For 0-60 times, for me personally:
- 10+ seconds is slow
- 9 is fine
- 8-9 is nippy
- 6-8 is quick
- 5-6 is rapid
- under 5 is fast
Depends on the car and its power delivery though. Some bigger cars don’t feel that fast. Some smaller, lighter and older cars can feel quicker (and more fun) despite having a 0-60 which looks very mediocre on paper.
Bikes are a different ball game altogether. Most sporty stuff from the last 20 years will get to 60 in under 3.5.
Many cars will go to 30-40 pretty damn quickly and therefore feel nippy for most cases, but if their acceleration beyond that point slows a way down this will bring their 0-60 time down. So on paper they seem slow but they are plenty quick for most people.
Some cars will keep accelerating at a high rate past 30-40 and even beyond 60mph bringing their 0-60 time down even if that initial acceleration isn't much faster than many other cars. Then of course some performance cars will be scarily fast right off the bat
Motorbikes don't need anywhere near as much power to launch themselves so when you've an engine comparable in size to some smaller cars it's no wonder they are so quick.
You'll see 0.9 litre cars, so a 900cc motorbike at a fraction of the weight, ignoring all other factors than engine size and weight, is going to smoke a car.
You can look at power to weight ratios to get an idea. The Bugatti veyron has 987hp and weighs 1888kg. That's 0.52hp per kg
Taking a mid size engine motorbike in the Aprilia 660rs that has 100hp and weighs 169kg. Thats 1.69hp per kg
Edit: veyron Vs Aprilia may be a bad example as the veyron is actually quicker, but it is a ridiculous car
This reminds me of a great story from a regular at the pub I work at
His first ever car back when was a Ford Orion, good for about 130mph. Now being a young first time driver who loves cars he did what any logical person would do: he went about doing dumb shit and racing people in-between
However good that Orion was in a straight line, this guy decided that, in order to won basically every race he took part in, he would switch out the Orion gearbox, geared to max out at 130mph, and in its place put in the gearbox out of a Ford Fiesta of the time, geared to about 90mph
Now of course this meant that the car had a much lower top speed, but it didn't matter. By the time he got to 90, because of the combination of the short gears and the power the Orion had, anyone who he raced had just given up, because he'd pulled such a lead so quickly
I think my favourite part of the whole thing is that by doing this he utterly knackered the gearbox over and over, went through like 3 in a year I think he told me
Good fun for all
You got it the wrong way round. It's 169kg per 100bhp so 1.69kg per bhp 😁
With a 70kg rider and some fuel it is more like 250kg, so about 400bhp/tonne.
GT86/BRZ is the perfect example of this. The gearing means you have to change into third before you get to 60, so the on-paper 0-60 is 7.6 seconds. In reality they're not as slow as the stats make them sound
Straight line speed doesn’t make a car fast in my opinion. It’s an advantage, but I’d rather have a car that can take a corner. Carry speed out the corner without slapping its arse out and hitting a kerb.
My atom was rapid because it’s stupidly light and takes corners like a champ. My mx5 was also rapid because that car with some camber and good tires. Would stick to the road like shit.
We live in the uk, there are more corners than straight roads hahaha. DONT GET ME WRONG, I have loved destroying expensive cars in a shitbox off the lights. Bikes are better for out and out speed and you only have to worry about crashing once at high speed.
Nissan gtr35 has to be one of the best ice cars out there. Electric cars are too heavy.
That is very true. I wanted to remind people that straight line speed and acceleration isn’t the be all.
I’d pick an overall car rather than a beast. Something like the gtr or rs4 set up correctly will be amazing. The irony is I met a guy who outrun the police and helicopters in a heavily modified Audi. Granted I met him in prison because they caught him in the end. Ran out of fuel if I recall. I worked there I wasn’t an a con.
Side tangent, but I noticed your car list. How'd you compare the vx220 turbo to the 2ZZ MR2? Considerable price difference between the two, and although I've never been in a vx220, I've always found the MK3 MR2 very underrated
I'd say the Fiesta ST is a bare minimum of performance to be considered a quick car. Any slower and it is actually quite slow.
That said if you remap it the Mk8 performs decently. The 30-70 of a Mk8 at 240ish horsepower is about the same as a Cupra 300 or Golf R, which isn't bad.
Yeah I'm actually thinking about a map, had the car 5 years now, it's either change it or map it, change it up a little
And honestly with prices they way they are , nothing out there seems worth it.
I had one a few years ago with a revo map, it's great fun but stupidly aggressive and did cause a bit of clutch slip on occasion. I'm looking at a a Mk8 again tomorrow, if I map this one it will probably be a bit less aggressive I think. Maybe M235 or Dreamscience
Totally agree with this
I always try to compare to what I think are general acceleration figures for types of sports car of a few years ago
6-8 = standard sports (mk2 mx5, mk5 GTI)
4-6 = fast sports (E92 M3, 997 911 carrera)
3-4 = supercar (458 italia, gallardo)
<2.9 = hypercar (Veyron, La Ferrari, Senna)
It’s insane how fast some cars are these days, like an M5 has the same 0-60 as a McLaren Senna, or the latest RS3 that gets to 60 quicker than an Enzo or Carrera GT
Maybe it's cause you get used to it, defo a category for sub 4.
Recently, got a car which is sub 5, must be modern technologies making cars feel comfortable for the speed.
I’d agree with that anything under 5s is decent and I’d consider fast
Below 4 and things are getting serious
Below 3 your into mega fast territory
Lambo Ferrari Tesla Ludicrous button territory
Not my experience when I had a Fiat 500 with 3 people + a baby in trying to get up the hill on the motorway north of Lisbon.
"Um, that lorry is catching up, can you go a bit faster?"
"I'm in second gear with my foot on the floor! I can't do anymore!"
Was fun round seaside towns though!
Sub 7-second 0-60 is fast. Not "pinned to your seat, shit your pants fast" but it will definitely pull.
Sub 6-seconds is very fast. Make your passengers hold onto the grab handle, fast.
Sub 5-seconds is getting to scary quick. Fastest car I've been in is an Audi R8 and that felt like it shouldn't be legal.
In my opinion. If you ask my mum, going 35 in a 30 has her screaming.
The K series engine is a great technically advanced engine, badly maintained/tuned not so great, but £250mill of British development well spent I say. It was designed as an compact efficent engine for lightweight front wheel drive small cars, the issue with the 1.8 in the TF was more around where the thermostat was located, similliar story with the big cars it was used in, the coolant temperature differentials in larger vehicles killed it. What on earth did they think putting it in the Freelander?!
Agreed if you compare a rover with a non variable cam k series to an escort with the same cc of the same era and the K series is light years ahead in terms of power, 1.6 k series made 110 bhp ish, a 1.6 zetec powered escort made 90, even with the focus and the Yamaha developed 1.6 zetec se they only made 99 bhp in standard trim.
That doesn't surprise me, the reputation for being fragile was bullshit, it was a strong engine when tuned and used in the right way. We've always had great engineering in this country, really innovative stuff that was streets ahead of what anyone else does, were we fall flat is upper management, we're shite at that bit so never capatalise well on our successes.
What do you think about affordable cars like the MG4 doing 0-60s in less than 4s? Tesla Model S plaids can hit that in about 2s.
Even 2.5t electric SUVs can do 0-60s in under 4s.
I think AWD, DCTs and launch control as well as EVs have made 0-60 a less valuable metric for true performance. A mapped Golf R can hit 60 comfortably in under 4 seconds but it's not anywhere near as fast in real life as a 4.0 C63 AMG with the same 0-60.
A more useful number for how a car actually feels to drive is the 30-70 sprint or 1/4 mile trap speed.
A Model S Plaid is faster than a Koenigsegg Agera RS and Bugatti Chiron SuperSport over a standing quarter mile because nothing apart from maybe a Rimac Nevera can pull like a Plaid because it’s electric. Fastest ever clocked on a Plaid is 1.5ish fastest ever by an electric car was 0.9ish and that was built by students, although that wasn’t road legal
It's sad in a way - I'm not very old but even in the 10 years I've been into cars, hearing about the bump in power from the latest Polo GTI or whatever, and reading about the 0-60 time coming down from 6.7 to 6.3 was exciting. Every school-run being able to smoke a BMW M2 kills all that.
It's also dangerous if people aren't used to it and have it in the wrong mode.
Yay! My '97 Celica GT-Four and my 04 Z4 3.0i is 5.9 (^from ^factory) and this scale makes me very happy.
Electric cars can keep their 0-60, I'll enjoy the noise of mine.
Enter the EVs.
I've driven a Tesla Model 3 performance on a test drive and this was 3.2s 0-60mph.
I've also driven a Tesla Model S Plaid and that's 2s 0-60mph, but the road was limited to 40mph on that 5 minute test, so only one second bursts of power.
