Porsche 911 Turbo S: 0-60 in 2.7, 1/4 mile in 10.8 @ 129 mph

[yhelothar]

The transmission. Also, they aren't that much more powerful, only being about 50hp more. Considering only the 458 Italia weighs less than it, its not too surprising. Without the Porsche, the Ferrari would actually have been quite impressive on its own. I don't think its any surprise that those two cars are at the top, they're both lightweight and loaded with tech. They also probably have the best performance transmissions in road cars, aside from possibly the Veyron. Granted, they'll get looked down on because they aren't regular manuals, but that's what its going to take to make that next step.

Hmmm I didn't look at it that closely initially, but the cars do all have pretty similar power/weight ratios.

But on the other hand, the Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, for example has 750HP and weighs 500lbs less at 2950lbs and only has similar specs to the 911s

0-60 mph (97 km/h): 2.8 sec[10]
0-100 mph (161 km/h): 5.9 sec[10]
0-200 mph (322 km/h): 27 sec[citation needed]
Quarter-mile: 10.5 sec[10]
Top speed: 248 mph (399 km/h)[11]

But then again, it doesn't have a 7 speed dual clutch tranny with AWD :twisted:
Dayum that tranny makes a huge difference.

 

[GoatMonkey]

I would be very happy to own any of them. At that level performance is academic. When the slowest car there does 0-60 in 4.2 seconds it doesn't really matter.

If I had that choice to make, I'd go Ferrari for the style and sound. Then Porsche or Audi if it had to be used as a reasonable daily driver. The Aston Martin is a beautiful car, but barely looks all that better than a Jaguar. The Mercedes is nice, but I would never spend the money on it.

They're going to need to remake this test when the new McLaren comes out. The Lamborghini Gallardo and Corvette ZR-1 should be included in the test also.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Hmmm I didn't look at it that closely initially, but the cars do all have pretty similar power/weight ratios.

But on the other hand, the Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, for example has 750HP and weighs 500lbs less at 2950lbs and only has similar specs to the 911s

0-60 mph (97 km/h): 2.8 sec[10]
0-100 mph (161 km/h): 5.9 sec[10]
0-200 mph (322 km/h): 27 sec[citation needed]
Quarter-mile: 10.5 sec[10]
Top speed: 248 mph (399 km/h)[11]

But then again, it doesn't have a 7 speed dual clutch tranny with AWD :twisted:
Dayum that tranny makes a huge difference.

Yep, these transmissions help a lot. They basically have the next gear ready so that the time lost transitioning between gears is kept to a minimum. From what I remember reading that if it weren't for the noise they make under hard shifting that you wouldn't be able to really tell it switching over, it'd be seamless, and you don't get that sort of jerking temporary loss of momentum like usual.

Even that little bit can make a huge difference. In the past they'd use gearing to keep the amount of shifting to a minimum, so there was a compromise.

 

[Soccerman06]

I would be very happy to own any of them. At that level performance is academic. When the slowest car there does 0-60 in 4.2 seconds it doesn't really matter.

If I had that choice to make, I'd go Ferrari for the style and sound. Then Porsche or Audi if it had to be used as a reasonable daily driver. The Aston Martin is a beautiful car, but barely looks all that better than a Jaguar. The Mercedes is nice, but I would never spend the money on it.

They're going to need to remake this test when the new McLaren comes out. The Lamborghini Gallardo and Corvette ZR-1 should be included in the test also.

F the Gallardo, I want the Jota to be in there.

 

[Howard]

Yep, these transmissions help a lot. They basically have the next gear ready so that the time lost transitioning between gears is kept to a minimum. From what I remember reading that if it weren't for the noise they make under hard shifting that you wouldn't be able to really tell it switching over, it'd be seamless, and you don't get that sort of jerking temporary loss of momentum like usual.

Even that little bit can make a huge difference. In the past they'd use gearing to keep the amount of shifting to a minimum, so there was a compromise.

For a shift that quick there's a lot of inertia that has to go somewhere. What happens to it?

 

[HarryLui]

510 lb ft at 2100rpm? I'd like to see the torque curve on that engine.

 

[punjabiplaya]

510 lb ft at 2100rpm? I'd like to see the torque curve on that engine.

flatter than Keira Knightly

but, electric motor torque curve > all

 

[Howard]

flatter than Keira Knightly

but, electric motor torque curve > all

It slopes down?

