Did you really drive *that* quickly 'back in the day'?

[craigjm]

MarJay said:

Cars were different. Back in the 80s a Supercar had 350bhp, and that was untouchable by a road car that normal people can afford. So no, people might have gone flat out, but that probably wasn't that fast compared to the capability of cars these days. I mean, a 308 GTS made 153bhp. That's hardly eye popping.

You are forgetting that they didn’t weigh 1800-2000kg so they didn’t need 350bhp to be fairly rapid

[Kawasicki]

I followed an 80’s Mercedes 500 SEL saloon for hundreds of autobahn miles in a Audi A3 with a 1.8l petrol turbo. It was incredible how similar they performed.

[SlimJim16v]

MarJay said:

Cars were different. Back in the 80s a Supercar had 350bhp, and that was untouchable by a road car that normal people can afford. So no, people might have gone flat out, but that probably wasn't that fast compared to the capability of cars these days. I mean, a 308 GTS made 153bhp. That's hardly eye popping.

I'm sure you meant to say the 308 had 253bhp.

[MarJay]

SlimJim16v said:

I'm sure you meant to say the 308 had 253bhp.

I don't think I did. According to wikipedia, the later cars had turbos and made approximately that, but early cars only had 153. Maybe it was a GT and not a GTS or something. Either way, any semi warm hatch would blow it into the weeds.

People have brought up weight too, but I refuse to believe that all hatches and supercars were all sub 1000kg. Some indeed were, but even then they might come under the heading of 'quick' rather than 'f*ck me that thing is fast'.

If you watch the older cars on something like Harry's Garage, they don't tend to go that well which is kind of why they are more fun because you can use them on the road. Grip, suspension and tyres have also improved along with engine power, and weight has crept up maybe 30-40%? I understand to get the same acceleration with double the weight you need four times the power, but you've got maximum of 1.5 times the weight with minimum of 4 times the power in many cases. Especially if you compare the numbers for a Mk1 GTI vs a Golf R for example.

Just look at 0-60 times. Mk1 GTI 9.2. Golf R Double clutch, 4.6

Edited by MarJay on Friday 29th May 00:49

[SlimJim16v]

MarJay said:

SlimJim16v said:

I'm sure you meant to say the 308 had 253bhp.

I don't think I did. According to wikipedia, the later cars had turbos and made approximately that, but early cars only had 153. Maybe it was a GT and not a GTS or something. Either way, any semi warm hatch would blow it into the weeds.

Ah, a bit of a mix up. As you were talking about supercar, I assumed you meant the Ferrari 308, a junior supercar. Unless you mean the pathetic 2.0l version?

The Ferrari 308 was pretty quick for the time. I just looked up the performance, 6 sec 0 - 60, 15 sec 1/4 m, 155mph top speed. Which is actually slower acceleration than what I did drive quickly back in the day.

[interloper]

SlimJim16v said:

Ah, a bit of a mix up. As you were talking about supercar, I assumed you meant the Ferrari 308, a junior supercar. Unless you mean the pathetic 2.0l version?

The Ferrari 308 was pretty quick for the time. I just looked up the performance, 6 sec 0 - 60, 15 sec 1/4 m, 155mph top speed. Which is actually slower acceleration than what I did drive quickly back in the day.

There was an Italian market 208, 2 litre tax break special. The 308 had a 3ltr V8 and was the car everyone else bought, I don't think any model 308 produced less than 200 bhp .

[interloper]

One thing that hasn't changed is how slowly a lot of the populous drive. It doesn't matter how quick the car is if the person behind the wheel drives as if they are asleep.

Although I am far more law abiding than I used to be I still get held up a lot and it could be anything from a Dacia to a Golf R that is failing to reach the posted limit.
When I was younger I was far more likely to overtake, partly because traffic was a bit lighter giving you more opportunity to get past

[21st Century Man]

Overtaking is becoming a lost art, I often find I'm the only overtaker when there is ample opportunity for others to follow suit, but they prefer to stay put behind the tractor/truck/slow car these days. Another thing I've noticed is that back in the day it wasn't unusual to complete an overtake and have one or more following overtakers stay out and blast past me too, not infrequently I'd be one of them.