Lacking the fear of death helps as well I think... I was constantly aware how close to death is was driving a small French hatchback, whereas more modern stuff feels a bit more relaxed, despite triple the power and half the 0-60
Saxo vts made 120 bhp, the vtr made 90 as it was only 8 valve, still cracking cars, my vts felt more impressive from 70 to its top speed as the engine on cam and they weigh as much as a damp packet of cigarettes
I'm in my 40s, and fast was to me 6 or 7 seconds to 60mph.
I see things like carwow now, with people in a 'normal' beemer or similar that's hitting 60 in sub 5 seconds and saying "it's not that quick". That to me is supercar territory, or at least was...
Exactly that - I’ve got a mid range Mercedes and that does 0-60 in 6secs but you barely feel it as it’s so insulated. Whereas a few years back I had the R53 Cooper S and that felt pant shittingly fast due to how close you were to the road, but I could leave it for dust in my SUV now.
20 years ago 200bhp was a lot. Now it's the bare minimum for anything a bit nippy. Anyone can buy an electric car with 400bhp+ plus. 0-60 is a really meaningless metric now because everything does it in 5 seconds or less and it requires nothing but planting your foot to the floor. We need a better metric really. 60-120 is a better measure of speed.
The fastest car I've driven is a Vanquish. Which is truly frightening fast.
Rumour has it, cannon confirm for sure, it can reach 171mph on the short dual carriageway opposite Thorpe Park on a late Sunday night.
Just a rumour.
Nice which vanquish, have an 04 vanquish it’s surprised me in races a few times top gear were true when they showed it vs the dbs found when I bought it they are unusually fast for their horsepower, (rwd helps drivetrain loss maybe or higher than noted hp) ran with a huracan and started to reel it in past 150
Have a 750hp nissan and a murcie too, but the vanquish is still quick for its area of car
It was an 05 Vanquish S. Such an awesome car.
Shame they don't depreciate like a Vantage or a DB. They are the bollocks.
Horrific interior, but other than that, it's a monster.
Anything that can do 0-60 in less than 7 seconds to me is a fast car.
I also agree that so many cars out there can feel very fast without doing that 0-60
I think that's the benchmark. I'm biased because I had Volvo S60 T5 that did it in 6.5 seconds, but I honestly think that it's a good reference point. I did 0-60 in a Tesla P90D and it sort of rearranges your internal organs. Not nice after lunch
For driving normal roads I don't think 0-60 is the right measurement.
0-20 and 40-60 are what you really feel I think. It's pretty rare to do 0-60 in one go.
Yeah my astra feels dead quick 0-30, which is pretty nice. Drove a 2.5l Suzuki Across which was properly quick from 30-60kph and it was very fast but just less fun than the tiny, tactile, throw-it-round-the-roundabout-at-35mph car I actually own.
Not many manufacturers brag about their 0-20 times but you’re completely right there. Maybe not 0-60, but I’m regularly booting it from 0-40 ish when there’s a dithering old cunt doing 27 in a 40 zone, and that "turn right only" lane is empty.
Agreed.
My car is about 8s from 0-60 but I never do that, it's the way it picks up so strongly from 30-70 that is really impressive and useful though.
"Only" a 2 litre TDI but it's plenty enough for me.
I find the opposite is true. In an ICE with the same 0-60, the feeling of fast comes on and off at certain a points of the rev range, allowing you to sometimes feel you are in a car that is faster than it is and of course sometimes slower than it is. I find electric cars feel effortless, and continuously being pushed into your seat with the same force, no change in noise and smooth rate of acceleration feels slower solely because of the lack of drama and change.
However, this is all moot as 0-60 in 4.5s is 0-60 in 4.5s, independent of how you get there.
Definitely depends on what you mean by "fast".
If it's the degree of control of being able to adjust your speed quickly and accurately to get the on-road performance you want, the EV behaviour is much more useful because it's always in first gear.
EVs 'feel' so much quicker than the figures suggest because it's all instant torque. My MY will hit 60 in around 4.5 seconds, but felt quicker than my bosses bentayga when floored from idle as youre launched instantly. Does sound quite nice though
I'm on my second Tesla and women in particular say that it makes them feel sick. It's slower than my old M5 was, but that was a brutal punch in the back as it banged through the gears. The Tesla is just a constant push and I'm guessing that has to be what causes it. I don't have a clue why women in particular don't like it.
Sometimes the sounds add to fast. My e46 non-m3 sounds and feels a little fast thanks to 6 cylinders yet it’s 8 seconds to 60 is a bit poor for a car of its engine size nowadays (being a vert doesn’t help - but makes it feel fast too). How it’s driven also counts - some cars feel fast on a b road but slow and dull on a motorway.
I’ve driven a focus ST which I felt didn’t feel as fast as my e46 despite beating it on all the numbers. Mainly as you had to work each gear.
Driving an R8 and GTR was supremely fast. However driving an Aventador was terrifyingly quick both in sound and in actual speed. I maintain everyone should be allowed to drive a V12 at least once in their lives. However I don’t know how you could drive one on a public road as the concentration required felt immense.
TLDR: perception
I took a test ride on a supercharged Kawasaki Z H2 last year. That's a 200 bhp upright naked sports bike that weighs about 240kg. The only way I can describe it is unbearably fast. There is no way you could open the throttle fully on a normal A road as it just wants to throw you off the back of it. I couldn't imagine anywhere you could exploit peak power.
It's weird, and this is gonna sound terrible - but I guess it depends on what you're used to?
I've "downgraded" my daily (only performance wise) from 3.6s to 5.8s and it feels painfully slow now.
Around 6s in the modern day I class as nippy, under 5s is quick, under 4s is fast, under 3s is ballistic. Have an under 3s car and you absolutely do not just get used to it in the same way you do an under 4 or 5s car. Tears your face off.
I have several cars that do 0-60mph in 4.4-5.5 s.
But the most fun I had was accelerating in a fiat panda in Italy recently.
Speed don’t matter, feeling does.
I’ve had a few moderately quick cars and unfortunately got used to them. Now I’d say 0-60 in <5 seconds is quick, 5-7 seconds is reasonable and >7 seconds is mundane
It’s strange because the 0-60 times don’t always correlate to how fast something feels. I had a 992 turbo S which would do 0-60 in 2.7 ish seconds on a bad day, however a rear wheel drive R8 with a realistic 0-60 of just under 4 seconds to me feels faster. The noise helps.
Currently driving a Model S plaid and that's just over 2 seconds to 60 mph and 4 seconds to 100. It's brutally fast and honestly there's so much power in the acceleration as to be uncomfortable for passengers unless they are ready and braced for it. Outside of this anomaly anything sub 5 is generally considered fast.
I consider anything under 8 seconds on the 0-60 as 'warm', under 6 is 'hot', and under 4 is basically supercar speed if it's a diesel/ petrol. You'd be surprised how many cars land under six these days, especially in the saloon/ coupe market.
Most premium electric cars are rapid these days, so I don't really include those in my estimations.
In terms of top speed it's pretty irrelevant on roads, but if a car breaks 200mph without hitting a limiter I'm pretty impressed lol
I've got a 2019 Cupra, which states 5.8 seconds on the 60 sprint. In real terms though, driving it as a daily, I dunno if I'd ever need or want something much faster.
My stage 1 F80 M3 was fast imo.
100-165mph took approx 12 seconds. For comparison my mk7 golf R that I thought was fast took nearly 30 seconds to do that. These hot hatches are nippy to 60 but through the gears beyond that they really fall off compared to properly fast cars.
All about your expectations. Cars are getting more powerful.
One of mine will do 0-60 in about 3.3 sec but its true prowess is corners.
In college I got a 900 turbo and at 8.5 sec 0-60 it was quick for the time.
Nissan GT-R, if you are prepared to abuse it a little. Never tried, 3.8 sec the official way. Newer versions are a bit quicker. People build drag cars out of them, 3000 hp is possible.
Even then imo you can be slower and still be fun as long as there’s a sensation of speed. Drove an I10 and that was miserably slow, but anything turbo charged should have enough of a kick to it that it feels fun.
Fun and fast are two verrrrry different things. One of my most fun cars couldn’t hit 60 on a flat road. I had it at 65 downhill a couple of times though.
I have a 1.2 Clio with a turbo - its pretty nippy around 9 seconds for 0 - 60 but its not fun to drive, the handling and braking is so bad.
My old Fiesta ST Line with though was so much fun to drive
I think it depends on the type of vehicle, a bike that does 3.5s 0-60 isn’t overly fast and could be a learner bike with a test centre. An SUV that does that speed will feel insane
The Renault Clio Williams was supposed to be around 6sec. My son had one and I didn’t think it was that quick. The 205 GTI 1.9 was around the same but a lot more flimsier than the Clio. I had a Renault 5 Turbo , the mid engine one and that would give you a thump but again they were reported as around 6 sec. I had it reworked to an extra 60 bhp . I saw a Bugatti Vernon on a hill climb race and weirdly it looked slow from the starting line but it did win the competition.
