might drive to work in a Caparo T1 every day, but I fail to believe you wouldn't think an R500 was still also fast.
Japveesix said:
ORD said:
10 seconds to 100 is glacial.
Anything that can't do 0-100 in 5 seconds or less cannot be called fast these days.
My heavily modified GTR/991 Turbo S/ willy can do 0-100 in less time than it takes me to hide my feelings of inadequacy behind ridiculous comments.
I wouldn't even bother getting into a car that does 0-150 in less than 8 seconds, you'd be better off saving your road tax and using a bicycle!Anything that can't do 0-100 in 5 seconds or less cannot be called fast these days.
My heavily modified GTR/991 Turbo S/ willy can do 0-100 in less time than it takes me to hide my feelings of inadequacy behind ridiculous comments.
My one off modified 200kg 5L V8 track car will eat ferraris for breakfast, veyrons for lunch and snack on Atoms in the evening. But tbh I'm so used to it now that it doesn't even feel quick, not compared to my turbo'd hyabusa drag bike (road legal), you're eyes can't phyiscally follow it it's so quick.
BORN2bWILD said:
Pan Pan Pan said:
Some cars can `feel' fast, even if in the great scheme of things they really are not, It just depends on `how' some people get their kicks from driving fast.
The Caterham was faster than the GT-R around the TG test track, by nearly 2 seconds, but not many would be happy going that fast in a Caterham,at any speed In fact not many would be happy in a Caterham, period. So what defines a fast car will always be likely to differ person to person.
The Caterham was faster than the GT-R around the TG test track, by nearly 2 seconds, but not many would be happy going that fast in a Caterham,at any speed In fact not many would be happy in a Caterham, period. So what defines a fast car will always be likely to differ person to person.
I think hand built cars like the Atom and Caterham are really suited to track days and limited to when and how they can be driven, they are basically kit cars for the track.
Probably not really able to be compared to the GT-R with its 4 seats and massive boot, which can be driven 365 days a year.
Like I said the definition of what makes a fast car is really dependent on what different drivers feel they want from a fast car. You would probably might not get much enjoyment from driving a Caterham fast, any more than I would get any satisfaction from driving a GT-R fast. It is just a matter of horses for courses.
So many definitions!
0 to 100 in 10 seconds - to me that is f*****g fast and while Steve Sutcliffe at Autocar could get an E46 M3 to do that he did trash a gearbox repeating it!
But I was in my teens in the 70s when the Ferrari Daytona was for many years the quickest car Autocar had ever tested and it was something glacial like 13.7 IIRC to cover that benchmark. Despite its tardiness I would still love to have one!
Thankfully white goods cars are still relatively pedestrian as the standard of the typical driver is dropping even though the performance of quicker models is ranking up (my MkI Golf had 110 bhp, MKII 16v had 139 and they felt quick, but now there is going to be a 400bhp Golf FFS).
Simplest definition is probably "your next car"!
0 to 100 in 10 seconds - to me that is f*****g fast and while Steve Sutcliffe at Autocar could get an E46 M3 to do that he did trash a gearbox repeating it!
But I was in my teens in the 70s when the Ferrari Daytona was for many years the quickest car Autocar had ever tested and it was something glacial like 13.7 IIRC to cover that benchmark. Despite its tardiness I would still love to have one!
Thankfully white goods cars are still relatively pedestrian as the standard of the typical driver is dropping even though the performance of quicker models is ranking up (my MkI Golf had 110 bhp, MKII 16v had 139 and they felt quick, but now there is going to be a 400bhp Golf FFS).
Simplest definition is probably "your next car"!
Good post.
This thread is a good example of how most PHers refuse to express a sensible view on anything, preferring instead to bang on about how fast their car is and how anything less than 200mph around a hairpin just leaves them cold these days. Probably the same douche bags that you see understeering over the centre line while their ESC catches them at 58mph on an NSL road.
0-100 in 10 seconds is already a very high hurdle indeed. The fact that people pretend that they wouldn't consider that 'fast' is so cringeworthy. Unless they simply don't know what the word 'fast' means.
