A friend of mine said to me, you have a fast car, and his mate said no that's not a fast car a Lambo is a fast car, which got me thinking.........

I'm interested on how people perceive what makes a car a fast car.

Alot has to be based on these 4 simple facts :

0-60 time
0-100 time
Top speed
handling

Is it one of the above, a combination of the above or does it have to be all of the above to be classed as a fast car?

A lotus elise 1.8 can do 0-60 in 5.7s has superb handling but it's top speed is only 125mph - so does this make it a fast car when a Citroen C5 2.0 auto has a faster top speed ?.

A volvo s80 2.9 T6 can do 155mph but it takes over 7 seconds to reach 60, and handles like a brick ... so does that make it a fast car ?






[Edited by monstermunch - 8/2/2003 12:16:49 PM]

 

What makes a car fast? The Driver.

Ok, so if you put a top driver in a 1.0 Metro against an average driver in a performance car, then the performance car would win.

However, you look at the way some people can drive on track in 'normal' cars and they make them go fast.

My mate in his Smart Car makes it seem a lot faster than it is. In terms of speed it ain't the fastest, but it certainly feels it due to the way it's driven. Probably hard to believe, but one of those things you need to experience. Sit in a standard sort of car with a decent driver and you'll see what I mean


[Edited by Hanslow - 8/2/2003 1:43:45 PM]

 

1. The Driver
2. How good the Brakes are
3. How progressive and predictable the car behaves on the limit.

That's what makes a fast car fast. All fast cars have a top speed of 140+ and all fast cars have a meaningless 0-60 time of 3-5 secs.

Obviously different cars are better in different situations.

4. Usable torque - to not explain myself very well

Best wishes
Steve





[Edited by Steve Whitehorn - 8/5/2003 8:24:14 PM]

 

Fast?????

It means different things to different people. A 17 year old who passed his test in a Corsa 1.0, would get in practically anything "hot hatch" and call it fast. But after a while he'd be used to it and need MORE speed.

My first "performance" car was a 130bhp MkV XR3i , at the time i thought it was fast but now i dont.

Heres a point, are fast & quick different?

Fast = Top Speed?

Quick = Handling & Acceleration?

I wouldnt say my scooby was fast, but id say it was quick.

What does everyone else think?

 

good point, but does quick and fast mean the same thing to people in general ??

i.e

he got to London quick
he got to London fast

If someone said to me he got to London quick I would'nt say ahh thats because his car is good at handling, I would tend to think more of the top speed of the vehicle.

 

No not in general, just in terms of car speed. Not journey time or how long it takes to do anything else.

 

It may not be the fastest car in the valley but the subaru is the best car i have driven overall

good handling (less understeer would be nice)

good grip in the wet(when you need it most)

good brakes but not the best

reliable except the crap clutch

stiff but compliant suspension

so it is a car you can drive fast and feel safe in

dont know if that makes it a fast car but it does for me

 

Hey BORO you had the same 1st fast car as me!! MKV 130PS XR3i

I miss that car (except the gearbox, alternator, fusebox leaky widscrean, leaky boot, missfires, dodgy light switches....blah blah typical dagenham dustbin etc. ). Quick but not fast.

Back on topic...what makes a fast car? Well NOS and running on Meths would be a start

 

Well I would say that Fast and quick have the same meaning but the majority of people would tend to use the word fast in associating a performance car. I would also say that a scoob is a fast car, because it scores high in all 4 factors I mention above.

This is how I percieve it, Just wondered how everyone else does.

 

See i view quick & fast as meaning different things.

I drove a 106 gti recently and id say that was quick but i wouldnt say it was a FAST car.

 

There is also the perception of speed to think about too.

A scoob can go very fast, without really feeling it. Yet in say, an old Mini it feels like warp speed.

A mini could be termed as Nippy, but is'nt quick and most certainly not fast. As I would term a scooby as fast and quick but not nippy. And then look at a Jag XJS V12 - its fast, but I definetly would'nt say it was quick.

Just my penny's worth that's all.