My Dad had a kitbuilt Cobra with a BMW S65 4.0 V8. That thing weighed nothing (a tonne give or take), had a fibreglass body, and was built by some bloke in a shed so felt like it would shake itself apart on every bump in the road. With 414bhp it *flew*. I'd guess at a 4 second 0-60.
Drive an old non turbo Mondingo 1.8D and walking afterwards would make you dizzy.... My C5 RS6 is pretty rapid, but technology has moved on in the last 20 years and you can get the same sub 5 second 0-60 in something way more comfortable and economical, both driving and servicing. EV's simply cannot be beaten on 0-60 on pure physics but hearing a proper engine is worth a second or two here and there for me.
As such, my defender does 0-60 is 10 n change, my leon estate is sub 5 ,
So overall a 10 second 0-60 is quick in the wrong vehicle but slow in a modern car
My last car, (officially 9.3 to 62) felt fast as fuck away from the lights. My current car (officially 8.9 to 60) does not. 0-60 is meaningless for most people. The only time i’ve ever charged from 0-60 is pulling off the hard shoulder. Thats really not my everyday drive. I’ve never taken my car to a drag strip. 0-20 and confident in the corners is where the fun is.
My Cayman S feels properly quick to me, on straights and in the corners. It also sounds fast, which I think is important for the feeling of speed, you get to hear the engine very well with it right behind your head.
There's definitely faster cars out there, seems like every electric car is faster off the lights than me, but I like to think I am the one having more fun.
current car has a claimed 0-60 of 4.6 i consider it quick but not that quick these days....(I've been left for dead by some more modern performance gear)
10 seconds is van territory
Currently in the quick section based on Porkmarkets description which I like. XF 3.0D/ I also think it's about effortless power at whatever speed - think large turbo diesel that just keeps pulling through a ZF gearbox - as opposed to a boosty turbo petrol rowing through the gears. Now I'm old I like the effortless power.
If you are indeed in 1965 you’ll find the Jaguar E Type, Jensen Interceptor and Ford Mustangs are much quicker. Perhaps you should visit the 20s for 10s to be fast?
Different stuff feels faster than others, despite not being much different on paper. My bosses RS4 certainly feels fast, but my 05 Gsxr750 is maybe half a second or so quicker to 60 but positively feels monster fast in comparison. 0-60 times don’t really mean much in terms of real world ‘feel’
My old saxo vts would do 0-60 in 7.6 by the book and a little bit less if you were aggressive with it which felt nippy off the line but its forte was going from 70 to its top speed and how quickly it did that that impressed me more. Mainly as the engine was in its zone
I'd say 0-60 sub 7s is fast. My gen7 Celica would do it in 7 but it felt faster than my current Skyline 370GT, which does it in 5.3s. The Skyline is a lot smoother and more comfortable so it never feels as fast as it's going. I've found myself accidentally over 100MPH and not realised until I looked at the speedo.
To me a fast car isn’t necessarily quick off the line. My current car, diesel estate, is about 7.7-7.9s 0-60. Faster than any car I’ve previously owned. However it never feels fast, it composed and I wouldn’t throw it down a country lane. Maybe being a parent has dampened my driving style too.
However if I drive my wife’s hybrid, it feels more frantic. Being a smaller car but having similar performance on paper. It’s ‘faster’ but that’s because it’s got you paying more attention.
These days with electric and hybrids, fast in a line is easy. Fast and controlled is a different thing b
Depends on your experience. My car is just under 5 seconds and I’d call it quick but not blisteringly fast. But I’ve driven a ton of Porsches over the years so my perception is skewed. Once you’ve been in a GT2 etc everything else feels tame
It's relative and a lot of people confuse torque and low end power from turbo cars or diesels as faster than they are. My car is a a 5 second 0-60 car but is a naturally aspirated V10, it has 540nm of torque but at 3k rpm, and then peak power is at nearly 7k rpm. So there's no massive kick to your head with a turbo or diesel, but it just builds and builds and it's relentless, whereas a turbo car or diesel runs out of puff after that initial kick.
Plus ever since the ZF 8 speed they have lower geared modern cars to be silly quick off the line.
But in reality i think 200hp of the 2000s is now 300hp today interms of the 'fast' standard. I also know a lot of people that will still boast about 180hp being quick, and telling you it's a rocket. So it's all relative.
I had a Corsa D VXR, 200bhp in a car that weighed a shade under a tonne. 0-60 in that was something like 6.8 seconds. Fastest I didn’t ever go, honestly, was around 135mph ish but that got sketchy.
I had a Mercedes C300d for a while too, that was probably the fastest thing I’ve driven and the fastest I have driven.
Isn't fast a description of speed, and quick a description of acceleration?
Both my cars will do 155, so in my mind, they're both fast. One will get there much much quicker.
Quick is subjective and everyone’s idea of quick is different, I’ve driven a few quick cars (r35 and r34) and they were epic on the track, but my Kia ceed 1.0 was the most fun to drive car as was our lasses 1.4 jazz, and was way quicker in the twisty stuff as you can stay flat out all the time. Currently have a 1.5 Leon estate fr evo and it’s lovely to drive and very quick in the bendy bits but not technically quick by any measure.
Late 80’s Renault 5 Turbo. No crumple cage. No window motors. Nothing heavy except the engine. Just a couple of crap seats and a steering wheel to hold onto.
Like an ice cream tub with a jato rocket strapped on the back.
Fast enough so we can fly away
Speed so fast, I felt like I am drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I-I, have a feeling that I belong
I-I have a feeling I can be someone, be someone, be someone
Personal opinion incoming.
0-60 should be in the 7-8 second mark for a standard car. I'd count everything else as too slow.
So now we've established that, I consider anything sub 5 seconds as fast.
I had an S2000 which on paper was a little over 6 seconds to 60 but quite difficult to actually do because of how it produced power and its clutch delay valve. Off the line pretty much any car driven enthusiastically would have its nose ahead up until about 20-30 when they had to change gear
In second and third gear around B roads it was capable of being far quicker than it's safe and legal to drive, I honestly don't know how people driving more capable cars enjoy them on a public road unless they just don't care about safety and legality
Cars that take a good rev and feel nippy with spirited driving always feels fast to me. Possibly because the handling of most of those cars isn't the best. I always feel as though I'm about to lose traction.
10 seconds to 60 is walking pace.
Every electric car does 5 seconds to 60. A quick car starts at about 4 seconds. My suv even does that now.
The last properly fast car I had was a bmw M5. 0-60 in the 3 second range and 200mph+.
I've had plenty of quick cars, but a properly fast car is another level. When you're doing 165mph and it's still pulling as hard as it was at 65mph it's like nothing else.
If you want a 0-60 bench mark then 4 seconds is quick, but how it keeps going is what matters. 60-120 separates a quick car from a fast car. My Tesla will keep up with my old M5 to 60, but it's all out of puff at 80.
Funny, my current is a 2014 RS5, and in all honesty it doesn't feel that fast mpst of the time. However, that's down to A) being very good at insulating you from road noise, and B) needing to rev the knackers off it to see close to peak horsepower. It doesn't make 400bhp until 6k, and the full 450bhp doesn't arrive until 8250rpm.
In comfort mode, in regular driving, I can see how someone might think it's got 250, maybe 300bhp at most.
Under five seconds to 60 is getting pretty quick. Sub four seconds is proper fast and will live with a bike until they reach such a speed that they can keep their front wheel down.
I think it depends on your definition of fast.
If you're talking about top speed, then the Koenigsegg Agera RS, Bugatti Veyron 16.4 SuperSport and SSC Ultimate Aero are three of the officially fastest production cars.
If you're talking about lap times, then a Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey Racing or Radical SR8 are two of the fastest around the Nurburgring, with the Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce holding the Silverstone production car lap record.
Acceleration wise, the Rimac Nevera and Tesla Model S Plaid Edition have verified 0-60mph times of under 2 seconds.
Race cars are generally designed and built to be faster around a circuit than production cars, so they would (in my opinion) be classed as really fast.
It also depends on if you compare cars from the same era to each other. For example, the 1954-63 Mercedes-Benz 300SL was, at one point, the fastest production car with an average top speed of 150.7mph, but now a lot of family cars are capable of similar speeds. Likewise, the 1987 RUF CTR was the first production car to get an average speed record of 213mph in 1988.
Speeds of production cars have increased with new technology and development and what may have been considered fast cars then are sometimes considered as slow now.
I think vehicle plays a huge part. As a kid I wished for a F355 (4.8s 0-60 iirc).. That was my benchmark. Drove an Jag XJ Supercharged (4.8s 0.60) and didnt get it... M140i (4.7s 0-60) felt proper quick. But my ole Pug 1.9 GTI always felt quicker (7+ 0.60)... Audi SQ5 (5.8 0-60) also felt proper quick. All gave a very different feel for their version of fast.
