for your interest, just to put an end to those 'my car does 20mph faster round a corner than xyz
from autocar 1st august, various cars driving round a circle to determine g forces and lap speeds using an accelerometer to measure lateral g.

for example
citroen 2cv cost - lap speed 44.4mph average g 0.671
mcc smart £5700 47.6mph 0.769g
fiat seicento sporting £6789 51.6mph 0.906g
renault clio 172 £15495 52.0mph 0.918g
mini cooper £11600 51.6mph 0.903g
bmw z3 3.0 £26930 53.0mph 0.954g
lotus elise 1.8 £22980 54.5mph 1.007g
impreza uk300 £31495 53.4mph 0.968g
mitsi evo vii £29995 54.1mph 0.993g
bmw 330csi £27540 53.4mph 0.969g
volvo s60 t5 £23995 49.3mph 0.824g
lotus 340r £35000 53.7mph 0.980g
noble m12 £44950 55.0mph 1.028g
formula palmer single seater - 64mph 1.4g
conclusion
most people would agree that the formula palmer is more than equivalent to the most uprated car. therefore no car can corner faster than 20% or 10mph on a 53mph corner over the standard version of the car. Also interesting to see the fiat (cost £6789) doing 51.6mph and the citroen doing 44.4mph compared to any other sports car you care to mention. Granted the difference will be greater at higher speeds but who drives round 100mph corners regularly and cornering speed is not of course the be all and end all for a road car.
Michael

 

Michael, interesting stuff.

Few thoughts...

1) there are no Porsches in the list. Shame, because according SportAuto, they got up to 1.2 and even 1.3 G in a corner (Hockenheim) where they MY00 'preza got 1.0 G

2) even a 1 MPH difference after a corner can make a big distance difference if a long straight is to follow that curve.

Not trying to prove anything, just spouting some late night thoughts

Theo

 

UK300 - GBP31.5K?

Shome mistake surely!

mb

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by EvilBevel:
<B>Michael, interesting stuff.

Few thoughts...

1) there are no Porsches in the list. Shame, because according SportAuto, they got up to 1.2 and even 1.3 G in a corner (Hockenheim) where they MY00 'preza got 1.0 G

Theo[/quote]

The Autocar figures are average cornering g, not peak. Sounds like the Sport Auto figures are peak lateral g. They did test an old 911 2.7 RS and it got around 0.95g on road tyres.

As for the cornering differences, tyres alone can easily make a 10mph cornering difference on identical cars. E.g. snow tyres vs slicks in the snow. It's a good article though for showing the cornering speed difference is not quite as high as people think (although they should have had a 450kg Caterham or Westie in the test IMO). That's why a decent driver in a Mini or BMW 318 can beat a wimpy supercar or scoob driver on a twisty road.

Although the Autocar article is interesting, remember it took place at a smooth test track, not a typically bumpy road. I suspect cars like the Impreza and Evo VII would do relatively better on a typical B-road surface than the Elise or Formula Palmer Audi car, compared to their respective smooth tarmac performances.



[This message has been edited by matt d (edited 07 August 2001).]

 

Boomer
only by the magazine. I thought the price was high as well
Michael

 

Matt D
fair point about the B roads.
Michael