what do you like better? top speed or acceleration

[SpatiallyAware]

You really think that if I put you in my Prius and we gently cruised up to 90 mph and held it for a few minutes it would be more fun than if you were slammed back almost breaking your spine in a performance car and it took you 6 seconds to get up to 90?

Apples to Oranges, I personally enjoy blasting along at 120-130mph++ in the middle of nowhere with no one around for 5-6 minutes (sportbikes eat a TON of fuel at that rate) with the sun starting to set behind me rather than short impulse burst of acceleration.


I really think it's just a car thing, once you've gotten used to a vehicle that is capable of going as fast you could possibly want it's sort of hard to get as excited about it. I mean it'd be fun to take a run in a real drag car but I have 0 interest in doing 1/4 runs in fast cars.

 

[shortylickens]

In my entire life I have only been to one place that had no speed limit.
When I was stationed in China Lake we had easy access to the so-called "High Desert" and Death Valley and stuff. If you drive out into some of those valleys you will eventually find a couple of places with absolutely no speed limits at all. I have also been told such places exist in Arizona and New Mexico but I've never personally seen them.

Thats it, just a handful of places in the desert. Everywhere else its a max of 75. And I only saw those speed limits in farm country in Minnesota, cuz the roads are really long and straight and with flat fields you can see other cars coming for miles.

I dunno why most people need anything faster than 65. And if the New World Order under Obama keeps gaining momentum, we will eventually have government speed limiters set to exactly that.

BUT, I can always appreciate the ability to merge with traffic and not cause others to slam the brakes, so I think Acceleration is my answer.

My crappy little S-10 used to jump when I tapped the gas, now it lurches when I nail the pedal. I dunno why.
Every once in a while I need to take my moms RAV4 over to the shop for some work, and I appreciate the difference. Theres something fun about having a V-6 in a tiny little vehicle like that.
I also test drove some BMW's when I thought I was going to be getting a good job. I must say I prefer a 335xi over the 328i, and its strictly for the horsepower.

And as pointed out, handling and acceleration are a lot more entertaining than top speed anyway, so theres that.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Acceleration. I did find the top speed of my Cavalier though (105mph)

 

[Possessed Freak]

Loved smoking my tires in my PT. It was the ONLY redeeming quality of that car.

 

[MJinZ]

You really think that if I put you in my Prius and we gently cruised up to 90 mph and held it for a few minutes it would be more fun than if you were slammed back almost breaking your spine in a performance car and it took you 6 seconds to get up to 90?

Uh, I do that all the time in my car. Granted, it's 5.8 seconds to 60, but it doesn't last. It lasts maybe 10 seconds.

Now if I'm cruising 120+ when the road is not entirely straight... well you have to try it for yourself.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Acceleration.

Top speed is primarily a function of gearing, aerodynamics, tires / suspension, etc. You can get just about any modern car (even a 4 cyl econobox) up to scary speeds if it weren't electronically limited. You wouldn't WANT to drive it at those speeds, though. And, to top it off, it'll take you a week to get to the top speed anyway.

Here's a really good video to demonstrate what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6EiNFiLhV0.

For me, 1st - 4th would be fun, and then I'd be bored after that. 5th and 6th are both overdrive (tall) gears, designed for fuel economy and top speed, and even though the car does top out at ~190 MPH, it takes significantly longer to get from 155 - 190 than it does from 55 - 90, 100 - 135, etc.

 

[MJinZ]

Acceleration.

Top speed is primarily a function of gearing, aerodynamics, tires / suspension, etc. You can get just about any modern car (even a 4 cyl econobox) up to scary speeds if it weren't electronically limited. You wouldn't WANT to drive it at those speeds, though. And, to top it off, it'll take you a week to get to the top speed anyway.

Here's a really good video to demonstrate what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6EiNFiLhV0.

For me, 1st - 4th would be fun, and then I'd be bored after that. 5th and 6th are both overdrive (tall) gears, designed for fuel economy and top speed, and even though the car does top out at ~190 MPH, it takes significantly longer to get from 155 - 190 than it does from 55 - 90, 100 - 135, etc.

Not really, even an Acura TSX is aerodynamically limited to something like 120mph, that's with a 200HP 4 banger...

NA 4 Bangers aren't going to be going much faster than this in general. Going towards the 300+ with the turboed DI ones.. different story.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Not really, even an Acura TSX is aerodynamically limited to something like 120mph, that's with a 200HP 4 banger...

NA 4 Bangers aren't going to be going much faster than this in general. Going towards the 300+ with the turboed DI ones.. different story.