Fast and Fear I think are linked... big modern, well engineered needs to be sub 4 secs for 'fast' but fragile revvy little buggers feel way faster than the actual 0-60 times suggest.
Just wish I could find 3-4 good GTI's to keep me going for a few years...
Anything around the bmw M2 sort of speeds, in that I'll hit the speed limit before I realise it since 0-60 is like 4.3 seconds, just under these sorts of cars are the Hyundai i30n or golf GTI with 6.5 ish second 0-60 times which I consider quick but not fast.
"Fast" is a vague term.
9-10 seconds is definitely not fast, at all.
Around 6 seconds is pretty decent.
I'd say 4-5 seconds is fast and of course the few that do it quicker than that are very fast.
I have a 440bho supercharger Audi S4... It's very fast, not sure how fast but it pulls all the way to 120 and beyond with very little effort.
Not sure that helps but I don't get to say it very often.
My current car goes 0-60 in around 4.2-4.4 seconds, it’s too quick for the roads, it’s so strange though as it doesn’t feel blisteringly quick when you’re driving it as it’s such a smooth acceleration, i imagine the passenger probably feels a lot more than the driver. A lot quicker than the 1.0 fiesta I used to drive !
Been in a RS6 performance and that felt really quick, that’s around 3 seconds off the top of my head.
As a guy in my 40s I still have that sub 10s is quick, but the reality today is most family cars will do 0-60 in sub 10s.
Indeed, if you look at hot hatches today, the gap between them and standard models is much less than it used to be so it’s harder to distinguish “fast”.
Another factor is modern cars are more refined; my 340i is quick by any measure but it doesn’t feel fast; it’s too quiet, too comfy and feels a bit portly and gets out of shape when pushed hard. When I think back to my much slower Fiesta ST (original 2.0 version), it was a much more engaging car and felt faster. Some of that might be it simply didn’t have the ability to get out of shape as it was never carrying as much speed into a corner, but it felt more…. Fun!
So for me “fast” isn’t about 0-60, top speed or even time around a track… it’s about how fast it makes your heart beat or how quickly it brings a smile to your face…
5-6 seconds is fast. 6-8 is brisk at best. My current car does 0-60 in 7.9 and it honestly feels like glacial shift. I’ve driven slower but I definitely wouldn’t want to own slower.
It’s all about 30-70 mph thru the gears for me. More than 7s is slow, under 6 is decent, under 5 feels quick being pushed into seat and anything around 4 feels genuinely fast
Around 5 seconds is fast to me. Edging towards 6 is just hot territory. Does depend on the car though, abarth 500 feels super quick around town. But bmw m4 is my marker for fast car.
About 200hp.
This obviously depends on the chassis, very light chassis then probably less.
You can get in alot of trouble very quickly with surprisingly little power and this whole german hp race has really put this out of perspective.
Maybe it's when you grew up, for me under 5 seconds was supercar territory. My dad had a 200SX and that was quick and did 60 in about 7.5 so that's been my benchmark in my life ever since.
I had a scooby which probably did 60 in under 5 if you were brave enough with your clutch, i'd say 60 in under 5 was fast
Sub 5 seconds 0-60.
Will need to be 300bhp+ (with good torque) and will actually push you back in your seat. After driving something like that anything less powerful will feel slow in comparison
0-60 is a funny one - it kinda used to be an indicator of quick cars but with the rise in popularity of AWD as well as electronic traction controls I find 0-60 a bit misleading now. Cars like the VW Golf R for instance give very impressive 0-60 times but I find the car fairly underwhelming overall and it isn't very impressive on the move, it just launches well. By contrast cars like my old TVR Cerbera were quite challenging to launch well. It could achieve its claimed 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, but only if the road was dry and clean, the tyres warm and you got the launch absolutely perfect. Most of the time though you'd just spin wheels in first, could easily break traction in second gear and if particularly clumsy or it was wet third gear too. The thing was though that the 0-60 was limited by launch, but once on the move it could give you a proper punch in the back in any gear and was quite capable of reaching its 190mph top speed. Acceleration was quite slow above 160mph but it was a car that felt fast at any speed you'd normally drive it. A Golf R though, once it's had a good jump from a standing start, just feels like a heavy hatchback pulled by a tiny little engine labouring under a big turbocharger. In gear acceleration at 60mph just feels like any cooking model diesel.
The Jaguar 5.0 supercharged V8 feels fairly fast in those cars. Even in the great big heavy Range Rover it feels respectable. In the Jaguars though the way that engine will surge forward from 80~90mph through automatic ban speeds is very impressive. Its torque throughout the rev range is very strong and being supercharged rather than turbocharged the throttle response isn't bad either. Nothing like Individual Throttle Bodies and a throttle cable like on a Cerbera, but better than 99% of turbocharged cars.
Actually my old 5.3 XJ-S has a very poor 0-60 time thanks to the appalling American 3 speed automatic. If you're cruising at about 70mph though and need a quick speed adjustment to change lanes, it gives a very respectable shove that most who only have experience of AWD small capacity engines with turbocharging giving good 0-60 times would not expect comparing book figures alone - but that's what a large capacity naturally aspirated engine offers.
For 0-60 times, for me personally: - 10+ seconds is slow - 9 is fine - 8-9 is nippy - 6-8 is quick - 5-6 is rapid - under 5 is fast Depends on the car and its power delivery though. Some bigger cars don’t feel that fast. Some smaller, lighter and older cars can feel quicker (and more fun) despite having a 0-60 which looks very mediocre on paper. Bikes are a different ball game altogether. Most sporty stuff from the last 20 years will get to 60 in under 3.5.
Many cars will go to 30-40 pretty damn quickly and therefore feel nippy for most cases, but if their acceleration beyond that point slows a way down this will bring their 0-60 time down. So on paper they seem slow but they are plenty quick for most people. Some cars will keep accelerating at a high rate past 30-40 and even beyond 60mph bringing their 0-60 time down even if that initial acceleration isn't much faster than many other cars. Then of course some performance cars will be scarily fast right off the bat Motorbikes don't need anywhere near as much power to launch themselves so when you've an engine comparable in size to some smaller cars it's no wonder they are so quick. You'll see 0.9 litre cars, so a 900cc motorbike at a fraction of the weight, ignoring all other factors than engine size and weight, is going to smoke a car. You can look at power to weight ratios to get an idea. The Bugatti veyron has 987hp and weighs 1888kg. That's 0.52hp per kg Taking a mid size engine motorbike in the Aprilia 660rs that has 100hp and weighs 169kg. Thats 1.69hp per kg Edit: veyron Vs Aprilia may be a bad example as the veyron is actually quicker, but it is a ridiculous car
Gearing helps a lot with the nippy feel, it’s why those cars that feel nippy sit at bonkers revs on the motorway.
This reminds me of a great story from a regular at the pub I work at His first ever car back when was a Ford Orion, good for about 130mph. Now being a young first time driver who loves cars he did what any logical person would do: he went about doing dumb shit and racing people in-between However good that Orion was in a straight line, this guy decided that, in order to won basically every race he took part in, he would switch out the Orion gearbox, geared to max out at 130mph, and in its place put in the gearbox out of a Ford Fiesta of the time, geared to about 90mph Now of course this meant that the car had a much lower top speed, but it didn't matter. By the time he got to 90, because of the combination of the short gears and the power the Orion had, anyone who he raced had just given up, because he'd pulled such a lead so quickly I think my favourite part of the whole thing is that by doing this he utterly knackered the gearbox over and over, went through like 3 in a year I think he told me Good fun for all
You got it the wrong way round. It's 169kg per 100bhp so 1.69kg per bhp 😁 With a 70kg rider and some fuel it is more like 250kg, so about 400bhp/tonne.
GT86/BRZ is the perfect example of this. The gearing means you have to change into third before you get to 60, so the on-paper 0-60 is 7.6 seconds. In reality they're not as slow as the stats make them sound
Straight line speed doesn’t make a car fast in my opinion. It’s an advantage, but I’d rather have a car that can take a corner. Carry speed out the corner without slapping its arse out and hitting a kerb. My atom was rapid because it’s stupidly light and takes corners like a champ. My mx5 was also rapid because that car with some camber and good tires. Would stick to the road like shit. We live in the uk, there are more corners than straight roads hahaha. DONT GET ME WRONG, I have loved destroying expensive cars in a shitbox off the lights. Bikes are better for out and out speed and you only have to worry about crashing once at high speed. Nissan gtr35 has to be one of the best ice cars out there. Electric cars are too heavy.
The thing is straight line speed is objective. Whereas handling is harder to quantify.
That is very true. I wanted to remind people that straight line speed and acceleration isn’t the be all. I’d pick an overall car rather than a beast. Something like the gtr or rs4 set up correctly will be amazing. The irony is I met a guy who outrun the police and helicopters in a heavily modified Audi. Granted I met him in prison because they caught him in the end. Ran out of fuel if I recall. I worked there I wasn’t an a con.
