14.9

I have started to notice that everyone rates there cars by the 0-60 time, why is that?? Quarter mile is what you should be doing, it is more important then the 0-60.

If you stop to think about it logically, even if you can pull a car off the line and stay ahead up to 60 it dosent mean that you would win the race, it just means you are quicker at low end speeds, if the person you raced pulls by you down the quarter mile then you lost and 0-60 gets no credit at all.

I am not tring to be a jerk or anything, I was just wondering why everyone always posts the 0-60 times of cars, or the 0-60 times of there own. Just curious...

bahreeTL

i don't know the answer to your question but i do know that not everyone is concerned about top speed. when do people actually go 90 or 100 MPH? and 60 is usually the normal when it comes to speed limits.

Acura3200

I'm guessing it's because that's what the manufacturer's go by. 0-60 is much more likely to happen than say 80-120. Car companies can't advertise things like that because driving at those speeds is illegal (and unsafe) except on a track. I don't think I've ever seen a manufacturer advertise their quarter mile time in an ad. I've only seen 0-60 numbers. Most cars that we talk about here hit speeds of 85-100 in the quarter mile. If they're advertising a quarter mile time, they're basically saying "Go ahead, do 85-100 miles an hour, we did!". Can you say lawsuit??

Now auto magazines are a different story, they list top speed and quarter mile time, BUT, they aren't trying to sell the car. No liability there.

Now, to simplify the answer, I think it's because those are the numbers that we see most often.

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Jason
<A HREF="http://www.adamoski.com/acura.html" TARGET=_blank>

</A>
2000 Acura 3.2 TL w/ Navigation
Satin Silver / Ebony Interior
Comptech Headers & Exhaust
Comptech Springs & Sways
Comptech Air Filter
Factory Spoiler & CD Changer
Burlwood Shift Knob
35% Tint, Tinted Rear Plate Cover
Removed Acura & 3.2TL Badging From Trunk
Removed Front Plate Holder

Acura3200

Every time I get on the highway!

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that, thanks

I actually started writing my reply before you had replied.

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Jason
<A HREF="http://www.adamoski.com/acura.html" TARGET=_blank>

</A>
2000 Acura 3.2 TL w/ Navigation
Satin Silver / Ebony Interior
Comptech Headers & Exhaust
Comptech Springs & Sways
Comptech Air Filter
Factory Spoiler & CD Changer
Burlwood Shift Knob
35% Tint, Tinted Rear Plate Cover
Removed Acura & 3.2TL Badging From Trunk
Removed Front Plate Holder

bahreeTL

oops...i meant "normal" people.

14.9

I completely agree that most people do not drive much past 65 or 70 mph, I was just saying that if you set up a race on a random road cause you wanted to see if your car was faster then the person you were going to race, most people do not race up to just 60 mph, it would be pointless (unless you ran out of road). To truely see if your car is faster then the next guys you have to line up and race up to your quarter mile time, right? That is what I was tring to say.

14.9

Actually I know alot of people that would get up to that speed in a race to see what the true potential of there car is.

Acura3200

LOL, that's better

ZodiakTL

realisticly most of the little racec u do around town are off a light, and thats where 0-60 counts... 1/4 races are more rare on the street... and on the highway neither matters... it comes down more to handling and ability to accelerate well beyond a 100mph... IMO


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'02 Nighthawk TL-S
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Comptech Springs
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'00 Nighthawk TL
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Aem Short Ram / Comptech Sway Bars / Comptech Springs / Cross-Drilled Rotors / Pirelli SP7000 Tires
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ZodiakTL

realisticly most of the little racec u do around town are off a light, and thats where 0-60 counts... 1/4 races are more rare on the street... and on the highway neither matters... it comes down more to handling and ability to accelerate well beyond a 100mph... IMO


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'02 Nighthawk TL-S
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Comptech Springs
__________________
'00 Nighthawk TL
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Aem Short Ram / Comptech Sway Bars / Comptech Springs / Cross-Drilled Rotors / Pirelli SP7000 Tires
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Alpine CVA-1005 Head Unit / Alpine G320 EQ / Alpine DVA-5205 DVD / Alpine NVE-N851A Navi / JL Audio XR653-CS 3-Way comps for the front powered by a bridged Alpine MRV-F407 amp / Boston Acoustics 5.5 ProSeries 2-Way comps for the rear powered by Alpine MRV-1002 amp / Dual 10" JL Audio W-6 sub powered by Alpine MRV-1005 amp / Two Alpine CHA-1214 CD Changers
Pics of my TL and Fun/Crazy Pics

14.9

what was that supposed to mean, huh??

genghis

0-60 times are not for racers; as you point out, any "serious" racer (at the track or illegally on the street) is not going to stop at 60mph. 0-60 is just the range most people are interested in when thinking about the pickup of a car.

I mean, who cares if a car's top speed is 250MPH and it goes from 60-120 in 6 seconds but goes from 0-60 in 10 seconds if what you mostly need the power for is to get on the damn highway from the on-ramp (especially those stupid ones with the freakin' STOP signs at the bottom)? Or to beat that sucker in the lane next to you into the lane coming out of the toll plaza?

Gomez

If you want to rate the speed and ability of a car, then you need more than just 1/4 mile time and/or 0-60.

