Ferrari 355 vs family EV
Discussion
Although drag races are fairly pointless and not a good way of comparing cars I often end up watching the Carwow ones anyway!
Today’s pitched a 355 against a Kia family EV that had 60 bhp less and weighed almost twice as much.
Yes the 355 won but not by much (and it required a second attempt).
In terms of desirability the Ferrari is almost off the charts. Still looks sublime to me, the noise with a good after market exhaust is lovely and if you keep the engine on the boil they can be driven quite quickly (and are fun doing so). In contrast Even after watching the video I couldn’t tell you the name of the EV. However it is a bit interesting that a middle of the road, Korean family EV ran a not so old Ferrari so close.
Today’s pitched a 355 against a Kia family EV that had 60 bhp less and weighed almost twice as much.
Yes the 355 won but not by much (and it required a second attempt).
In terms of desirability the Ferrari is almost off the charts. Still looks sublime to me, the noise with a good after market exhaust is lovely and if you keep the engine on the boil they can be driven quite quickly (and are fun doing so). In contrast Even after watching the video I couldn’t tell you the name of the EV. However it is a bit interesting that a middle of the road, Korean family EV ran a not so old Ferrari so close.
Great test, and certainly if 30 years ago you’d told me that a family car using batteries would beat a 355 I’d have thought that sounded like science fiction.
That said, this was a drag race and not twisty mountain roads, and the driver was a regular owner. Reckon the 355 would gain the upper hand on anything with bends, and even more so with a highly skilled driver.
Plus, the 355 is a work of art and I believe will still be remembered and sought after in the 2050s. Without taking away the impressive engineering achievement of the Kia, it certainly won’t be remembered.
That said, this was a drag race and not twisty mountain roads, and the driver was a regular owner. Reckon the 355 would gain the upper hand on anything with bends, and even more so with a highly skilled driver.
Plus, the 355 is a work of art and I believe will still be remembered and sought after in the 2050s. Without taking away the impressive engineering achievement of the Kia, it certainly won’t be remembered.
You could probably put a 355 against an 8 year old golf R and it’d get monstered in a drag race and round a track….. not the point.
I remember a top gear thing years ago which showed a Honda Accord diesel vastly quicker than an Aston DB5.
A modern day £55k Audi RS3 mapped would probably give an F8 tributo a very close run for its money.
In all cases…. It’s the slightly slower car you want for very different reasons!
I remember a top gear thing years ago which showed a Honda Accord diesel vastly quicker than an Aston DB5.
A modern day £55k Audi RS3 mapped would probably give an F8 tributo a very close run for its money.
In all cases…. It’s the slightly slower car you want for very different reasons!
Cold said:
That 355 is almost thirty years old and wasn't fantastically fast in its day. Progress chips away at the stats of performance cars.
I think the BHP wars over the past decades has warped your memory or you are too young to remember the 355 when it was launched. It certainly wasn’t slow in period compared to what else was available (remembering that the 355 was not a supercar/hypercar). 
donkmeister said:
What I want to know is, how do EV blobs fair in the 40-80mph "how dare you overtake, I'll show you" acceleration stats?
How much power (and road) do you need to finish an overtake on some Road Captain type in a Kia who is seething at the prospect of someone overtaking them?
Very well as they've got instant torque available.How much power (and road) do you need to finish an overtake on some Road Captain type in a Kia who is seething at the prospect of someone overtaking them?
The day is coming where just about every family EV will be able to smoke everything away from the lights except really quick cars driven quickly.
The F355 wasn't even particularly fast when contemporary (weighed 1500kg, lardy for the time). In the 1990s, Porsche, TVR, Caterham and I'm sure others had cars capable of 0-60 faster than 4.5s (at least that's the 0-60 time for a 355 achieved by Car and Driver) and, importantly, much cheaper, if 0-60 is all that matters. 
Was at Goodwood last week. Aside from the amazing McMurtry there was not a lot of visceral excitement to be had from watching the electrics whiz off the line and up the course.
I won’t say it was just like watching luggage on a carousel, but it wasn’t far off after a while.
So we are all going to lose all that. However I think that there will still be enjoyment to be had from the pure performance of EVs. From the inside only though.
I won’t say it was just like watching luggage on a carousel, but it wasn’t far off after a while.
So we are all going to lose all that. However I think that there will still be enjoyment to be had from the pure performance of EVs. From the inside only though.
Cars get faster. A current 320d is a few tenths quicker over a quarter mile than an E30 M3. The current M3 is a whopping 5 seconds quicker still.
Straight line performance is the EV's party piece, and an area where it undoubtedly moves the game on from combustion, which is why it has become such a big thing. You also need to consider that, unlike handling, "feel" and all the other things that people say makes a great driver's car, outright performance is also quantifiable and measurable. A drag race settles the question beyond any doubt, whereas all the other dynamic stuff is subjective and a matter of the driver's preference and opinion, plus of course their ability. It's no surprise that straight line speed has become a focus.
Straight line performance is the EV's party piece, and an area where it undoubtedly moves the game on from combustion, which is why it has become such a big thing. You also need to consider that, unlike handling, "feel" and all the other things that people say makes a great driver's car, outright performance is also quantifiable and measurable. A drag race settles the question beyond any doubt, whereas all the other dynamic stuff is subjective and a matter of the driver's preference and opinion, plus of course their ability. It's no surprise that straight line speed has become a focus.
sixor8 said:
The F355 wasn't even particularly fast when contemporary (weighed 1500kg, lardy for the time). In the 1990s, Porsche, TVR, Caterham and I'm sure others had cars capable of 0-60 faster than 4.5s (at least that's the 0-60 time for a 355 achieved by Car and Driver) and, importantly, much cheaper, if 0-60 is all that matters.
Don’t Car and Driver use a rolling start which knocks a second off the time?Boo-urns said:
otolith said:
I can absolutely nailed on guarantee that if ICEs had the upper hand in acceleration it would not be being dismissed as irrelevant.
Sour grapes.
This. In day-to-day driving, a quick 0-60mph is pretty much the only performance metric guaranteed to consistently put a smile on your face. A well balanced chassis is a glorious thing, but much less easy to exploit on a daily basis.Sour grapes.
In 30 years time do we think the EV will still be on the road, nope not a chance, I bet the 355 will though.
It’s all a bit stupid really as ICE family cars have been beating supercars for years as well, the only difference was the cost.
BEV has made big performance more available at a much lower cost.
It’s all a bit stupid really as ICE family cars have been beating supercars for years as well, the only difference was the cost.
BEV has made big performance more available at a much lower cost.
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