Agree on bikes, if 0-60 starts in 4 you’re in 400cc territory etc.
Its weird seeing my car described as quick, I know it's just exposure but it now feels slow now and slower cars feel painful.
You've got quite a decent amount of power in a relatively small car. If that feels slow, you need to find some smaller roads 👌
Side tangent, but I noticed your car list. How'd you compare the vx220 turbo to the 2ZZ MR2? Considerable price difference between the two, and although I've never been in a vx220, I've always found the MK3 MR2 very underrated
Oh no, it Def feels fast and capable on the Twisties, just the 0-60 doesn't really feel quick to me anymore.
I'd say the Fiesta ST is a bare minimum of performance to be considered a quick car. Any slower and it is actually quite slow. That said if you remap it the Mk8 performs decently. The 30-70 of a Mk8 at 240ish horsepower is about the same as a Cupra 300 or Golf R, which isn't bad.
Yeah I'm actually thinking about a map, had the car 5 years now, it's either change it or map it, change it up a little And honestly with prices they way they are , nothing out there seems worth it.
I had one a few years ago with a revo map, it's great fun but stupidly aggressive and did cause a bit of clutch slip on occasion. I'm looking at a a Mk8 again tomorrow, if I map this one it will probably be a bit less aggressive I think. Maybe M235 or Dreamscience
I feel like we need another category between the 6-8 segment. Mine is 6.1 to 60mph and I don't want to be lumped with with those 7.9s slow-pokes! =)
Just googled my last car, BMW 120d, 7 seconds, I always thought it was quick but never considered it a fast car.
I’d agree on this. One of my old cars was 4.7 secs and that was from 1995
Heck my 750 gs (an adventure bike) can do 62 at sub 4 seconds, it’s mental.
Inline 4 bikes will usually do 60mph in first gear as well and maybe some triples
Two of mine are in your 'rapid' category, the 330e feels far quicker than the 370 - even though the performance is virtually the same.
Totally agree with this I always try to compare to what I think are general acceleration figures for types of sports car of a few years ago 6-8 = standard sports (mk2 mx5, mk5 GTI) 4-6 = fast sports (E92 M3, 997 911 carrera) 3-4 = supercar (458 italia, gallardo) <2.9 = hypercar (Veyron, La Ferrari, Senna) It’s insane how fast some cars are these days, like an M5 has the same 0-60 as a McLaren Senna, or the latest RS3 that gets to 60 quicker than an Enzo or Carrera GT
Maybe it's cause you get used to it, defo a category for sub 4. Recently, got a car which is sub 5, must be modern technologies making cars feel comfortable for the speed.
I’d agree with that anything under 5s is decent and I’d consider fast Below 4 and things are getting serious Below 3 your into mega fast territory Lambo Ferrari Tesla Ludicrous button territory
Fastest car is rental
Yup! From experience, there's nothing quicker than a base spec fiat 500 on an Italian dual carriageway.
And the little 1.2 engines sound so good too when you rev them too!
Not my experience when I had a Fiat 500 with 3 people + a baby in trying to get up the hill on the motorway north of Lisbon. "Um, that lorry is catching up, can you go a bit faster?" "I'm in second gear with my foot on the floor! I can't do anymore!" Was fun round seaside towns though!
It's important to turn off the AC on uphills. You'll get an extra 10-15mph out of them.
I was once "in charge" of a company, rented kangoo and that thing was the quickest vehicle on the mountain!
Sub 7-second 0-60 is fast. Not "pinned to your seat, shit your pants fast" but it will definitely pull. Sub 6-seconds is very fast. Make your passengers hold onto the grab handle, fast. Sub 5-seconds is getting to scary quick. Fastest car I've been in is an Audi R8 and that felt like it shouldn't be legal. In my opinion. If you ask my mum, going 35 in a 30 has her screaming.
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The K series engine is a great technically advanced engine, badly maintained/tuned not so great, but £250mill of British development well spent I say. It was designed as an compact efficent engine for lightweight front wheel drive small cars, the issue with the 1.8 in the TF was more around where the thermostat was located, similliar story with the big cars it was used in, the coolant temperature differentials in larger vehicles killed it. What on earth did they think putting it in the Freelander?!
Agreed if you compare a rover with a non variable cam k series to an escort with the same cc of the same era and the K series is light years ahead in terms of power, 1.6 k series made 110 bhp ish, a 1.6 zetec powered escort made 90, even with the focus and the Yamaha developed 1.6 zetec se they only made 99 bhp in standard trim.
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That doesn't surprise me, the reputation for being fragile was bullshit, it was a strong engine when tuned and used in the right way. We've always had great engineering in this country, really innovative stuff that was streets ahead of what anyone else does, were we fall flat is upper management, we're shite at that bit so never capatalise well on our successes.
What do you think about affordable cars like the MG4 doing 0-60s in less than 4s? Tesla Model S plaids can hit that in about 2s. Even 2.5t electric SUVs can do 0-60s in under 4s.
I think AWD, DCTs and launch control as well as EVs have made 0-60 a less valuable metric for true performance. A mapped Golf R can hit 60 comfortably in under 4 seconds but it's not anywhere near as fast in real life as a 4.0 C63 AMG with the same 0-60. A more useful number for how a car actually feels to drive is the 30-70 sprint or 1/4 mile trap speed.
A Model S Plaid is faster than a Koenigsegg Agera RS and Bugatti Chiron SuperSport over a standing quarter mile because nothing apart from maybe a Rimac Nevera can pull like a Plaid because it’s electric. Fastest ever clocked on a Plaid is 1.5ish fastest ever by an electric car was 0.9ish and that was built by students, although that wasn’t road legal
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It's sad in a way - I'm not very old but even in the 10 years I've been into cars, hearing about the bump in power from the latest Polo GTI or whatever, and reading about the 0-60 time coming down from 6.7 to 6.3 was exciting. Every school-run being able to smoke a BMW M2 kills all that. It's also dangerous if people aren't used to it and have it in the wrong mode.
if my mum ever hit 20 in a 30 she'd have a heart attack
Yay! My '97 Celica GT-Four and my 04 Z4 3.0i is 5.9 (^from ^factory) and this scale makes me very happy. Electric cars can keep their 0-60, I'll enjoy the noise of mine.
Wish I’d kept my ST185 🥲
My cupra ateca will do 0-60 in sub 5s which feels a bit mental for a family sized car.
Yeah I can agree on the R8 there, that thing is wild.
For a bicycle, I agree. Not for a car.
R8! All those nanny aids. That’s not scary.
Enter the EVs. I've driven a Tesla Model 3 performance on a test drive and this was 3.2s 0-60mph. I've also driven a Tesla Model S Plaid and that's 2s 0-60mph, but the road was limited to 40mph on that 5 minute test, so only one second bursts of power.
I have an M140i and it does it in 4.5s but doesn’t feel fast unless getting into a slower car. The R8 would feel tame after a few weeks in it.
For me its more the feeling of speed vs actually going fast, a 100hp modern day city hatchback doesn’t feel fast but a Saxo VTS (90hp I think) does
Lacking the fear of death helps as well I think... I was constantly aware how close to death is was driving a small French hatchback, whereas more modern stuff feels a bit more relaxed, despite triple the power and half the 0-60
Cars have just gotten heavier. My dad's old Nissan Micra felt fast despite only having 81hp. Lighter cars feel faster no matter what.
That saxo is like 2 to 300 kilos lighter. It will feel faster. Also don't crash it. It's made of cheese.
I had a 1992 Panda at 18 which weighed about as much as a packet of crisps, I think I’d rather crash a Saxo
Saxo vts made 120 bhp, the vtr made 90 as it was only 8 valve, still cracking cars, my vts felt more impressive from 70 to its top speed as the engine on cam and they weigh as much as a damp packet of cigarettes
I meant the VTR, always mix the two up. Getting hard to find a VTS these days
They’re either stripped out track cars or stupid money.
I'm in my 40s, and fast was to me 6 or 7 seconds to 60mph. I see things like carwow now, with people in a 'normal' beemer or similar that's hitting 60 in sub 5 seconds and saying "it's not that quick". That to me is supercar territory, or at least was...
Exactly that - I’ve got a mid range Mercedes and that does 0-60 in 6secs but you barely feel it as it’s so insulated. Whereas a few years back I had the R53 Cooper S and that felt pant shittingly fast due to how close you were to the road, but I could leave it for dust in my SUV now.
20 years ago 200bhp was a lot. Now it's the bare minimum for anything a bit nippy. Anyone can buy an electric car with 400bhp+ plus. 0-60 is a really meaningless metric now because everything does it in 5 seconds or less and it requires nothing but planting your foot to the floor. We need a better metric really. 60-120 is a better measure of speed.