I doubt it's the aerodynamics honestly, though I do agree 120ish would be nearing the upper limit. It's most likely gearing. Even in 5th you'd likely be running 6.5k RPM or more at 120.

Gearing on 4 cyl economy cars tends to be a bit shorter to keep the peppiness at an acceptable level. Otherwise they'd crawl up past 60-70 mph or so. On the other hand, gearing on V6 and V8 cars tends to be a bit taller due to their naturally better horsepower and torque, and to keep the fuel economy at an acceptable level.

 

[daw123]

Not really, even an Acura TSX is aerodynamically limited to something like 120mph, that's with a 200HP 4 banger...

NA 4 Bangers aren't going to be going much faster than this in general. Going towards the 300+ with the turboed DI ones.. different story.

That seems a bit low. Christ, I managed to get 110mph out of my dad's beater 89bhp 1.8TDI Mondeo:

Okay it took a long time to get there, but it eventually did.

My old 2.0l 206 GTI could do in excess of 120MPH and that only had 138bhp, although it was a much lighter car than the Acura TSX (1125kg to ~1500kg).

In both cases, I used the car's speedo, which I know becomes more inaccurate the higher the speed.

 

[AMCRambler]

My absolute favorite use for the quick acceleration in my car are the tools that dog in the right lane on the highway. You'll be driving a constant speed around the speed limit and invariably catch up to someone in the right lane that just can't maintain a speed. They'll be moving along then all of a sudden drop off 5mph. Then 10 mph. I'll give them a minute or two to see if they're gonna wake the hell up and when they don't I'll move over to pass them.

Of course at that point it's like they wake up. Wait, someone wants to pass me?!?!? And they'll speed up to a good 10 over the limit. As soon as I see them start that crap I just down shift the goat and blow their doors off. I don't know if it makes them feel like an ass hat but I certainly enjoy it.

 

[jlee]

My absolute favorite use for the quick acceleration in my car are the tools that dog in the right lane on the highway. You'll be driving a constant speed around the speed limit and invariably catch up to someone in the right lane that just can't maintain a speed. They'll be moving along then all of a sudden drop off 5mph. Then 10 mph. I'll give them a minute or two to see if they're gonna wake the hell up and when they don't I'll move over to pass them.

Of course at that point it's like they wake up. Wait, someone wants to pass me?!?!? And they'll speed up to a good 10 over the limit. As soon as I see them start that crap I just down shift the goat and blow their doors off. I don't know if it makes them feel like an ass hat but I certainly enjoy it.

Yeah I hate that, especially when you're set on cruise, you pass someone...and two miles later they pass you only to slow down and have the entire process repeat itself...

 

[chorb]

My absolute favorite use for the quick acceleration in my car are the tools that dog in the right lane on the highway. You'll be driving a constant speed around the speed limit and invariably catch up to someone in the right lane that just can't maintain a speed. They'll be moving along then all of a sudden drop off 5mph. Then 10 mph. I'll give them a minute or two to see if they're gonna wake the hell up and when they don't I'll move over to pass them.

Of course at that point it's like they wake up. Wait, someone wants to pass me?!?!? And they'll speed up to a good 10 over the limit. As soon as I see them start that crap I just down shift the goat and blow their doors off. I don't know if it makes them feel like an ass hat but I certainly enjoy it.

:awe:

 

[CraigRT]

Accel... With that the wonderful noise an engine at high RPM makes.. <3

 

[alkemyst]

I doubt it's the aerodynamics honestly, though I do agree 120ish would be nearing the upper limit. It's most likely gearing. Even in 5th you'd likely be running 6.5k RPM or more at 120.

Gearing on 4 cyl economy cars tends to be a bit shorter to keep the peppiness at an acceptable level. Otherwise they'd crawl up past 60-70 mph or so. On the other hand, gearing on V6 and V8 cars tends to be a bit taller due to their naturally better horsepower and torque, and to keep the fuel economy at an acceptable level.

Gearing is not going to help many of these cars (even V8's) reach high top speeds. 200mph takes a lot of horsepower.

If you can hit 100mph with X horsepower, it takes 8 times that HP to double it.

 

[SearchMaster]

Speed is more exhilarating because (a) it's just scary as hell going that fast, and (b) the risk of getting caught. But I don't think I've been over about 85mph in years, those days are behind me so acceleration is more accessible right now. I would agree with MJinz about cornering.

 

[Zap]

i've never found my car's top speed. well, 90 may have been my taurus's top speed, so maybe i did find that. but none others.

