What defines a fast car?
Discussion
LukeR94 said:
Speed is in the eye of the beholder, as others have said previously it entirely depends on what you have driven/experienced beforehand.
If youve been in a 60hp Polo for 3 years a 200hp Civic type R is going to feel like an absolute rocket ship.
If youve been in a 60hp Polo for 3 years a 200hp Civic type R is going to feel like an absolute rocket ship.
My 2-Eleven doesn't feel that fast if I've spent a few days driving it, but after driving my 320d for a few weeks straight it feels hilariously quick. One of the weirdest effects is getting out of a slicks and wings single seater after a day's testing into a road car - even something of reasonable performance just feels chronically broken.LordGrover said:
My old Griff was (supposedly) sub 5 secs 0-60 which felt properly 'fast', but point to point I'm faster in my GT86.
Don't tell the chaps on the TVR pages. According to them, the old TVRs are ballistic (and not just in a straight line). Slower than a GT86...that is glacial by the standards discussed on here.ORD said:
LordGrover said:
My old Griff was (supposedly) sub 5 secs 0-60 which felt properly 'fast', but point to point I'm faster in my GT86.
Don't tell the chaps on the TVR pages. According to them, the old TVRs are ballistic (and not just in a straight line). Slower than a GT86...that is glacial by the standards discussed on here.As we all know the perception of a quick car is as unique as our fingerprints.
Some might say 0-60 in sub 10 is quick, some might say it's glacial, whereas others might say sub 5 is slow, if they're used to GTR rates of acceleration.
To me though, a quick car is something that can force your head back when you accelerate (current car does this, far from fast)
Fast though, is something that can throw your whole body into the seat. I've ridden in a mapped 335i auto, and when it kicked down and came on boost it flung you up the road but pinned you in your seat.
to me, something may be fast as hell, but if it has no sensation of acceleration, then it loses all of it's appeal to drive it quickly (to me)
I mean, mine feels quick and can throw your head into the restraint, but it's far from fast. 150hp tops, but the power curve is quite smooth, so apart from the initial shove in the back in lower gears it's good, but in the higher gears or at a fast road speed, you don't feel it so much.
Some might say 0-60 in sub 10 is quick, some might say it's glacial, whereas others might say sub 5 is slow, if they're used to GTR rates of acceleration.
To me though, a quick car is something that can force your head back when you accelerate (current car does this, far from fast)
Fast though, is something that can throw your whole body into the seat. I've ridden in a mapped 335i auto, and when it kicked down and came on boost it flung you up the road but pinned you in your seat.
to me, something may be fast as hell, but if it has no sensation of acceleration, then it loses all of it's appeal to drive it quickly (to me)
I mean, mine feels quick and can throw your head into the restraint, but it's far from fast. 150hp tops, but the power curve is quite smooth, so apart from the initial shove in the back in lower gears it's good, but in the higher gears or at a fast road speed, you don't feel it so much.
StottyEvo said:
TheAngryDog said:
I used to think, and still do, that a fast car was one that could hit 100mph in 10 seconds or less from standstill.
Would cars today that can achieve that, in your opinion, still be considered fast?
That is my exact benchmark for what I would call fast too Would cars today that can achieve that, in your opinion, still be considered fast?
LukeR94 said:
Speed is in the eye of the beholder, as others have said previously it entirely depends on what you have driven/experienced beforehand.
If youve been in a 60hp Polo for 3 years a 200hp Civic type R is going to feel like an absolute rocket ship.
true, but you would miss that torque If youve been in a 60hp Polo for 3 years a 200hp Civic type R is going to feel like an absolute rocket ship.
I don’t think speed can be defined with numbers, it’s a feeling.
Some years back my dad bought a Jaguar XJR. I went with him to pick the car up from London. Driving back, there’s no opportunities to go fast in London, so once we hit the motorway on the return journey we were both quite excited to see what the XJR could do.
After what felt like a small amount of acceleration dad let off the throttle and slowed down, a lot. He turned to ask me what speed I thought we had just accelerated to, I guessed around 110MPH maybe a little more. He laughed and replied with 140MPH and said he was surprised when he looked down at the speedo as well.
It certainly felt fast but due to the refinement you would have never thought we were doing double the speed limit. In comparison my Civic Type R feels frighteningly fast at 140MPH.
It also depends on what you’re used to. When I first bought my Civic Type R, I thought it was a fast car, coming from a BMW 318i which most definitely wasn’t. However, now I’ve gotten use to the power, it doesn’t feel as special.
I’m sure some PHers would get out of their cars and feel my Civic is glacial in comparison.
Whatever you have, after a while it won’t be ‘fast enough’, and you’ll be wanting more.
Some years back my dad bought a Jaguar XJR. I went with him to pick the car up from London. Driving back, there’s no opportunities to go fast in London, so once we hit the motorway on the return journey we were both quite excited to see what the XJR could do.
After what felt like a small amount of acceleration dad let off the throttle and slowed down, a lot. He turned to ask me what speed I thought we had just accelerated to, I guessed around 110MPH maybe a little more. He laughed and replied with 140MPH and said he was surprised when he looked down at the speedo as well.
It certainly felt fast but due to the refinement you would have never thought we were doing double the speed limit. In comparison my Civic Type R feels frighteningly fast at 140MPH.
It also depends on what you’re used to. When I first bought my Civic Type R, I thought it was a fast car, coming from a BMW 318i which most definitely wasn’t. However, now I’ve gotten use to the power, it doesn’t feel as special.
I’m sure some PHers would get out of their cars and feel my Civic is glacial in comparison.
Whatever you have, after a while it won’t be ‘fast enough’, and you’ll be wanting more.
J4CKO said:
LukeR94 said:
Speed is in the eye of the beholder, as others have said previously it entirely depends on what you have driven/experienced beforehand.
If youve been in a 60hp Polo for 3 years a 200hp Civic type R is going to feel like an absolute rocket ship.
true, but you would miss that torque If youve been in a 60hp Polo for 3 years a 200hp Civic type R is going to feel like an absolute rocket ship.
BigBen said:
StottyEvo said:
TheAngryDog said:
I used to think, and still do, that a fast car was one that could hit 100mph in 10 seconds or less from standstill.
Would cars today that can achieve that, in your opinion, still be considered fast?
That is my exact benchmark for what I would call fast too Would cars today that can achieve that, in your opinion, still be considered fast?
StottyEvo said:
BigBen said:
StottyEvo said:
TheAngryDog said:
I used to think, and still do, that a fast car was one that could hit 100mph in 10 seconds or less from standstill.
Would cars today that can achieve that, in your opinion, still be considered fast?
That is my exact benchmark for what I would call fast too Would cars today that can achieve that, in your opinion, still be considered fast?
Re the commend above on 600cc sport bikes - is it fair to assume they are going to be about 7-odd seconds to 100?
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