1/4 mile question terminal speed

[Welshbeef]

Just having watched wheeler dealers eth the cobra kit car 6.3 ltr v8 370bhp and 600kg or whatever they achieved a terminal speed of 108 & 110mph - clearly a racing driver would have beaten that by some margin but let's say it does 110mph at that distance.

My old fiat coupe 20v turbo with 220bhp and 1200kg had a 1/4 mile terminal velocity of 98mph. So the question I have is how much faster is 12mph over a 1/4 mile? Is that a big big difference? I'm not sure how to quantify it as Ive never really taken much interest in 1/4miles apart from knowing a 11 second road car is pretty nippy while run of the mill GTI could be 18 seconds

[Welshbeef]

I ecall seeing an MG Maestro Turbo posting over 120mph terminal speed and it was just pipped by a black 2wd cossie 125mph. Road legal cars. The cossie looked modified the Maestro looked bog standard even had standard wheels. I'd have taken the maestro out of those two.


I'd opt for the slower time but with high terminal speed.

Out of interest what does the GTR hit speed wise as that's a benchmark round these parts as a fast car and then what's the time of say a Veyron/F40?

[Welshbeef]

iva cosworth said:

1/4 mile in a road car is hardly rocket science.

Launch,accelarate,change gear,accelarate,finish line.

A day at a RWYB and anyone can be an expert in their own car.

And with that .....Goodnight

But noone would hold their foot on the carpet through a gear change in their P&J whereas a tester to max the car even if it's destroyed after it matters little to them. Hold the throttle wide open throughout the gearchange... I'd not do it so I'd be slower likewise the aggression on the clutch once in gear sure agree indifferent but say your car has no limiter a tester may push engine to nearly valve bounce to avoid time wasted in an extra gear change. You would never do that to your own car.

[Welshbeef]

Olivera said:

An MG Maestro hitting 120mph on the quarter is anything but standard. If it did happen (which I doubt) then I'd guess nothing at all from the drivetrain is original, in fact it's probably a Maestro shell on top of another car.

It was around 1995/96 iirc the cossie had at least 450bhp I remember that well. I've no idea on the engine or power of that Maestro but he seemed to be a regular at the time. He ran his tyres with so little PSI they looked pretty flat on the fronts I saw him decreasing the pressure. Think it was a red maestro.

I'm sure with enough money spent on that engine you could get up to serious bhp plus of course add in crazy amounts of NOS - this was huge back then I recall a friend used to have nos in his road car 150bhp shot of power.... Killed his engine in a month but my god when he hit the nos it was brillient. Engine went like the clappers.

[Welshbeef]

Kozy said:

It's a simple time/distance calculation. With your car at 98mph and the other at 110mph, the faster car would be somewhere in the region of 67 meters ahead of you. Quite a lot really!

But that's the terminal speed not average speed of the run.

[Welshbeef]

So really you'd want to for petrol heads aim for a car with the highest terminal speed - then modify it to sort out the traction or have fun with it being loose.


Anyone have an F40 1/4 mile I cannot find it incl terminal speed

Also what would a 1/4 mile time and speed be for a RS200 group B rally car up to the max.

[Welshbeef]

Aphex said:

Wasn't this explained to you in an old thread when you compared a 335d BMW to a Subaru? It was a while ago so I'm a bit foggy.

Not sure If it was its forgotten.

[Welshbeef]

iva cosworth said:

time on gantry for n/s lane

I have always had a soft spot for these especially the ones which look totally standard (even the wheels) but then you have a beast of a motor under the bonnet.

Have you converted it to rwd and what bhp does that beauty produce.

Epic time 153mph terminal speed quicker than a Veyron!!!!