Car vs bike - cornering speeds

[sniff petrol]

Eddh said:

wee_andy said:

now I aint a biker, but having been n the back of my pals bike many a times, and in races with younger boy racers. a bike would clearly F**k a car round corners

Thats because they drive shopping carts and dont have the balls

The ones round here do drive shopping carts but certainly do have balls bigger than their brains. Several rural bends and roundabouts now have bunches of flowers and photos in memory of them.

[DucatiGary]

RobCrezz said:

This has been done to the death anyway.
Atom Vs Honda CBR 600-RR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUegrUQ4d3I

hmm, wonder why JC chose a 600 admittedly "not the best handling" road bike, and put it against one of the best handling road cars . . . .

I wonder . . . .

[Kawasicki]

stackmonkey said:

jon- said:

Kawasicki said:

300bhp/ton said:

Anyone got any skidpad G's for bikes??

I guess this would offer a degree of explanation on mechanical grip.

Sport tire test „PS“ 5/2008
Bridgestone BT-016
lateral grip of 12.45m/s/s
longitudinal grip of 12.43m/s/s

both about 1.3G

shane

Unsurprisingly 1.3g is good form for a sports car too. This argument is going no where!

if someone has similar figures for cars I'll be happy. I'd rather know the answer, and know I'm wrong, than not know the answer.

Road and Track (sept '06)... the Gallardo managed 1.03g lateral. The motorbike above was a 2008 R1. The results are not really comparable as they were different dry grip circles!

Both a Gallardo and an R1 are fast, comfy machines capable of big distances.

[catso]

cg360 said:

On-road, you have too many variables in each corner to say that a car will always be faster, but on a track, car cornering speeds are higher due to larger contact area. Bikes accelerate faster, cars brake better and have higher cornering ability.

plus it's much easier to drive a car at (close to) 100%, particularly given the fact that bike crashes tend to hurt more....

[RobM77]

As I said before. You have to compare like with like. The average bike used in these tests is an R1 or similar, which is an uncompromised racer for the road with fully adjustable suspension etc. A Gallardo is designed for crossing continents, like a touring bike.

[MrKipling43]

300bhp/ton said:

sniff petrol said:

BlueEyedBoy said:

f1 vs moto gp, look at lap times, cars are faster round a track.

BTCC Vs BSB lap times might be a fairer comparison in relevance to road cars and bikes.

Except a modern BTCC car shares nothing with a road car, not even the badge.

They share just as much with their road-going counterparts as a superbike does.

[Kawasicki]

RobM77 said:

As I said before. You have to compare like with like. The average bike used in these tests is an R1 or similar, which is an uncompromised racer for the road with fully adjustable suspension etc. A Gallardo is designed for crossing continents, like a touring bike.

An R1 is not an uncompromised racer. They are actually very refined and quite comfy. I would also argue that a Gallardo is not a perfect example of a continent crossing GT car, that would be a Bentley GT.

[RobM77]

We'll have to agree to differ on that one! In my mind, an R1's design is pure and performance orientated. Sure, people do big distances on them, but so did I in my road going Caterham, in reasonable comfort. It's the attitude and purpose of the design that I'm referring to. I'd liken a Gallardo with a touring bike like a VTR1000 and a Bentley with a Honda Goldwing :-D

[Kawasicki]

I see where you are coming from, but will disagree with you anyway! Can't back down now!

[Gad-Westy]

RobM77 said:

As I said before. You have to compare like with like. The average bike used in these tests is an R1 or similar, which is an uncompromised racer for the road with fully adjustable suspension etc. A Gallardo is designed for crossing continents, like a touring bike.

I think the real problem with these debates is that there is no such thing as 'like for like.' Even taken to extreme of MotoGP vs. F1 cars, they are both working to different rule books. So in the whole 'are cars faster than bikes?' argument, I think the only sensible reply is 'depends which car and which bike.'

[Rawwr]

Car's are probably quicker with all things remaining equal but bikes are by far the most fun

[RobM77]

Gad Westy is spot on there I think. It's hard to make like for like comparisons. As for which is more fun, that depends on how you get your fun. Bikes and cars offer different experiences. I like the feeling of being on the limit, and controlling cars at the limit in little drifts, so for safety's sake I think I'm better off in a car!

[Rawwr]

I can only relate to the fun of an S1 Elise, S2 Elise and 340R, and believe me, the bike wins by a heeeeyyoooj margin

[GreenV8S]

stackmonkey said:

This is what I told him, but he won't accept it, which is why I need the physics behind it.

Find a roundabout.

Drive round it moderately fast in your car and see how long it takes to do a complete lap.

Challenge him to do the same on his bike. If he's trying hard enough to come remotely close then he'll be glad you're there with your car to take him to A&E.

[sniff petrol]

Rawwr said:

Car's are probably quicker with all things remaining equal but bikes are by far the most fun

Bikes are quicker in a traffic jam. Fact.

[SwissCamel]

Bikes are quicker in the corners. Bikes are quicker in a straight line. Bikes are better at braking. Bikes are so good at overtaking 'just sit still in your car and it'll be over before you know it'. Bikes are such good value for money. Bikes are ridden by some of the nicest people you'll ever hope to meet. People who ride bikes have to put up with so much off car drivers not watching out for them. Bikes are just the best. I love bikes. Cars aren't for me because bikes are just so great. I wish I could be a bike because they are so much better than these cages that I see people driving around in, and these cages can't go around corners as quick the bike I would like to be.

Edited by SwissCamel on Tuesday 22 July 12:30

[Caruso]

If you ride a bike into a corner and simply turn the handlebars without leaning, it would topple towards the outside of the corner. This is because the centre of gravity of the bike is directly above the contact patch. To balance the forces, you lean the bike into the corner to laterally offset the CofG to the inside. The faster you corner, the more you have to lean. With decent suspension and tyres, a bike will run out of lean before it runs out of grip.

With a car, the CofG is already laterally offset from the contact patches. So it doesn't topple over when it goes into a corner. A car will run out of grip before it topples over (mostly). This gives cars the advantage in cornering.

The cars greater resistance to toppling also gives it an advantage when braking - when did you last see a car pull a stoppie?

Bikes generally have better acceleration, which in road going machinery evens things up to make it close enough that the skill of the rider/driver can be the deciding factor.

[jamesgrrr]

SwissCamel said:

Bikes are quicker in the corners. Bikes are quicker in a straight line. Bikes are better at braking. Bikes are so good at overtaking 'just sit still in your car and it'll be over before you know it'. Bikes are such good value for money. Bikes are ridden by some of the nicest people you'll ever hope to meet. People who ride bikes have to put up with so much off car drivers not watching out for them. Bikes are just the best. I love bikes. Cars aren't for me because bikes are just so great. I wish I could be a bike because they are so much better than these cages that I see people driving around in, and these cages can't go around corners as quick the bike I would like to be.

Edited by SwissCamel on Tuesday 22 July 12:30

??? I think it's been proven in the last 100 or so answers that bikes are slower round corners, worse at braking but quicker in a straight line..

[rsv gone!]

This topic should be an FAQ.

[RobCrezz]

Ultimatly, the fastest car is faster than the fastest bike.