Specifically, there are many standard measures, against which cars are rated. A true composite of all will show a car's performance. Furthermore, any serious deficiency in one department should be noted. Consider the following metrics:
0-60
5-60 (street start)
60-0 (braking power)
60-80 (passing speed)
0-100
0-100-0
Top Speed
1/4 mile
1/4 mile trap speed (indicitave of top end acceleration)
1/8 mile
Slalom Speed (how fast around cones)
Lateral Gs (how hard it can turn)

That's pretty much a comprehensive list of how cars are measured in terms of performance. Consider a '66 Chevy Nova SS muscle-car vs. a '01 Honda Civic Si... The Chevy will be faster in the 1/4 mile, but on a twisty road in the canyons, the Honda will beat it. Now, which car is "faster" in your opinion?

An equally important, but un-measurable trait is the car's "feel" in many terms: oversteer, understeer and progressive slippage at the limit. A new Corvette can corner very hard, but it takes a real expert to exploit this attribute. On the other hand, most all of us can easily drive the TL at or near the limits of adhesion without fear of sliding off the road.

You have to look at the whole picture, my friend. 1/4 mile times is just part of the equation.

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'01 White Diamond Pearl 3.2TL
-Wing, tint, wood and Whistler

14.9

good point!! But mostly you can only test your car on the street with out purchasing any type of rating devicdes (G-tec) by just racing up to a certian speed. But I agree with what you stated, its just not that easy to do all those tests.

Fiddler

I have 2 theories

1 : 60 is about average highway speed in the US right? so it makes sense to rate a 0-60 number (as someone already mentioned) as how quick you can accelerate to highway speed.

2 : in europe they do a 0-100kph rating. that equates to about 62mph and 62 is wierd so maybe it got rounded to 60? (would be interesting to see who was the first to advertise a 0-xx number) and 0-100 might've just gone w/ the whole metric system ... round even numbers

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-Fiddler
1998 Accord EX V6 Coupe (HomePage)

genghis

"The metric system is the tool of the Devil! My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and thats the way I likes it!"
-Abe "Grandpa" Simpson

[Out of sheer idle curiosity, I looked up the units "hogshead" (63 US gallons) and "rod" (320 rods == 1 mile), and it seems Grandpa Simpson averages 203 mpg -- which beats my TL for workaday city driving...]

bahreeTL

no offense taken...just 2 or 3 different people sharing their opinions...that's what this forum is for.

RAdams

I think the root of the 0-60 test was derived from Europe where they test 0-100KM/h (62mph) and we just rounded it to the standard system.

It doesn't hurt to have 0-60 times, but it's obviously not the best or most important measure of a car's performance.

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2000 WDP 3.2TL non-NAV

Fiddler

lol .. i love it. another die hard simpsons fan .. i never thought "rods" and "hogshead" are real units tho
(but if you wanna get specific, 40 rods is 1/8 of a mile .. and he gets 1/8 of a mile on 63 gallons which yields something like .002 mpg .. )


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-Fiddler
1998 Accord EX V6 Coupe (HomePage)

TLover8888

0-60 times are important because then i know who i can beat after paying the tolls on the parkway....

genghis

Oops, got one of my conversion factors flipped. Yeah, my TL definitely can bean .002 mpg



<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by genghis on March 27, 2001 @ ]</font>

liutang

Must be a lamborghini.

genghis

Or a stretch SUV... anybody ever seen one of those monsters?

They look like troop transport vehicles, but with tinted glass and champagne! And their mileage is 1... 2... 3... FOUR miles to the gallon! (NOT a joke!)

liutang

Man... Chevy Suburban is bad enough.. now they gotta come out with stretch suv?

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Eskimo

Exactly my thoughts. For practical purposes red light drag races in town and highway passing are situations most of us encounter 90% of the time. Therefore the 0-60 time is somewhat irrelevant IMHO. When I was shopping for the TL I paided more attention to the 0-30 and 50-70 times than 0-60.

Shoofin

How 'bout 0-100KM? That's really 62mph, you know..
Ed

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Acura-TL.com - Forum Moderator

'99 TL Satin Silver/Ebony, Non/Nav, Comptech lowered, Comptech Air Filter Element, Inspire Tails, AEM Brake Pads all around, Comptech Axle Back Exhaust, "Guy Smiley" doll on the dash as my Co-driver...
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Eskimo

You know Shoofin'TL, 0-100km does make a hell of a lot more sense to me. I was brought up with the metric system system in Canada and I tell you it is wayyyy easier than imperial measurements. Honest. :-)

14.9

I do agree with what you are saying. Also, I didnt say "Top Speed" cause no one that I know races to there top speed.

I also noticed that the two of you that are disagreeing with me live in NJ and NY. THat has alot to do with way that you would race compared to the way I race. I am from MD, it is not nearly as crowded down here as it is in NJ or NY. If I am gonna race, most of the time I have more then enough room on a high way to race to the Top Speed of my car if I wanted to. MOstly all the races that I have been into have been up to at least 90 mph cause that is around the quarter time and there is no reason to stop if I have a a few miles of straight road with out police.

I hope that youu guys didnt take offense to my comment, I was just wondering why, and you answered it.