What old performance car compares...

[Boobonman]

...to your modern everyday car in terms of performance?

Was thinking about this the other night, my daily driver E220d has very similar performance to one of my childhood heroes, the Sierra Cosworth.

0-60 under 7 seconds, 150mph flat out.

Doubt very much that the Sierra would do 50mpg but don't doubt that it would probably be a whole lot more fun

[anonymous-user]

I found some videos on YouTube from Auto Express a few years ago where they raced a "hero" car against a modern every day (often diesel) car. It was pretty interesting to be honest.

E30 M3 vs 320d

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EUaPlGlSIk

Audi Quatro 20v vs Audi A4 diesel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wMMv3fsbH4

Astra GTE vs Astra Estate CDTi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3eL3UT8PE

Mk2 Golf GTI vs Gold 2.0 TDI (The GTI got spanked)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rRtHJ_cvS8

[cerb4.5lee]

Boobonman said:

...to your modern everyday car in terms of performance?

Was thinking about this the other night, my daily driver E220d has very similar performance to one of my childhood heroes, the Sierra Cosworth.

0-60 under 7 seconds, 150mph flat out.

Doubt very much that the Sierra would do 50mpg but don't doubt that it would probably be a whole lot more fun

Performance definitely seems to have moved on a fair bit for sure. My family SUV(GLC350d) does 0 to 60 in 6.2 seconds and goes onto 148mph flat out. Not bad for something that weighs pretty much 1900kg I reckon.

It isn't very exciting to drive though...so I'd much rather have the Sierra Cosworth for sure!

[nunpuncher]

cerb4.5lee said:

It isn't very exciting to drive though...so I'd much rather have the Sierra Cosworth for sure!

This is the issue. Performance, reliability, comfort, economy have all moved on while excitement and fun have all but been eradicated.

[anonymous-user]

nunpuncher said:

cerb4.5lee said:

It isn't very exciting to drive though...so I'd much rather have the Sierra Cosworth for sure!

This is the issue. Performance, reliability, comfort, economy have all moved on while excitement and fun have all but been eradicated.

It's funny looking back at what we thought was quick back in 80s/90s. I remember discussing with a friend him looking at getting an Astra GTE 16 valve but they were all crashed because "they are too quick"

[Matt Harper]

nunpuncher said:

cerb4.5lee said:

It isn't very exciting to drive though...so I'd much rather have the Sierra Cosworth for sure!

This is the issue. Performance, reliability, comfort, economy have all moved on while excitement and fun have all but been eradicated.

Not necessarily - well, maybe not the economy...

[Krikkit]

Matt Harper said:

nunpuncher said:

cerb4.5lee said:

It isn't very exciting to drive though...so I'd much rather have the Sierra Cosworth for sure!

This is the issue. Performance, reliability, comfort, economy have all moved on while excitement and fun have all but been eradicated.

Not necessarily - well, maybe not the economy...

Pretty sure the modern one does better than the 8mpg of the original

Think of it this way, that's a pint of fuel per mile. A pint.

[ThisInJapanese]

I don't know about 0-60 times etc, but my FK8 Civic Type R is as quick as the original NSX around Suzuka: https://fastestlaps.com/tests/un69mbukljuz

edit: The performance stats are pretty much exactly the same. 0-60: 5.7 and top speed of 168mph

Edited by ThisInJapanese on Thursday 22 April 15:23

[Matt Harper]

Krikkit said:

Matt Harper said:

nunpuncher said:

cerb4.5lee said:

It isn't very exciting to drive though...so I'd much rather have the Sierra Cosworth for sure!

This is the issue. Performance, reliability, comfort, economy have all moved on while excitement and fun have all but been eradicated.

Not necessarily - well, maybe not the economy...

Pretty sure the modern one does better than the 8mpg of the original

Think of it this way, that's a pint of fuel per mile. A pint.

It's actually quite easy to get mine to do 8 mpg

[V88Dicky]

Ferrari Testarossa:

0-60 - 5.2 seconds
0-100 - 12 seconds


Our family car (XE S 380)

0-60 - 4.8 seconds
0-100 - 10.1 seconds

And to think my wife drives it most of the time

[Boobonman]

When my 7yr old son is old enough to drive I wonder if whatever is the equivalent to an E220d will be doing sub 4 secs to 60mph?

[cerb4.5lee]

Boobonman said:

When my 7yr old son is old enough to drive I wonder if whatever is the equivalent to an E220d will be doing sub 4 secs to 60mph?

I think with the current move to electric(and going forward)...almost all cars will eventually be doing sub 4 seconds to 60 possibly.

[ReformedPistonhead]

When I was 23 in 1995 I was paying £2,200 to insure my £5,000 Cavalier SRi (G-Reg) that I had proudly bought with 2 year’s savings...

Because it was “fast and sporty”.

My daughter’s 1.0 Polo goes faster (and is only £500 to insure too) and honestly it would be more fun to drive I reckon!

Unbelievable.

[nunpuncher]

Joey Deacon said:

It's funny looking back at what we thought was quick back in 80s/90s. I remember discussing with a friend him looking at getting an Astra GTE 16 valve but they were all crashed because "they are too quick"

I've got a 205GTI. Despite only having 1/3rd of the power of the last modern car I had It is way, WAY less forgiving even on modern tyres. And when it does decide to ping off the road there's no computer to help.

[havoc]

My 'modern everyday car' is a 12 year-old hardcore saloon...does that still count?

[SWoll]

Our current 4 door daily has similar performance to a Ferrari Enzo or Porsche Carrera GT over a 1/4 mile. It is a milk float though..

[BroadsRS6]

My wife's 2019 A45 AMG is but a four cylinder 1991cc daily hatchback.

With similar 0-60 and 0-100 as a Ferrari F40. Supposedly a massively quick 2.9 V8 supercar, with 2 honking great turbo chargers and lag you can measure with a calendar.

[TEKNOPUG]

Is the only measurement of performance accelerating in a straight line?

[s m]

ReformedPistonhead said:

When I was 23 in 1995 I was paying £2,200 to insure my £5,000 Cavalier SRi (G-Reg) that I had proudly bought with 2 year’s savings...

Because it was “fast and sporty”.

My daughter’s 1.0 Polo goes faster (and is only £500 to insure too) and honestly it would be more fun to drive I reckon!

Unbelievable.

Is that Polo the 113bhp engine?

[threespires]

I'd love to see a race between 2020 MX-5 and a 1965 E Type.
Which would be quicker round the Top Gear track.