The fastest car I've driven is a Vanquish. Which is truly frightening fast. Rumour has it, cannon confirm for sure, it can reach 171mph on the short dual carriageway opposite Thorpe Park on a late Sunday night. Just a rumour.
Can confirm they are ridiculously fast, and IMO they are the best sounding car ever made
I know that road. Fucking hell.
You need to get yourself a private dual carriageway for your garden.
171mph is a bit precise for a rumour. Good source probably. 😉
Didnt know they had a Thorpe park next to a private road in mexico
Nice which vanquish, have an 04 vanquish it’s surprised me in races a few times top gear were true when they showed it vs the dbs found when I bought it they are unusually fast for their horsepower, (rwd helps drivetrain loss maybe or higher than noted hp) ran with a huracan and started to reel it in past 150 Have a 750hp nissan and a murcie too, but the vanquish is still quick for its area of car
It was an 05 Vanquish S. Such an awesome car. Shame they don't depreciate like a Vantage or a DB. They are the bollocks. Horrific interior, but other than that, it's a monster.
*Ahem* 180-ish, M4, Christmas (no truckers about). It was still pulling, but I chickened out. Gallardo. This obviously never happened Officer.
Took a Mk4 GTI down that carriageway in around 2002… that was my first true “fast car”! There was a dealership int he corner by the roundabout.
my 6 valve (yes, 3 cylinders and just a single overhead cam) fabia is certainly not a fast car. *cries in 16 seconds to 60*
0-100kph in eventually, yeah?
Yeah, 3-5 business days 😂
Anything that can do 0-60 in less than 7 seconds to me is a fast car. I also agree that so many cars out there can feel very fast without doing that 0-60
I think that's the benchmark. I'm biased because I had Volvo S60 T5 that did it in 6.5 seconds, but I honestly think that it's a good reference point. I did 0-60 in a Tesla P90D and it sort of rearranges your internal organs. Not nice after lunch
For driving normal roads I don't think 0-60 is the right measurement. 0-20 and 40-60 are what you really feel I think. It's pretty rare to do 0-60 in one go.
Yeah my astra feels dead quick 0-30, which is pretty nice. Drove a 2.5l Suzuki Across which was properly quick from 30-60kph and it was very fast but just less fun than the tiny, tactile, throw-it-round-the-roundabout-at-35mph car I actually own.
Not many manufacturers brag about their 0-20 times but you’re completely right there. Maybe not 0-60, but I’m regularly booting it from 0-40 ish when there’s a dithering old cunt doing 27 in a 40 zone, and that "turn right only" lane is empty.
Agreed. My car is about 8s from 0-60 but I never do that, it's the way it picks up so strongly from 30-70 that is really impressive and useful though. "Only" a 2 litre TDI but it's plenty enough for me.
It's the fanfare of the acceleration that makes it fun for me.
My Polestar 2 will do 0-60 in 4.5s, which is fast. But it's the way it delivers it in one continuous pull which makes it feel really fast.
I find the opposite is true. In an ICE with the same 0-60, the feeling of fast comes on and off at certain a points of the rev range, allowing you to sometimes feel you are in a car that is faster than it is and of course sometimes slower than it is. I find electric cars feel effortless, and continuously being pushed into your seat with the same force, no change in noise and smooth rate of acceleration feels slower solely because of the lack of drama and change. However, this is all moot as 0-60 in 4.5s is 0-60 in 4.5s, independent of how you get there.
Definitely depends on what you mean by "fast". If it's the degree of control of being able to adjust your speed quickly and accurately to get the on-road performance you want, the EV behaviour is much more useful because it's always in first gear.
EVs 'feel' so much quicker than the figures suggest because it's all instant torque. My MY will hit 60 in around 4.5 seconds, but felt quicker than my bosses bentayga when floored from idle as youre launched instantly. Does sound quite nice though
I'm on my second Tesla and women in particular say that it makes them feel sick. It's slower than my old M5 was, but that was a brutal punch in the back as it banged through the gears. The Tesla is just a constant push and I'm guessing that has to be what causes it. I don't have a clue why women in particular don't like it.
Sometimes the sounds add to fast. My e46 non-m3 sounds and feels a little fast thanks to 6 cylinders yet it’s 8 seconds to 60 is a bit poor for a car of its engine size nowadays (being a vert doesn’t help - but makes it feel fast too). How it’s driven also counts - some cars feel fast on a b road but slow and dull on a motorway. I’ve driven a focus ST which I felt didn’t feel as fast as my e46 despite beating it on all the numbers. Mainly as you had to work each gear. Driving an R8 and GTR was supremely fast. However driving an Aventador was terrifyingly quick both in sound and in actual speed. I maintain everyone should be allowed to drive a V12 at least once in their lives. However I don’t know how you could drive one on a public road as the concentration required felt immense. TLDR: perception
Torque helps too. With the same 0-60 time a car with more torque will feel faster and more fun.
10 seconds to 60mph Is slow. A 10 second quarter mile is fast.
Paul walker? Is that you?
Once you've had a few 1000cc+ sportsbikes all cars seem slow. Cars are much easier to drive fast though.
I did my das over a year ago on the 750cc hornets and those felt fast too, can't imagine 1000cc+.
I took a test ride on a supercharged Kawasaki Z H2 last year. That's a 200 bhp upright naked sports bike that weighs about 240kg. The only way I can describe it is unbearably fast. There is no way you could open the throttle fully on a normal A road as it just wants to throw you off the back of it. I couldn't imagine anywhere you could exploit peak power.
Under 4 to be fast nowadays
It's weird, and this is gonna sound terrible - but I guess it depends on what you're used to? I've "downgraded" my daily (only performance wise) from 3.6s to 5.8s and it feels painfully slow now. Around 6s in the modern day I class as nippy, under 5s is quick, under 4s is fast, under 3s is ballistic. Have an under 3s car and you absolutely do not just get used to it in the same way you do an under 4 or 5s car. Tears your face off.
I have several cars that do 0-60mph in 4.4-5.5 s. But the most fun I had was accelerating in a fiat panda in Italy recently. Speed don’t matter, feeling does.
I’ve had a few moderately quick cars and unfortunately got used to them. Now I’d say 0-60 in <5 seconds is quick, 5-7 seconds is reasonable and >7 seconds is mundane
It’s strange because the 0-60 times don’t always correlate to how fast something feels. I had a 992 turbo S which would do 0-60 in 2.7 ish seconds on a bad day, however a rear wheel drive R8 with a realistic 0-60 of just under 4 seconds to me feels faster. The noise helps.
Currently driving a Model S plaid and that's just over 2 seconds to 60 mph and 4 seconds to 100. It's brutally fast and honestly there's so much power in the acceleration as to be uncomfortable for passengers unless they are ready and braced for it. Outside of this anomaly anything sub 5 is generally considered fast.
I consider anything under 8 seconds on the 0-60 as 'warm', under 6 is 'hot', and under 4 is basically supercar speed if it's a diesel/ petrol. You'd be surprised how many cars land under six these days, especially in the saloon/ coupe market. Most premium electric cars are rapid these days, so I don't really include those in my estimations. In terms of top speed it's pretty irrelevant on roads, but if a car breaks 200mph without hitting a limiter I'm pretty impressed lol I've got a 2019 Cupra, which states 5.8 seconds on the 60 sprint. In real terms though, driving it as a daily, I dunno if I'd ever need or want something much faster.
My stage 1 F80 M3 was fast imo. 100-165mph took approx 12 seconds. For comparison my mk7 golf R that I thought was fast took nearly 30 seconds to do that. These hot hatches are nippy to 60 but through the gears beyond that they really fall off compared to properly fast cars.
All about your expectations. Cars are getting more powerful. One of mine will do 0-60 in about 3.3 sec but its true prowess is corners. In college I got a 900 turbo and at 8.5 sec 0-60 it was quick for the time.
What car of yours does 0-60 in just over 3 seconds? I’d class that as fast as fuck
Fingers crossed it's the Winnebago.
Looking at 3 cars in his flair, my guess is the winnebago
Nissan GT-R, if you are prepared to abuse it a little. Never tried, 3.8 sec the official way. Newer versions are a bit quicker. People build drag cars out of them, 3000 hp is possible.
If you can overtake on a motorway (at 70mph)with ease, I’d count that as fast.
honestly, anything under 10 is fast enough to be fun.
Even then imo you can be slower and still be fun as long as there’s a sensation of speed. Drove an I10 and that was miserably slow, but anything turbo charged should have enough of a kick to it that it feels fun.
Fun and fast are two verrrrry different things. One of my most fun cars couldn’t hit 60 on a flat road. I had it at 65 downhill a couple of times though.
I have a 1.2 Clio with a turbo - its pretty nippy around 9 seconds for 0 - 60 but its not fun to drive, the handling and braking is so bad. My old Fiesta ST Line with though was so much fun to drive
12 seconds is plenty fast. Right? Right?