LOL, my mom's 1989 (or was it 1990?) Sable's top speed was 85MPH. Or, at least that's the maximum the digital spedometer would read. :awe: A friend of mine got pulled over for doing around 110MPH in her T-bird and when the officer asked how fast she was going, she said "85." She told me that he actually stuck his head in through her window to look at the spedometer, and then wrote her up for 85 after telling her what he clocked her at.

Anybody can keep their foot in it and eventually catch up to you and pass you with a ricer fly by... 5 minutes later

LOL, I love that. "Ricer fly-by!" Did you just make that up?

In the USA 99% of cars are electronically limited to 150 anyways so acceleration it is.

Huh? Seems as if my cars were always limited by gearing and redline.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Fast Acceleration and moderate top speed is of course more fun than slow acceleration and high top speed, but .... I think straight line acceleration is boring. Fun is turning/cornering at high speeds ..... it doesn't take that great of HP, or even a good power/weight ratio, as long as the car is decently balanced and with a center of gravity lower than a geosync orbit ....

 

[alkemyst]

Acceleration.

Top speed is primarily a function of gearing, aerodynamics, tires / suspension, etc. You can get just about any modern car (even a 4 cyl econobox) up to scary speeds if it weren't electronically limited. You wouldn't WANT to drive it at those speeds, though. And, to top it off, it'll take you a week to get to the top speed anyway.

Here's a really good video to demonstrate what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6EiNFiLhV0.

For me, 1st - 4th would be fun, and then I'd be bored after that. 5th and 6th are both overdrive (tall) gears, designed for fuel economy and top speed, and even though the car does top out at ~190 MPH, it takes significantly longer to get from 155 - 190 than it does from 55 - 90, 100 - 135, etc.

The fastest cars usually don't hit their top speed with the maximum overdrive gear. Overdrives lower effective horsepower.

Also to the other guy thinking 90% of cars are limited to 150mph. WTF?!?

Most couldn't hit that and in reality if they could they'd need the tires to back it up. Good rule of thumb to the limits is the OEM tire specs.

 

[KentState]

The fastest cars usually don't hit their top speed with the maximum overdrive gear. Overdrives lower effective horsepower.

Also to the other guy thinking 90% of cars are limited to 150mph. WTF?!?

Most couldn't hit that and in reality if they could they'd need the tires to back it up. Good rule of thumb to the limits is the OEM tire specs.

I will have to remember that the top speed it limited to my OEM tire specs. Anyone know what that is on a Vette? LOL

 

[RockinZ28]

I will have to remember that the top speed it limited to my OEM tire specs. Anyone know what that is on a Vette? LOL

I'd imagine the vettes came with standard tires to remove the speed limiter, if it was a C5/C6 anyway. Too lazy to look it up for sure.
I know though that there was an option on the ls1/lt1 camaros for z-rated or crappier tires, which if you had the latter the limiter would kick in around 108-115 depending on the year. Pretty easy to remove with a handheld programmer though.

 

[alkemyst]

I will have to remember that the top speed it limited to my OEM tire specs. Anyone know what that is on a Vette? LOL

what vette? The Goodyear SC's on the latest are Z rated and a (##Y) so excess of 186mph.

 

[Kabob]

Inspired by other thread.

I like the neck jerking action of stomping on my accelerator and watching the cars become small in my rearview mirror. Then once I get to the speed limit I usually dont go much over.

I feel like a high top speed is attainable by anyone if they keep their foot mashed to the ground long enough.

There needs to be a balance of both to a point. If you can go 0-60 in 3 seconds but you top out at 70 your fun is goign to be short lived. Likewise if you can go 200 but it takes you 30 seconds to hit 60 there then once again you're having no fun. Acceleration definitely wins out in the end for the "fun" factor but you need to have enough speed to enjoy said acceleration.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I'm a big fan of effortless midrange power, so I'm going to go with acceleration. As much fun as stump-pulling power at low RPM can be (and it can be a lot of fun), I'll always be in love with the surge of power as a turbo spools. That's where most of my driving happens anyway.

ZV

 

[DivideBYZero]

I love acceleration, but there is something to be said about the rush you feel @160Mph+.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Not really, even an Acura TSX is aerodynamically limited to something like 120mph, that's with a 200HP 4 banger...

NA 4 Bangers aren't going to be going much faster than this in general. Going towards the 300+ with the turboed DI ones.. different story.

My wifes 120d with 180hp has a top speed of 142Mph.