Any - 0 to 60 acceleration | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Wed 5 Mar 2014 08:59

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - scot22

I am interested in people's views on the importance of time taken to accelerate from 0 to 60. Does it make a real difference in situations such as entering roundabouts, entering motorways ? Is it really significant anyhow ? If so what is the maximum time that is acceptable if there is a safety element ? As with many things I realise it is personal choice and affected by driving ability.

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 09:24

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - artill

I wouldnt put limit on what time a car does 0-60, but its an indication of absolute performance. You cant really use a cut off either. A torque rich car such as one with a turbocharger that does 60 in 10 seconds will feel much faster most of time than a car that need to be revved to 7,000 in each gear to acheive the same time. But 0 to 60 isnt irrelavant, and i imagine most here would agree a faster car is more fun, and easier to drive.

However, the car that needs to be revved all the time can be a lot more fun than one that simply goes at any revs, but probably quite wearing on longer journeys. This is why sports cars often have high revving petrol engines, and a big comfy car probably has a large engine that doesnt need revving.

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 10:24

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - skidpan

When I raced it was 100% essential to have a car that was bullet fast off the line. To get it perfect every time was virtually impossible but in my car the proceedure was rev to approx 4000 (3900 and it would bog, 4100 and it would light up like a grenade), drop the clutch (no slipping it) and floor the throttle. First gear would take the car to just over 50 mph and the other gears came shortly after. 0 - 60 was probably just under 5 seconds on a perfect start.

Every one was attempting to get a perfect start, any place lost were hard to get back but places gained off the start were far easier than having to overtake later.

The proceedure was very hard on the car, gearboxes would break, drive shafts would break, clutches would break. I was lucky, never had such a failure but I always tried to make sure mechanically the car was as good as the regs would allow.

Such driving has no place on a public highway thus other than for pub bragging rights 0 - 60 times have zero relevance in the real world. The essential permance criteria for choosing my road cars is quick acceleration in the range 30 - 50 and 50 - 70 without having to drop loads of gears. Most turbo diesels have relatively mundane 0 - 60 times but their flexibility is superb, that is why I have been driving turbo diesels since the mid 90's but have now moved onto a turbo petrol which has even better flexibilty and for pub bragging rights a better 0 - 60 time.

Having a revvy engine in a road car that means changing geasr loads is a novelty that soon wears off.

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 10:47

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - scot22

Thank you both for such informative and helpful replies. Skidpan, is there a way from car information to identify those with the acceleration at the speeds you identify or is it simply explored on the test drive ? My interest is not in revvy excitement but to have a car which is optimum for as safe a drive as possible. Yes, the most important element is the driver but I think it sensible to make the other factors as good as possible.

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 10:52

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - craig-pd130

+1 to Skidpan's post. A quick 0-60 time is as much about driver technique as it is about the car's actual performance potential.

For me, the 3rd and 4th-gear increments of 30-50, 40-60 and 50-70 are the important performance metrics, as these indicate the mid-range punch that you need for quick, safe A- and B-road overtaking.

Autocar & AutoExpress magazine feature the main in-gear performance increments in their magazine road tests. Unfortunately, Autocar recently removed all this data from its website, but AutoExpress still has the data (look for 'Group Tests' as these feature the full performance stats).

Edited by craig-pd130 on 05/03/2014 at 10:55

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 11:41

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - scot22

Thanks - off to the newsagent's now !

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 12:42

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - davecooper

0-60 is an indicator of absolute performance not driveabilty. As has already been said, in gear acceleration times are more pertinant to everyday driving. Who regularly floors the throttle why they pull away?

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 13:30

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - scot22

good point, thank you. Also, I hadn't appreciated the figures were purely absolute.

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 15:31

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - bathtub tom

It's a way of comparing different cars.

I remember the days when various 'in gear' acceleration times were quoted, along with torque and power curves (they were relevant, but few understood them).

I guess it's a 'willy waving' exercise to attract new buyers, along with the now defunct CD and CDa figures.