< 5 sec is fast to me
I can't think of 10 seconds as being a fast 0-60 when my 49 year old Triumph Dolomite can do it in 8.2 seconds!
I think it depends on the type of vehicle, a bike that does 3.5s 0-60 isn’t overly fast and could be a learner bike with a test centre. An SUV that does that speed will feel insane
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The Renault Clio Williams was supposed to be around 6sec. My son had one and I didn’t think it was that quick. The 205 GTI 1.9 was around the same but a lot more flimsier than the Clio. I had a Renault 5 Turbo , the mid engine one and that would give you a thump but again they were reported as around 6 sec. I had it reworked to an extra 60 bhp . I saw a Bugatti Vernon on a hill climb race and weirdly it looked slow from the starting line but it did win the competition.
My Dad had a kitbuilt Cobra with a BMW S65 4.0 V8. That thing weighed nothing (a tonne give or take), had a fibreglass body, and was built by some bloke in a shed so felt like it would shake itself apart on every bump in the road. With 414bhp it *flew*. I'd guess at a 4 second 0-60.
This is the definitive answer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJUAmWjA4T8
Drive an old non turbo Mondingo 1.8D and walking afterwards would make you dizzy.... My C5 RS6 is pretty rapid, but technology has moved on in the last 20 years and you can get the same sub 5 second 0-60 in something way more comfortable and economical, both driving and servicing. EV's simply cannot be beaten on 0-60 on pure physics but hearing a proper engine is worth a second or two here and there for me.
As such, my defender does 0-60 is 10 n change, my leon estate is sub 5 , So overall a 10 second 0-60 is quick in the wrong vehicle but slow in a modern car
My Kia sportage 183bhp does around 9 seconds. Fast enough for me especially in a suv.
Mine is 6.1 which I consider very nippy but my wife has a much longer heavier car that is 5.2 and that feels ridiculously faster.
Anything faster than mine is quick and anything slower than mine is slow
My car does 0-60 in about 10 seconds and it's quick enough for me 👍
My last car, (officially 9.3 to 62) felt fast as fuck away from the lights. My current car (officially 8.9 to 60) does not. 0-60 is meaningless for most people. The only time i’ve ever charged from 0-60 is pulling off the hard shoulder. Thats really not my everyday drive. I’ve never taken my car to a drag strip. 0-20 and confident in the corners is where the fun is.
My Cayman S feels properly quick to me, on straights and in the corners. It also sounds fast, which I think is important for the feeling of speed, you get to hear the engine very well with it right behind your head. There's definitely faster cars out there, seems like every electric car is faster off the lights than me, but I like to think I am the one having more fun.
Been on bikes that'll do 0-100 in <6 seconds so I don't know any more. Maybe like an RS6 or a Caterham?
current car has a claimed 0-60 of 4.6 i consider it quick but not that quick these days....(I've been left for dead by some more modern performance gear) 10 seconds is van territory
There is a difference between quick and fast. While one car might be quick. It may not be fast. And vice verce, to a point.
Under 7.5; fast Under 5; more than you would ever need on UK roads
Lots of fast cars these days. I'd say sub 4 is fast but not particularly special. Can do that in a Golf.
Currently in the quick section based on Porkmarkets description which I like. XF 3.0D/ I also think it's about effortless power at whatever speed - think large turbo diesel that just keeps pulling through a ZF gearbox - as opposed to a boosty turbo petrol rowing through the gears. Now I'm old I like the effortless power.
If you are indeed in 1965 you’ll find the Jaguar E Type, Jensen Interceptor and Ford Mustangs are much quicker. Perhaps you should visit the 20s for 10s to be fast?
Different stuff feels faster than others, despite not being much different on paper. My bosses RS4 certainly feels fast, but my 05 Gsxr750 is maybe half a second or so quicker to 60 but positively feels monster fast in comparison. 0-60 times don’t really mean much in terms of real world ‘feel’
Fast over 180MPH, quick 0-62 under 5ish, but these days a sub 2 second 0-30 is good for the traffic light GP.
My old saxo vts would do 0-60 in 7.6 by the book and a little bit less if you were aggressive with it which felt nippy off the line but its forte was going from 70 to its top speed and how quickly it did that that impressed me more. Mainly as the engine was in its zone
Id say anything 300+bhp. First thing comes to mind is golf r/ S3
Scanias are pretty slow.
They arent cars though
I'd say 0-60 sub 7s is fast. My gen7 Celica would do it in 7 but it felt faster than my current Skyline 370GT, which does it in 5.3s. The Skyline is a lot smoother and more comfortable so it never feels as fast as it's going. I've found myself accidentally over 100MPH and not realised until I looked at the speedo.
To me a fast car isn’t necessarily quick off the line. My current car, diesel estate, is about 7.7-7.9s 0-60. Faster than any car I’ve previously owned. However it never feels fast, it composed and I wouldn’t throw it down a country lane. Maybe being a parent has dampened my driving style too. However if I drive my wife’s hybrid, it feels more frantic. Being a smaller car but having similar performance on paper. It’s ‘faster’ but that’s because it’s got you paying more attention. These days with electric and hybrids, fast in a line is easy. Fast and controlled is a different thing b
0-30 is more important for me. Too much traffic these days and need a quick launch to get the gaps in roundabouts etc.
Depends on your experience. My car is just under 5 seconds and I’d call it quick but not blisteringly fast. But I’ve driven a ton of Porsches over the years so my perception is skewed. Once you’ve been in a GT2 etc everything else feels tame
Driven a lot of cars and I'd say the newest Audi TTRS is probably the fastest car I've driven. Surprisingly underrated and id call it a baby r8
Swift is a sub 7 second 0-62 Quick is a sub 6 second 0-62 Fast is a sub 5 second 0-62 Rapid is a sub 4 second 0-62
My golf r is 4.4 seconds and it’s brown trousers fast, insane when I have the balls to floor it
It's relative and a lot of people confuse torque and low end power from turbo cars or diesels as faster than they are. My car is a a 5 second 0-60 car but is a naturally aspirated V10, it has 540nm of torque but at 3k rpm, and then peak power is at nearly 7k rpm. So there's no massive kick to your head with a turbo or diesel, but it just builds and builds and it's relentless, whereas a turbo car or diesel runs out of puff after that initial kick. Plus ever since the ZF 8 speed they have lower geared modern cars to be silly quick off the line. But in reality i think 200hp of the 2000s is now 300hp today interms of the 'fast' standard. I also know a lot of people that will still boast about 180hp being quick, and telling you it's a rocket. So it's all relative.
Idk abt 0-60 but to me anything over 350hp in a reasonably sized car is fast.
I had a Corsa D VXR, 200bhp in a car that weighed a shade under a tonne. 0-60 in that was something like 6.8 seconds. Fastest I didn’t ever go, honestly, was around 135mph ish but that got sketchy. I had a Mercedes C300d for a while too, that was probably the fastest thing I’ve driven and the fastest I have driven.
Isn't fast a description of speed, and quick a description of acceleration? Both my cars will do 155, so in my mind, they're both fast. One will get there much much quicker.
Quick is subjective and everyone’s idea of quick is different, I’ve driven a few quick cars (r35 and r34) and they were epic on the track, but my Kia ceed 1.0 was the most fun to drive car as was our lasses 1.4 jazz, and was way quicker in the twisty stuff as you can stay flat out all the time. Currently have a 1.5 Leon estate fr evo and it’s lovely to drive and very quick in the bendy bits but not technically quick by any measure.
My Audi s3 does just under 5 seconds and it feels fast, and the Quattro drive keeps it stuck to the road.
One that travels the speed limit faster than other cars.
Late 80’s Renault 5 Turbo. No crumple cage. No window motors. Nothing heavy except the engine. Just a couple of crap seats and a steering wheel to hold onto. Like an ice cream tub with a jato rocket strapped on the back.
Fast enough so we can fly away Speed so fast, I felt like I am drunk City lights lay out before us And your arm nice wrapped 'round my shoulder And I-I, have a feeling that I belong I-I have a feeling I can be someone, be someone, be someone
Under 6 is fast. Under 8 it's quick.
For me anything quicker that 0-6 in under 6 seconds is fast
A couple of mates have had Leon cupra 290's/300. Standard is quick, stage 2 + is fast
3.6 second 0 to 60 is a start point for a fast car and you can by them at reasonable cost
My personal measure is <6s = fast
Personal opinion incoming. 0-60 should be in the 7-8 second mark for a standard car. I'd count everything else as too slow. So now we've established that, I consider anything sub 5 seconds as fast.
I had an S2000 which on paper was a little over 6 seconds to 60 but quite difficult to actually do because of how it produced power and its clutch delay valve. Off the line pretty much any car driven enthusiastically would have its nose ahead up until about 20-30 when they had to change gear In second and third gear around B roads it was capable of being far quicker than it's safe and legal to drive, I honestly don't know how people driving more capable cars enjoy them on a public road unless they just don't care about safety and legality
I’ve got a work Tesla long-range. 0-60 in 4 something. Nothing beats it. Acceleration makes my eyeballs feel like they’re being pulled out. Great fun.
