What difference in 0-60 can the average driver notice?
Discussion
In my experience unless it's around 2 seconds or more faster then you don't really notice when you get to fast cars. For me comparing a friends DC2 to my old LEON FR TDI I could tell the DC2 were much faster. Same when compared the DC2 to a RS3 as that's roughly 2 seconds or so faster to 60.
Anyone driving your bog standard 1.0 Fiesta and comparing that to say a 1.6 Focus they'll notice it's faster to respond but otherwise wouldn't really notice a difference. My partner couldn't tell the difference between her car and her dads which is faster on paper. All she could tell were it actually moved when she put her foot down but felt the same when driving normally.
Anyone driving your bog standard 1.0 Fiesta and comparing that to say a 1.6 Focus they'll notice it's faster to respond but otherwise wouldn't really notice a difference. My partner couldn't tell the difference between her car and her dads which is faster on paper. All she could tell were it actually moved when she put her foot down but felt the same when driving normally.
Timed my car anywhere between 3.8 and 5.5 seconds. Noticeably felt the same. But fluffing a gear change, tyres condition, fuel type, or getting bogged down affects the time rather than acceleration.
Where you notice as a driver is 30-70. eg a 3.0tdi will feel and probably be quicker than its 0-60.
Where you notice as a driver is 30-70. eg a 3.0tdi will feel and probably be quicker than its 0-60.
Probably not in a lot of cases, not everyone uses all the revs and in a lot of cases additional power tends to be at the higher end of the rev range.
My wife generally doesnt notice, but a remap on her 100 bhp basic Fiesta, she notices that.
What you find is a lot of non car enthusiasts still appreciate performance but only within a certain range, where 100 bhp felt a bit lethargic for my wife, the alleged 140 bhp and associated torque increase took it firmly into the acceptable range. It could be doubled but she wouldn't really use any more of that available power. Its only used to get to speed limits or marginally over, not to show off or pin oneself to the seat. Watched a Youtuber getting his Porsche tuned to like 1400 bhp, even I question the logic of that much power, its interesting and impressive but ultimately pointless.
We tend to go mental for more and more performance, but most arent bothered beyond it doing its job, know a lady whose husband has a McLaren 720S, she hates going in it as she finds the acceleration unpleasant, same with the Tesla Model S owner I know, he bought it for the comfort and running costs, he never uses the acceleration as it makes him feel a bit queasy. Almost seems a waste, but it isnt, he loves the car and we get different kinds of enjoyment from things.
So whether folk will notice, a lot of perception is based on the badge and how they feel about the car, probably more so than the actual car. Could put Audi badges on an old Rover 200 and some would declare it magnificent, put Rover badges on an Audi and they would say its s
t, could probably put sporty badging on one of two identical cars and some would say the badged one was miles faster.
My wife generally doesnt notice, but a remap on her 100 bhp basic Fiesta, she notices that.
What you find is a lot of non car enthusiasts still appreciate performance but only within a certain range, where 100 bhp felt a bit lethargic for my wife, the alleged 140 bhp and associated torque increase took it firmly into the acceptable range. It could be doubled but she wouldn't really use any more of that available power. Its only used to get to speed limits or marginally over, not to show off or pin oneself to the seat. Watched a Youtuber getting his Porsche tuned to like 1400 bhp, even I question the logic of that much power, its interesting and impressive but ultimately pointless.
We tend to go mental for more and more performance, but most arent bothered beyond it doing its job, know a lady whose husband has a McLaren 720S, she hates going in it as she finds the acceleration unpleasant, same with the Tesla Model S owner I know, he bought it for the comfort and running costs, he never uses the acceleration as it makes him feel a bit queasy. Almost seems a waste, but it isnt, he loves the car and we get different kinds of enjoyment from things.
So whether folk will notice, a lot of perception is based on the badge and how they feel about the car, probably more so than the actual car. Could put Audi badges on an old Rover 200 and some would declare it magnificent, put Rover badges on an Audi and they would say its s
t, could probably put sporty badging on one of two identical cars and some would say the badged one was miles faster.it doesn't need to be a huge increase to notice it, but sometimes it's how the new power is produced.
Celtic Tuning remapped my daughter's 2007 Civid 2.2 TD and the 138 bhp became around 170. There was a significant difference and the engine revved far better at higher revs too. Torque went up by about 40 ft-lbs also.
Celtic Tuning remapped my daughter's 2007 Civid 2.2 TD and the 138 bhp became around 170. There was a significant difference and the engine revved far better at higher revs too. Torque went up by about 40 ft-lbs also.
My Marcos is faster 0-60 than Mrs D.R.'s Focus ST but, oddly, it doesn't really feel it. The Focus has a great 'wahey' feel, some great noises from the exhaust and turbo, tyre scrabble and the sense of being shoved in the back.
With the Marcos you just seem to put your foot down, the V8 and exhaust noise is a bit louder than usual, you do a couple of quick gearchanges and you're there relatively uneventfully. And with a Focus ST in your rear view mirror....
With the Marcos you just seem to put your foot down, the V8 and exhaust noise is a bit louder than usual, you do a couple of quick gearchanges and you're there relatively uneventfully. And with a Focus ST in your rear view mirror....
Depends on the power delivery too I think.