 

Thinking about this in a different light, If a car can do 200mph then yes I would agree in comparison that a scoob is not a fast car, however in scoring high in lots of different catogories maybe a scoob should be addressed as a performance car.

But what about cars that can only go fast in straight lines and can't handle, Again people would assoiciate them as both a fast car and performance car, because some journalists have.

 

I dont agree, a high top speed doesnt equate to a PERFORMANCE car, the new VW phaeton can do 200mph+ but is an executive car not a performance car.

Performance is everything u mentioned earlier, top speed (to an extent), handling, acceleration, looks?

I think a scooby is a performance car but i really dont thinks its a FAST car. Not in comparison to other cars.

Its a quick performance car.

Things faster than a UK 4dr Turbo (top speed)

E36 M3 155mph
Fiat 20v Turbo 155mph
Mazda RX7 155mph
Evo VI 150mph
R34 Skyline GTR 155mph
Supra TT 155mph

Theres loads more and loads faster still. So for this reason i wouldnt call a scooby FAST. Not a standard one anyway

 

1. The driver, which is the key factor obviously (I am the boy who beat a classic scoob on the twisties in wales in my pug 309 1.3 - please note when I say i beat him I mean he lost ground in corners and obviously made it up in the straights - and he was trying)
2. Torque... Torque torque torque. That to me distinguishes a fast car. It seems to me that a lot of jap cars (not scoobs!) are torqueless things that need to be revved to the bollocks just to get them to move. I prefer having a lot of torque starting low down as it makes the car a lot more 'driveable' and gives you the decent mid range grunt you need for overtaking.

3. Handling... difficult to quantify though, i wouldnt want a car that sticks amazingly to a point but when it lets go it is impossible to get back (which seems again to be a bit of a jap trait). I also obviously dont want something that lets go too early even if you can get it back... well, maybe for a bit of fun I would - capri anybody? but I want something which holds the middle ground nicely - sticks really well to a point, then communicates well if its letting go and will let you get it back on track.

I dont care for top speeds - I havent seen any of my cars top speeds since I sold my old 309, simply because that would involve going faster than I would consider safe on a public road. As for 0-60 and 0-100 times that also doesnt do much for me - very american thinking.

This is why I view my cars, with their 140bhp as fast. Not that fast, but pretty fast.

By the way, ive decided to move to the coupe world... going to sell both my beta hpes and get a coupe.

 

he lost ground in the corners?

WTF!

 

Well my Scooby is FAST

Not enough numbers on the clock

I would say Scoobys are fast

 

The sentence test :

1) Take one passenger
2) Start conversation
3) Wait till they start a sentence
4) Then press the loud pedal

If they continue with sentence then its slow.

If they stop for a couple of secodns and then continue - fast car

If they stop for a few more seconds and finish the sentence with a set of explitives then its a very fast car.

 

LMAO chrisp, ill try that tonight

 

Excellent Highly scientific argument there chrisp

LMAO

 

the most important speed test on a road car is its in gear 50-70mph time. the overtaking speed. if you think the scoob isn't fast try stopping one getting past you when your doing 50mph.

 

Chrisp, what does it mean if they pass out

 

My personal definition is that a fast car is one that can do a lap of the ring in under 8 mins, as that tests pretty much every area of a cars performance.

 

.... or shi!t on ya recaros?

 

Neil,
i take it a standard my03 spec c isnt quite as fast as you want it to be around the ring then? (it only made 8min 12 secs )

Tony

 

Hope this makes sense guys (only half read all the replys)

In order for any car to classed as a SUPERCAR/fast car then the vehicle in question would have to accelerate in third gear between 2 fixed points within a specified time.

I read somewhere that the P1 was officially classed as a supercar... ie sh*t off a shovel.

Cheers
Techno

 

If they pass out?

it means your exhaust is buggered....

 

The guy who beat a scooby in wales with a 1.3 Pug.

Seems to me that the guy in the scooby need shot, being beat by a pug 1.3, i would have past you in second gear