1.1 sec 0-60

[Car-Guy]

Just so. Bunch of old grumps on here insisting that Elon have a perfect record of veracity on all his statements - I'm tickled that he is a dreamer that says all sorts of wacky stuff and then makes some of it happen. Landing a rocket segment on its tail on a floating target bettering the paperback sci-fi cover art of the 50s-60s? Launching his roadster with mannequin into space? naming his kid X Æ A-12? Why not? A man's reach should exceed his grasp, and Elon provides a lot of entertainment and a pretty good list of accomplishments.

I think the guy is a ****** genius,,,, maybe one of the few in lifetimes. Money, brains, vision, guts, [-]looks[/-].... Well four out of five ain't bad..... Although I'm not a big fan of his cars, or him on SNL or his plans to move his stuff to Texas.... But other than that, he's pretty good.


Thinks out of the box and has the money, smarts and guts to back it up.

He’s also doing what CEOs are supposed to do, which is to promote his brand, push awareness, and always try to increase share of heart.

+1 fully agree... I guess anything is possible....

 

[audreyh1]

I’m looking forward to my 670hp.

 

[Walt34]

No one needs a vehicle that's so fast.

Of course no one needs one. But it'd sure be fun (at least 'til the novelty wore off and the insurance & maintenance costs became burdensome).

 

[Car-Guy]

Of course no one needs one. But it'd sure be fun (at least 'til the novelty wore off and the insurance & maintenance costs became burdensome).

For some of us the novelty doesn't wear off, too much.... It's a fun hobby. And the insurance on my pickup trucks has been higher (or about the same actually) than the cost of the insurance on my performance cars. Surprises me too.


But of course you are correct, no one needs one... No more than anyone needs a big expensive house, any jewelry, pleasure boats/planes, fancy clothes, the latest smart phones/computers/electronics, etc, etc, etc.

 

[MRG]

I’m looking forward to my 670hp.

[emoji4]

But, but, but... nobody needs that much horsepower or speed! [emoji6] Enjoy.

 

[eytonxav]

This thread was intended for car guys to weigh in. Those who dis on supercars are just not car guys, but that is OK. I've been a car lover my entire life and have done a lot of racing, so I enjoy reading articles like this, even if presenting seemingly unbelievable claims. I also love Elon and greatly appreciate his approach on most things, including shooting for the moon type accomplishments. Although I do not share his fascination with bitcoins.

 

[Koolau]

Related to HP and specs though (and it is amazing how much power those drag racers get out of an engine for a few seconds), I think the whole idea of reporting horsepower on production cars is pointless. The real point for a regular drive is, as mentioned above, passing times, and 0-60 times (if you need to merge from a stop). Those numbers are affected by the transmission, the torque curve of the engine, tires, etc. And it gets crazier with hybrids and EVs. You can't just sum the HP of the engine and motors in a hybrid, they have different torque curves anyhow. Just publish the results of 0-60, and maybe 40-60, 50-70/80. That's what you want to know. A single HP # tells you very little.

-ERD50

Said another way and, as usual, telling you way more than I know: I've always heard that HP is more important to, for instance top speed in, say, quarter mile runs. Raw acceleration is more related to available torque. We all know that Teslas have insane torque but HP more in the range of a standard Vette. YouTube is full of guys doing 1/8 mi drags against super cars and blowing the doors off of them. BUT if you watch to the end, you see that same "loser" of a super car BLAST past the Tesla just after losing on time. Enough HP always wins top speed. Properly applied torque wins at the timing lights.

Teslas (all electric cars) develop their maximum torque at ZERO rpm while most super cars (or just any street legal car from a VW bug to a Vette) must be about mid-range in the rpm range to develop their highest torque. SO electric cars begin with a huge advantage at the starting lights and lose that advantage at the end.

So ends todays lesson on HP vs Torque. Returning you now to folks who actually know what they're talking about and HEY, as usual, YMMV.

 

[OldShooter]

... Those who dis on [-]super[/-] ego cars are just not car guys ...

FTFY

 

[CaliKid]

Who needs tire grip with rocket thrusters.... Seriously, rocket thrusters? C'mon Man.

I'm getting 3.0 to 3.2 consistently in my Jeep but that's using AWD and not rocket thrusters. I still get some wheel spin on all four tires and the tires I have are massive. Honestly I can't see how you can get much below 3.0 flat in a street legal production car even with AWD unless you have drag tires, a prep'd surface and probably a professional drag driver.

And while I'm at it, I don't even see how the new C8 mid engine can claim a 2.8 with only RWD and street tires.

What Jeep goes 0-60 in 3.0? 60 MPH not KPH, right!?

 

[Koolau]

And while I'm at it, I don't even see how the new C8 mid engine can claim a 2.8 with only RWD and street tires.

Mentioned before, I wish Zora A-D had survived to see what Corvette hath wrought. But, I do think just placing the engine amidship is the ticket to allowing the car to put all that torque to the ground. There's probably some electronic chassis manipulation magic and wheel spin control as well but I'm NOT an expert. Heh heh, I just want one - and likely never will.