I had a 1.4 corsa C and upgraded to the 1.8 sri (90bhp to 125bhp). 10.3 second 0-60 down to 8 second. The 1.8 felt like a rocket ship in comparison. Also depends if your a car person or not. Most people will swear there car is faster than yours or quicker because they get shoved back in the seat at max torque in their diesel tdis
I had a 1.4 corsa C and upgraded to the 1.8 sri (90bhp to 125bhp). 10.3 second 0-60 down to 8 second. The 1.8 felt like a rocket ship in comparison. Also depends if your a car person or not. Most people will swear there car is faster than yours or quicker because they get shoved back in the seat at max torque in their diesel tdis
From experience, a 10% peak bhp increase isn't noticeable from the driver's seat. This was obviously only 10% at peak, the areas under the curve would have been about 5% different. So an improvement from approx 6s to approx 5.7s, I couldn't feel it.
What I found very noticeable was the first time I launched on a drag strip. The instantaneous shove kicks you pretty hard, so even if the 0-60 time isn't much different it "feels" faster.
What I found very noticeable was the first time I launched on a drag strip. The instantaneous shove kicks you pretty hard, so even if the 0-60 time isn't much different it "feels" faster.
I think 100-200kph is where additional oomph is really felt.
0-100 is as much about grip, gearing, conditions etc.
Plus the car type itself. When I had a caterham a friend had a pdk 911. They were equal on paper but we both agreed the caterham felt quicker due to the 911 lack of fuss.
100-200 the 911 was obviously quicker and felt it due to the power and aero.
0-100 is as much about grip, gearing, conditions etc.
Plus the car type itself. When I had a caterham a friend had a pdk 911. They were equal on paper but we both agreed the caterham felt quicker due to the 911 lack of fuss.
100-200 the 911 was obviously quicker and felt it due to the power and aero.
Electrics not for me said:
A fella i know with a Civic Type R said he'd noticed the difference in performance, after, get this, a Pipercross air filter element and de-cat exhaust. I can't imagine the increase in power being more than 5 or 6 bhp?
Are you really going to notice 300 ish to 306 ish?
Placebo effect maybe. Are you really going to notice 300 ish to 306 ish?
My old mx5 was much much faster with similar mods going from 122bhp to 122bhp
The spinner of plates said:
I think 100-200kph is where additional oomph is really felt.
0-100 is as much about grip, gearing, conditions etc.
Plus the car type itself. When I had a caterham a friend had a pdk 911. They were equal on paper but we both agreed the caterham felt quicker due to the 911 lack of fuss.
100-200 the 911 was obviously quicker and felt it due to the power and aero.
Good points. Also if a car is already very, very quick standard, it's difficult to really tell a small or modest increase in power on the public road. I have a 2019 Honda Fireblade with almost 200 bhp. I'm not sure i'd notice the 7 or so bhp i could get with an aftermarket exhaust and air filter.0-100 is as much about grip, gearing, conditions etc.
Plus the car type itself. When I had a caterham a friend had a pdk 911. They were equal on paper but we both agreed the caterham felt quicker due to the 911 lack of fuss.
100-200 the 911 was obviously quicker and felt it due to the power and aero.
A car with say 60 bhp that gets another 20 is different.
IntriguedUser said:
Depends on the power delivery too I think.
I had a 1.4 corsa C and upgraded to the 1.8 sri (90bhp to 125bhp). 10.3 second 0-60 down to 8 second. The 1.8 felt like a rocket ship in comparison. Also depends if your a car person or not. Most people will swear there car is faster than yours or quicker because they get shoved back in the seat at max torque in their diesel tdis
Some company car diesels are sub 5 seconds now to 60, as my one is. 300+ bhp is common place nowadays. They feel fast because they are very fast.I had a 1.4 corsa C and upgraded to the 1.8 sri (90bhp to 125bhp). 10.3 second 0-60 down to 8 second. The 1.8 felt like a rocket ship in comparison. Also depends if your a car person or not. Most people will swear there car is faster than yours or quicker because they get shoved back in the seat at max torque in their diesel tdis
I know not directly related to power but didn't Top Gear do something years ago where they had a RWD and an AWD version of the same car, albeit they had slightly different 0-60 times.
They had one of the presenters Vs the Stig and they both had a go of each car. In both races the Stig won showing that a better driver will make better use of the power.
The above could also be absolute tosh.
They had one of the presenters Vs the Stig and they both had a go of each car. In both races the Stig won showing that a better driver will make better use of the power.
The above could also be absolute tosh.
I doubt most people would notice much difference between a car that does 60 half a second quicker than another, certainly not off the line anyway. Compare my old Clio 172 which hit 60 in about 7 seconds and my Megane 225 that I bought after which did 60 in 6.5 seconds. The biggest difference was torque in gear where the Megane would feel quicker.
Then to compare my Megane 225 to my CLS63 which hits 60 a bit over 2 seconds quicker than the Megane and has 510bhp vs 225bhp you feel a huge difference.
As for the topic of remaps, certainly on the diesel cars I've had there is a genuine real world difference. My old E320cdi felt genuinely felt like a new car, better throttle response, quicker off the line, loads of in gear torque. My S320cdi again had so much more torque in gear but was newer and felt that bit nippier than the E did as standard. We're talking 30bhp/50lb-ft increases though, anyone who can feel a big difference with 5bhp remap on a normally aspirated car is probably being hyper sensitive! haha
Then to compare my Megane 225 to my CLS63 which hits 60 a bit over 2 seconds quicker than the Megane and has 510bhp vs 225bhp you feel a huge difference.
As for the topic of remaps, certainly on the diesel cars I've had there is a genuine real world difference. My old E320cdi felt genuinely felt like a new car, better throttle response, quicker off the line, loads of in gear torque. My S320cdi again had so much more torque in gear but was newer and felt that bit nippier than the E did as standard. We're talking 30bhp/50lb-ft increases though, anyone who can feel a big difference with 5bhp remap on a normally aspirated car is probably being hyper sensitive! haha
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