Imagine a thread on 100 metre sprinting. Half these guys would be saying '9.6 seconds or under is fast. Anything else is pedestrian once you have been Usain Bolt for a while like me.'
This thread is a good example of how most PHers refuse to express a sensible view on anything, preferring instead to bang on about how fast their car is and how anything less than 200mph around a hairpin just leaves them cold these days. Probably the same douche bags that you see understeering over the centre line while their ESC catches them at 58mph on an NSL road.
0-100 in 10 seconds is already a very high hurdle indeed. The fact that people pretend that they wouldn't consider that 'fast' is so cringeworthy. Unless they simply don't know what the word 'fast' means.
Imagine a thread on 100 metre sprinting. Half these guys would be saying '9.6 seconds or under is fast. Anything else is pedestrian once you have been Usain Bolt for a while like me.'
ORD said:
Good post.
This thread is a good example of how most PHers refuse to express a sensible view on anything, preferring instead to bang on about how fast their car is and how anything less than 200mph around a hairpin just leaves them cold these days. Probably the same douche bags that you see understeering over the centre line while their ESC catches them at 58mph on an NSL road.
0-100 in 10 seconds is already a very high hurdle indeed. The fact that people pretend that they wouldn't consider that 'fast' is so cringeworthy. Unless they simply don't know what the word 'fast' means.
Imagine a thread on 100 metre sprinting. Half these guys would be saying '9.6 seconds or under is fast. Anything else is pedestrian once you have been Usain Bolt for a while like me.'
This.This thread is a good example of how most PHers refuse to express a sensible view on anything, preferring instead to bang on about how fast their car is and how anything less than 200mph around a hairpin just leaves them cold these days. Probably the same douche bags that you see understeering over the centre line while their ESC catches them at 58mph on an NSL road.
0-100 in 10 seconds is already a very high hurdle indeed. The fact that people pretend that they wouldn't consider that 'fast' is so cringeworthy. Unless they simply don't know what the word 'fast' means.
Imagine a thread on 100 metre sprinting. Half these guys would be saying '9.6 seconds or under is fast. Anything else is pedestrian once you have been Usain Bolt for a while like me.'
ORD said:
Good post.
This thread is a good example of how most PHers refuse to express a sensible view on anything, preferring instead to bang on about how fast their car is and how anything less than 200mph around a hairpin just leaves them cold these days. Probably the same douche bags that you see understeering over the centre line while their ESC catches them at 58mph on an NSL road.
0-100 in 10 seconds is already a very high hurdle indeed. The fact that people pretend that they wouldn't consider that 'fast' is so cringeworthy. Unless they simply don't know what the word 'fast' means.
Imagine a thread on 100 metre sprinting. Half these guys would be saying '9.6 seconds or under is fast. Anything else is pedestrian once you have been Usain Bolt for a while like me.'
Sadly it's all too predictable - so many just want to use almost any thread as a platform to show off what car they have and how it's better than anyone else's, like Mr 'Oh, did I mention, mine's a Nissan GTR Black with 600bhp'This thread is a good example of how most PHers refuse to express a sensible view on anything, preferring instead to bang on about how fast their car is and how anything less than 200mph around a hairpin just leaves them cold these days. Probably the same douche bags that you see understeering over the centre line while their ESC catches them at 58mph on an NSL road.
0-100 in 10 seconds is already a very high hurdle indeed. The fact that people pretend that they wouldn't consider that 'fast' is so cringeworthy. Unless they simply don't know what the word 'fast' means.
Imagine a thread on 100 metre sprinting. Half these guys would be saying '9.6 seconds or under is fast. Anything else is pedestrian once you have been Usain Bolt for a while like me.'
Cringe worthy to say the least.
I still think 0-100mph is the metric to use though. The time, well I think that's down to personal opinion. I think once you go into single digit numbers you are talking really, really fast cars.
0-60 is not a good benchmark to use these days as so many cars are sub 5 seconds now with 7 and 8 speed gear boxes and low gearing etc plus dual clutch boxes etc make a big difference.
0-60 is not a good benchmark to use these days as so many cars are sub 5 seconds now with 7 and 8 speed gear boxes and low gearing etc plus dual clutch boxes etc make a big difference.
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