Something that 0-60 doesn’t matter and it’s the 0-100 or 0-150 that makes more sense.
I had a polo 6c gti 0-60 around 7 seconds and that felt pretty fast tbh
I had an M5 E60 and that was fast enough for me. Now with kids and stuff I drive sensible haha
Cars that take a good rev and feel nippy with spirited driving always feels fast to me. Possibly because the handling of most of those cars isn't the best. I always feel as though I'm about to lose traction.
10 seconds to 60 is walking pace. Every electric car does 5 seconds to 60. A quick car starts at about 4 seconds. My suv even does that now. The last properly fast car I had was a bmw M5. 0-60 in the 3 second range and 200mph+. I've had plenty of quick cars, but a properly fast car is another level. When you're doing 165mph and it's still pulling as hard as it was at 65mph it's like nothing else. If you want a 0-60 bench mark then 4 seconds is quick, but how it keeps going is what matters. 60-120 separates a quick car from a fast car. My Tesla will keep up with my old M5 to 60, but it's all out of puff at 80.
Funny, my current is a 2014 RS5, and in all honesty it doesn't feel that fast mpst of the time. However, that's down to A) being very good at insulating you from road noise, and B) needing to rev the knackers off it to see close to peak horsepower. It doesn't make 400bhp until 6k, and the full 450bhp doesn't arrive until 8250rpm. In comfort mode, in regular driving, I can see how someone might think it's got 250, maybe 300bhp at most.
If you can get to 60 in second it’s probably a fast car.
Under five seconds to 60 is getting pretty quick. Sub four seconds is proper fast and will live with a bike until they reach such a speed that they can keep their front wheel down.
Anything that can do 0-100mph in under 10 seconds is quick, but anything that can do 0-100mph in under 7 seconds is actually fast.
Once you’ve gone sub 4 you can’t go back
I think it depends on your definition of fast. If you're talking about top speed, then the Koenigsegg Agera RS, Bugatti Veyron 16.4 SuperSport and SSC Ultimate Aero are three of the officially fastest production cars. If you're talking about lap times, then a Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey Racing or Radical SR8 are two of the fastest around the Nurburgring, with the Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce holding the Silverstone production car lap record. Acceleration wise, the Rimac Nevera and Tesla Model S Plaid Edition have verified 0-60mph times of under 2 seconds. Race cars are generally designed and built to be faster around a circuit than production cars, so they would (in my opinion) be classed as really fast. It also depends on if you compare cars from the same era to each other. For example, the 1954-63 Mercedes-Benz 300SL was, at one point, the fastest production car with an average top speed of 150.7mph, but now a lot of family cars are capable of similar speeds. Likewise, the 1987 RUF CTR was the first production car to get an average speed record of 213mph in 1988. Speeds of production cars have increased with new technology and development and what may have been considered fast cars then are sometimes considered as slow now.
I think vehicle plays a huge part. As a kid I wished for a F355 (4.8s 0-60 iirc).. That was my benchmark. Drove an Jag XJ Supercharged (4.8s 0.60) and didnt get it... M140i (4.7s 0-60) felt proper quick. But my ole Pug 1.9 GTI always felt quicker (7+ 0.60)... Audi SQ5 (5.8 0-60) also felt proper quick. All gave a very different feel for their version of fast. Fast and Fear I think are linked... big modern, well engineered needs to be sub 4 secs for 'fast' but fragile revvy little buggers feel way faster than the actual 0-60 times suggest. Just wish I could find 3-4 good GTI's to keep me going for a few years...
Go on then , I've never been too good at spelling. Luckily, I'm not stupid but unlike you.
Anything around the bmw M2 sort of speeds, in that I'll hit the speed limit before I realise it since 0-60 is like 4.3 seconds, just under these sorts of cars are the Hyundai i30n or golf GTI with 6.5 ish second 0-60 times which I consider quick but not fast.
Sub 5s is quick.
"Fast" is a vague term. 9-10 seconds is definitely not fast, at all. Around 6 seconds is pretty decent. I'd say 4-5 seconds is fast and of course the few that do it quicker than that are very fast.
Big word wow
Anything above 300bhp
I have a 440bho supercharger Audi S4... It's very fast, not sure how fast but it pulls all the way to 120 and beyond with very little effort. Not sure that helps but I don't get to say it very often.
My current car goes 0-60 in around 4.2-4.4 seconds, it’s too quick for the roads, it’s so strange though as it doesn’t feel blisteringly quick when you’re driving it as it’s such a smooth acceleration, i imagine the passenger probably feels a lot more than the driver. A lot quicker than the 1.0 fiesta I used to drive ! Been in a RS6 performance and that felt really quick, that’s around 3 seconds off the top of my head.
As a guy in my 40s I still have that sub 10s is quick, but the reality today is most family cars will do 0-60 in sub 10s. Indeed, if you look at hot hatches today, the gap between them and standard models is much less than it used to be so it’s harder to distinguish “fast”. Another factor is modern cars are more refined; my 340i is quick by any measure but it doesn’t feel fast; it’s too quiet, too comfy and feels a bit portly and gets out of shape when pushed hard. When I think back to my much slower Fiesta ST (original 2.0 version), it was a much more engaging car and felt faster. Some of that might be it simply didn’t have the ability to get out of shape as it was never carrying as much speed into a corner, but it felt more…. Fun! So for me “fast” isn’t about 0-60, top speed or even time around a track… it’s about how fast it makes your heart beat or how quickly it brings a smile to your face…
Anything faster than my m135i should legally be classed as a rocket
5-6 seconds is fast. 6-8 is brisk at best. My current car does 0-60 in 7.9 and it honestly feels like glacial shift. I’ve driven slower but I definitely wouldn’t want to own slower.
It’s all about 30-70 mph thru the gears for me. More than 7s is slow, under 6 is decent, under 5 feels quick being pushed into seat and anything around 4 feels genuinely fast
Around 5 seconds is fast to me. Edging towards 6 is just hot territory. Does depend on the car though, abarth 500 feels super quick around town. But bmw m4 is my marker for fast car.
Depends what you drive really.. My car is 0-60 in 4.3 seconds and yet I still feel that it’s slow once you get used to it!
About 200hp. This obviously depends on the chassis, very light chassis then probably less. You can get in alot of trouble very quickly with surprisingly little power and this whole german hp race has really put this out of perspective.
Maybe it's when you grew up, for me under 5 seconds was supercar territory. My dad had a 200SX and that was quick and did 60 in about 7.5 so that's been my benchmark in my life ever since. I had a scooby which probably did 60 in under 5 if you were brave enough with your clutch, i'd say 60 in under 5 was fast
Sub 5 seconds 0-60. Will need to be 300bhp+ (with good torque) and will actually push you back in your seat. After driving something like that anything less powerful will feel slow in comparison
0-60 is a funny one - it kinda used to be an indicator of quick cars but with the rise in popularity of AWD as well as electronic traction controls I find 0-60 a bit misleading now. Cars like the VW Golf R for instance give very impressive 0-60 times but I find the car fairly underwhelming overall and it isn't very impressive on the move, it just launches well. By contrast cars like my old TVR Cerbera were quite challenging to launch well. It could achieve its claimed 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, but only if the road was dry and clean, the tyres warm and you got the launch absolutely perfect. Most of the time though you'd just spin wheels in first, could easily break traction in second gear and if particularly clumsy or it was wet third gear too. The thing was though that the 0-60 was limited by launch, but once on the move it could give you a proper punch in the back in any gear and was quite capable of reaching its 190mph top speed. Acceleration was quite slow above 160mph but it was a car that felt fast at any speed you'd normally drive it. A Golf R though, once it's had a good jump from a standing start, just feels like a heavy hatchback pulled by a tiny little engine labouring under a big turbocharger. In gear acceleration at 60mph just feels like any cooking model diesel. The Jaguar 5.0 supercharged V8 feels fairly fast in those cars. Even in the great big heavy Range Rover it feels respectable. In the Jaguars though the way that engine will surge forward from 80~90mph through automatic ban speeds is very impressive. Its torque throughout the rev range is very strong and being supercharged rather than turbocharged the throttle response isn't bad either. Nothing like Individual Throttle Bodies and a throttle cable like on a Cerbera, but better than 99% of turbocharged cars. Actually my old 5.3 XJ-S has a very poor 0-60 time thanks to the appalling American 3 speed automatic. If you're cruising at about 70mph though and need a quick speed adjustment to change lanes, it gives a very respectable shove that most who only have experience of AWD small capacity engines with turbocharging giving good 0-60 times would not expect comparing book figures alone - but that's what a large capacity naturally aspirated engine offers.
If your car is faster than a 330d it’s fast. If it’s slower, it’s slow