 

[JulesMaximus]

I don't get what you're not getting? Do you want them to just tell you how fast stuff is by the seat of the pants? Its just another metric by which to compare vehicles. Hell, I doubt most people would be able to tell the difference between a 10 second quarter mile and a 12 second one, both would be fast.

If you don't want that info, then just read the actual article.

The new Turbo though, that is insane performance. That's legitimate hypercar performance, and in one of the most drivable real performance cars. With the extra money you could make it even better.

I'm not the biggest Porsche fan, but this is very impressive. Its pretty cool that you can see the results of competition even in the supercar market.

It is very impressive but I've become less obsessed with top speed and 1/4 mile times and more obsessed with fun to drive. Honestly, I think this car is scary fast and you can't really explore the limits of a car like this, or the bike I mentioned earlier, on public roads.

Fuck, I'll never own any of the cars on that list anyway so it's pretty much a moot point as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Zap]

Is it just me or have the exotics / premier sports cars just gone bananas in the past 12 months or so. For a long time it seemed like ~3.6-4.0 second 0-60 was top-tier acceleration, along with high 11s/low 12s 1/4 times. Suddenly there's been a quantum shift forward.

New engine technologies and transmissions coupled with AWD FTW?

If I had the money to do that kind of shopping...and just speaking in terms of personal desirability...I would consider them in this order:

Aston Martin V12 Vantage: Ultimate in understated luxury and power. I could easily see it as an everyday driver.

That was my thought too. If someone said "choose one" the Aston Martin would be it, though the Porsche would be difficult to pass up.

WOW how does it do it with that kind of power to weight? I mean if it's AWD, that should only help to 0-60 about, and the much more powerful RWD cars should whip it to the quarter mile.

Well, even if more powerful cars were catching up by the ¼ mile, maybe it had enough of a lead - and with AWD, dual clutch sequential box and launch control it may have.

 

[darkswordsman17]

For a shift that quick there's a lot of inertia that has to go somewhere. What happens to it?

I think that's the point of the dual clutch setup in these. One clutch handles the current gear, while the other has the next one ready. I'm not real savvy about transmissions, so I can't really explain it as I don't totally understand it myself.

It is very impressive but I've become less obsessed with top speed and 1/4 mile times and more obsessed with fun to drive. Honestly, I think this car is scary fast and you can't really explore the limits of a car like this, or the bike I mentioned earlier, on public roads.

Fuck, I'll never own any of the cars on that list anyway so it's pretty much a moot point as far as I'm concerned.

I get your point, and kinda assumed you were meaning it as such, and yeah, there's some people that ignore drivability and things like that. Certainly there's like minded people to you, that want that insane performance that used to be only for the most expensive cars, and so we end up with the Atoms and Radicals and hyperbikes.

That's one of my favorite aspects of Top Gear though, they give big markups for fun. I mean, I expected them to hate the Viper, and they loved it because it was so fun.

I think that's been the big boon for modern super and hyper cars is that, they offer incredible performance, while still being very drivable cars (I mean, people kept saying that about the Carrera GT and Enzo, and now we've got 458s, 911s, and Corvettes offering that level of performance while being even more drivable). Not only that, but we've got luxury sedans and even wagons that would hang with supercars from not long ago (RS6, CTS-V, M5 for instance).

I wouldn't entirely say you don't get to explore that performance in real life. Look at the at speed acceleration. You'd never be stuck behind a slow driver ever again in this 911, and on ramps would be less stressful. But yeah, for the most part you don't get to explore the performance this stuff offers.

Sounds like that new SLS AMG is right up there as well. Sure the performance isn't quite at the level of the Porsche and Ferrari, but seems like everyone loves how it drives. I'm still pissed that it would have been the next Viper. Imagining that chassis with a 700 horsepower V10...

Hell, the only car that really doesn't impress (in performance) is the Aston, but considering its more of a Grand Tourer it doesn't have much to make excuses about. The R8 still handles exceptionally well. I can't wait to see what the next gen R8 (which is probably some time away) is like.

One last thing, I'd be curious as to how good the tires the Porsche is wearing are. Is it Pilot Sport IIs, considered about the best balls out performance tire, so it might be possible to eke even more performance out of the Porsche.

 

[Arkaign]

^^ Hmm. This new Turbo S massaged by RUF and on big racing slicks?