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 18:10

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - gordonbennet

Well remembered BT, ISTR Motor magazine having the 30 to 50 in top acceleration time in their tests, but modern gearing and the much higher number of auto boxes has rendered this fairly meaningless, the 50 to 70 is better but unless you have an auto box that can be locked in top its not going to be fair comparison.

I take almost all the figures with a pinch of salt, both fuel and performance, too many modern cars that seem to be liked by testers and their adoring public have proved to be a disappointment when driven, i like engines that have low speed useable and driveable torque, you can't tell from the figures how the engine is going to behave, you have to drive it yourself.

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 19:07

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - Bromptonaut

Agree with others in not placinga great deal of weight on 0-60. I can think of very few instances where getting straight line acceleration from a standing start to 60 is much use.

Far more relevant are incremental times like the 30-50/50-70 etc overtaking ranges quoted above. Ability to pull away after slowing to 20 or so for bends is equally important if 'progressing' on rural roads. The Peugeot 104 mentioned in the Drive thread was a master at that as are most diesels. Even my slightly asthmatic 1.9D/70PS Berlingo can be quite sprightly in those circs given it's torque.

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 22:04

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - scot22

This thread has been very helpful and informative for me. I now feel more knowledgeable and confident about this aspect of a car. The collective wisdom has been consistent and I appreciate people giving their time to post - thanks

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Wed 5 Mar 2014 22:12

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - galileo

The quoted 0-60 times are also obtained by skilled test drivers who do not worry about the cost of replacing clutches/drive shafts/tyres or any othe parts stressed by their testing.

Unless you have an exotic car with launch control you won't achiev the quoted times anyway.

As has been pointed out above, in-gear acceleration for overtakes is much more relevant

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Thu 6 Mar 2014 07:51

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - craig-pd130

Unless you have an exotic car with launch control you won't achiev the quoted times anyway.

I was surprised to read recently that on the BMW M3, owners are supposed to take the cars to the dealer for inspection and possible repair after using the launch control just three times, due to the stresses placed on the drivetrain.

To me, this highlights how meaningless standing-start acceleration times are, unless you're at Santa Pod or Elvington.

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Thu 6 Mar 2014 09:33

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - Mike H

I prefer to drive a car with extra performance, simply because it gives you a third option when faced with a problem situation on the road, that is, accelerate as well as steer and brake. Sometimes it's the better option, and the more power you have (within limits) the better the option. More importantly, it enables overtaking manouevres to be made quicker and more safely. Just my observations after 40 years of driving.

But as has been said, 0-60 is only one measure, and in-gear times are usually more important.

Edited by Mike H on 06/03/2014 at 09:34

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Thu 6 Mar 2014 19:49

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - gordonbennet

Oh Please.

I know some cars are fitted with Launch Control, but if i was in a pub and some driving god started spouting about his LC i'd die of hysterical laughter.

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Thu 6 Mar 2014 21:51

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - SteveLee

I find proper autos tend to be the quickest things off the lights simply because little or no driver skill is required to accelerate to the car's maximum potential. My Range Rover is a slug on paper but I rarely get beaten off the lights because I just mash the loud pedal and the huge V8 does the rest time and again. Similarly I went head to head with a mate's M5 (manual) in my old Jag XJR (auto), on paper the M5 was a tad quicker (4.6sec 0-60 vs 5.1sec) but I murdered him every time.

Edited by SteveLee on 06/03/2014 at 21:52

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Fri 7 Mar 2014 10:21

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - 72 dudes

. My Range Rover is a slug on paper but I rarely get beaten off the lights because I just mash the loud pedal and the huge V8 does the rest time and again.

Glad SteveLee has access to his own oil well (:>)

As well as 30-50 and 50-70 times, I also look at 30-70 through the gears, which gives a much better indication to everyday performance, such as joining a dual carriageway from the top/bottom of a slip road, or gathering speed after having to slow down on a M/way.

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Fri 7 Mar 2014 13:11

Any - 0 to 60 acceleration - scot22

Seems to me a pity that manufacturers/dealers don't give this info the same prominence given to toys with little real value.

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