Are we close to the absolute limit for performance?

[keslake]

Seems like i have been perusing this question for the last 30yrs!

I remember back in 1980 when i first rode in a 911 turbo, 0-60 in 5 secs i believe and thinking, bloody hell, nothings is going to trump this.

Fast forward and we now have the 918, P1, Veyron etc in the sub 3 second club.

When we look at the 918's sub 7 mins at the 'Ring, surely we are looking at close to the limit for the human
element in so much as being able to keep the car on the road and reaction times etc.

So, what can we hypothetically look forward to in a few years time or are we now very close to the absolute limit being usable?

In a way, it is similar to Usain Bolt and the 100 mtrs.
At some point the time just simply will not be broken as the limit will have been reached.

Thoughts?

[keslake]

Sump said:

No ofcourse not.

When your average family wagon can do it in 2-3 seconds and also get 100 MPG, then you can say you're close to it.

Ok, forget about the 0-60 times.

How about the lap times?
Surely there is a cut off point, where any driver is simply not able to push any faster, regardless of the vehicles performance?

[keslake]

GroundEffect said:

An F1 car can lap the ring in about 5:30 according to BMW engineers. And they aren't even unrestricted. There's scope yet.

Good example but i was referring to purely road legal cars and the driving of them.

Can anyone envisage a car, straight out the factory lapping sub 6 mins?