 

[996GT2]

One last thing, I'd be curious as to how good the tires the Porsche is wearing are. Is it Pilot Sport IIs, considered about the best balls out performance tire, so it might be possible to eke even more performance out of the Porsche.

Says in the article that the Porsche was using Potenza RE050As. 235mm wide in the front and 305 rear.

 

[exdeath]

For a shift that quick there's a lot of inertia that has to go somewhere. What happens to it?

Tire deformation, assuming it's the weakest link, which is what you want. And it's not that much of a mismatch on shifts with a 6+ speed close ratio gear set.

 

[Howard]

Tire deformation, assuming it's the weakest link, which is what you want. And it's not that much of a mismatch on shifts with a 6+ speed close ratio gear set.

Sure, the closer the ratios the less inertia there is to dissipate, but let's take a look at the widest spread which is 1st to 2nd for the Porsche.

3.91 to 2.29, which is a 41% reduction, so shifting from 1st to 2nd at 7000RPM in a period of 10ms to 4100 RPM is the equivalent of throwing away the inertia of... whatever that is since I don't know what the rotating mass of the engine is, but 10ms is a hell of a short time to do it in. Some of it is turned into heat at the clutch, some of it jerks the tires, some of it twists the chassis...

 

[angry hampster]

My father purchased this 'used' (500 miles) from a player on the AZ Diamondbacks a few years ago. Its speed is frightening until you get acquainted with it. As fast as it is, its agility impresses me even more. It is a dream to drive. He's indicated that the S model is his retirement prize - we'll see if mom permits that!

Might want to avoid this image host in the future. I got a NSFW pop-up.

 

[Apex]

Great time to be a performance enthusiast, or at least a rich performance enthusiast.

I'd personally take the Ferrari out of those. They've always tickled my fancy.

At these kinds of performance levels, I'm no longer interested in just an appliance for speed.

 

[Koing]

Yes it has OUTRAGEOUS performance!

Koing

 

[twinrider1]

I really don't get the magazine benchmarks or magazine benchmark racing for that matter. A Yamaha R1 will do the 1/4 mile in around 10 seconds flat at over 140mph...but I've never ridden one. Might as well quote nurburgring lap times for all that's worth.

How about a curve?

This seems to be a reasonable comparison. :thumbsup:
Car vs. Bike
The maintenance/tire bill on the 911 would probably buy me a new bike every year. But bikes aren't everyone's cup of tea. No harm in that.

But I have no problem with bench racing. It's fun.

 

[PricklyPete]

Not a real manual....do not want.

Just Kidding. It's amazing how fast these cars are...especially a car like the Porsche that is completely drivable around town and as a daily driver. Engineering marvels.

 

[sdifox]

My father purchased this 'used' (500 miles) from a player on the AZ Diamondbacks a few years ago. Its speed is frightening until you get acquainted with it. As fast as it is, its agility impresses me even more. It is a dream to drive. He's indicated that the S model is his retirement prize - we'll see if mom permits that!

So, fight for him to get that! You might get the hand-me-down :awe:

 

[RKS]

Not a real manual....do not want.

Just Kidding. It's amazing how fast these cars are...especially a car like the Porsche that is completely drivable around town and as a daily driver. Engineering marvels.

I see a lot of people bashing the GT-R for the dual-clutch / dsg, and awd as being over-engineered and soulless. Once you remove badge bias and dash-stroking, the Porsche offering isn't too far behind in those criticisms. There is more to 'soul' than having a exterior (and to a certain point, interior) design that has changed little in 50 years.

I would take any of these super-cars any day but at over $150K ain't too many people here in the market even for a heavily used one.

 

[DivideBYZero]

FOR
THE
WIN!

(small chars)

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Launch control is what makes the difference -

0-60 mph = 2.7 s
5-60 mph = 3.5 s

What is impressive is the Top Gear 30 - 70 mph time of 3.6 seconds that would be useful round hear for overtaking dawdlers... don't even need to change down

 

[Fenixgoon]

This seems to be a reasonable comparison. :thumbsup:
Car vs. Bike
The maintenance/tire bill on the 911 would probably buy me a new bike every year. But bikes aren't everyone's cup of tea. No harm in that.

But I have no problem with bench racing. It's fun.

good video, but a 2003 R6 is nothing like a brand new one.