Porsche 991: Left for dead: Sunday Times
Discussion
Sunday Times has a top 10 cars list today and in the cabriolet section it says the Mercedes SKL AMG will "leave the Porsche 991 Carrera S Cabriolet for dead". Hmm. First i doubt that is correct, unless perhaps the Porsche has not started its engine (PDK version 0-60 4.3 seconds v AMG Merc SLK 4.6) but it is a pretty emotive term- how would you classify a difference between two powerful cars (say from 0-60) where one "leaves for dead" the other? In the real world i guess that if 0-60 was say 1 second faster? or 2 seconds?
As a matter of interestest does anyone agree that according to the road tests they have seen the SLK will be faster than the 991 S? (i have driven both and think it is utterly wrong).
As a matter of interestest does anyone agree that according to the road tests they have seen the SLK will be faster than the 991 S? (i have driven both and think it is utterly wrong).
TheLastPost said:
Fpaskell said:
how would you classify a difference between two powerful cars (say from 0-60) where one "leaves for dead" the other?
Well, I wouldn't classify the difference using 0-60 times, for a start - they're pretty much meaningless unless you're a spotty teenager racing your mates away from the lights.Far more important (for overtaking, or for making progress by means of acceleration out of a sequence of bends, because only muppets race on the road) is the roll-on acceleration at higher speeds (say above 50mph).
A comparison of in-gear acceleration times would be more meaningful.
TheLastPost said:
A comparison of in-gear acceleration times would be more meaningful.
Agreed - the bigger debate about a good measure for performance cars has been raging for years!BHP/tonne?
0-60?
0-100?
In gear acceleration?
Through the gears acceleration?
It's tough because there is always some bias - My FWD Saabs don't come out well in 0-60 (9000 2.3T 7ish, 900 2.0T 8ish), but in gear acceleration or overtaking times they punch well above their 200bhp weights. In the real world, for me, that is far more useful! Of course with 0-60 / 0-100 there is the issue of mechanical sympathy. I have no interest in banging through the gears and the digital clutch control required to get the best 0-60 out of my cars, but I am happy to use "all the performance" once they are rolling and into 2nd or 3rd.
The main problem with in-gear acceleration times is there is no consistent measurement, all mags have done things between different speeds. Also, are you rolling onto the throttle at 30 or whatever, or are you accelerating hard from 20 and starting the timer at 30 (in which case throttle response has no bearing).
The old battle between Saxo VTS and 106 GTi comes to mind - same car, same engine, different gearbox ratios. One of them hit the rev limiter in 2nd at about 58mph so the 0-60 time was worse! In the real world though, much difference?
I posted this on the general site with no useful replies; in a top ten sports cars and convertibles in Times today listed 991 Carrera S as second best to Ferrari 458 (which i would not argue if i could afford the extra £100,000). However it says of the Mercedes SLK 55 AMG (0-60 missquoted as 5.6) as able to "leave a Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet standing". [same article quotes Carerra S as 0-60 in 4.6 which i expect is non-pdk].
Presuming they are comparing current cars, that would be the 991 Carrera S, which with PDK is probably faster than the Merc. Having driven the coupe 991 S for a couple of days and had a brief run in an AMG merc i do not see how they can say "leave it standing" in any sensible comparison of performance? to leave standing i would expect to see 1 or 2 seconds difference in acceleration (0-60 or 50-70 through gears etc). Did anyone else see this? I guess the only sense of leaving it standing is on the cost (which is substantially less, to be fair). But performance?
Presuming they are comparing current cars, that would be the 991 Carrera S, which with PDK is probably faster than the Merc. Having driven the coupe 991 S for a couple of days and had a brief run in an AMG merc i do not see how they can say "leave it standing" in any sensible comparison of performance? to leave standing i would expect to see 1 or 2 seconds difference in acceleration (0-60 or 50-70 through gears etc). Did anyone else see this? I guess the only sense of leaving it standing is on the cost (which is substantially less, to be fair). But performance?
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