My C-3 actually hooked up pretty well after some wheel spin. My 350/350 easily beat my buddy's 302/370 (solid lifter Z-28) off the line. So even saddled with roughly a 50/50 weight split, Vettes faired better than one might expect when leaving the starting lights. YMMV

 

[Car-Guy]

What Jeep goes 0-60 in 3.0? 60 MPH not KPH, right!?

Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.... FCA (manufacture) claims 3.5 but most are seeing 3.0 to 3.3.... And yes, that's MPH. With a few bolt on mods they are getting them down to ~2.5 but I never liked to modify mine, at least until the warranty expires.

 

[CaliKid]

Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.... FCA (manufacture) claims 3.5 but most are seeing 3.0 to 3.3.... And yes, that's MPH.

Wow. Never heard of it. Very cool!

 

[Koolau]

Ask a silly question department: And YMMV

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

For some of us the novelty doesn't wear off, too much.... It's a fun hobby. And the insurance on my pickup trucks has been higher (or about the same actually) than the cost of the insurance on my performance cars. Surprises me too.

How things have changed over the years in terms of HP/torque! My 2015 F150 w/3.5L Eco-Boost has more HP and torque than my 94 Z28 with the corvette 5.7L LT1 Engine.
94 Z-28: 275 HP, 325 ft-lb.
15 F150: 365 HP, 420 ft-lb.

 

[Car-Guy]

Ask a silly question department: And YMMV

Thanks for posting a video where the racing is done properly on a track and not on the public streets. Talk about insane... It amazes me to see what so many people will do on the street in these cars, record it and then post it on line...

 

[Koolau]

Thanks for posting a video where the racing is done properly on a track and not on the public streets. Talk about insane... It amazes me to see what so many people will do on the street in these cars, record it and then post it on line...

Yeah, I always wonder if those guys are even more stupid than they are crazy. Do they think LEOs don't know how to use the Internet?

 

[NW-Bound]

That's not why they are bought. They are bought by owners who are insecure enough to want to impress others with their expensive and relatively useless toys. IOW, ego.

People are free to do whatever they want with their own money. And they can kill themselves too, for that matter, as long as they do not maim bystanders.

None of this stuff ever impresses me. I am not that easily impressed.


PS. I may admire a piece of good engineering design. I cannot be impressed by someone who happens to buy an expensive car, or a $200K handbag.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh yeah, my next car is going to be all about impressing others because of my personal insecurities, and it’s also going to be useless!

 

[NW-Bound]

Oh yeah, my next car is going to be all about impressing others because of my personal insecurities, and it’s also going to be useless!

I never care why other people buy the vehicle that they do. Are they trying to impress, or just like that car for some reasons? How would I know, or care? I often don't even notice what car they are driving, unless it is something really unusual.

And it's not possible to impress someone who does not care. Imagine if I try to impress my neighbor with my equipment. "Look at this classic 1S1 Tektronix sampling head plug in. Even though it is 1970 vintage, it boasts a risetime of 350 picoseconds by using tunnel diodes. And let me tell you about the low level of phase noise of this HP spectrum analyzer plug in...."

PS. The other day, walking about the neighborhood I saw a neighbor with an Audi RS7. As he drove away, both my wife and I noticed the deep tone of its exhaust. It certainly sounded "expensive". I told my wife Audi must have spent a lot of time to tune that exhaust for that sound. If it weren't for the sound, we would not have noticed. Not even a car guy, but I liked that sound.

By the way, how did I know it was an RS7? The next time in my walk, I made the point of looking at that car to see its model.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh well, I won’t have any exhaust sounds unless I play them out my audio system.

 

[NW-Bound]

After a while one gets used to the deep rumbling exhaust, the same as after one listens to a basso profundo day-in/day-out.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

That's not why they are bought. They are bought by owners who are insecure enough to want to impress others with their expensive and relatively useless toys. IOW, ego.

The good news being that almost almost none of the ego cars are ever driven in situations where control becomes even slightly marginal. The most common counterexample is driving in rain, where loss of adhesion is much closer than most people, even in grocery getters, realize. Even on the "track days" sometimes organized for these cars, it is a rare driver who gets in over his head. Driven on the edge, a car gives all kinds of little signals that it is not happy. For an amateur driver, these are frightening and hard to ignore.

Probably the biggest risk issue is the supercar owner who thinks it is thrilling to drive fast in a straight line, typically on a freeway with other traffic. Crowded freeways with untrained drivers blasting along nose-to-tail scare me far more than any scare I ever had on a race track among trained and experienced drivers.

Glad you can speak for the 500,000 people in 2020 who bought one.

If they buy a car I don't care for all half a million of them are insecure.

Such skillful analysis.

 

[ncbill]

There's an old Datsun sedan out there the owner stuffed full of batteries & super capacitors...beats any ICE vehicle at the drag strip.

I'd rather see OEMs focus on making an EV that can go for 300+ miles without costing $75,000+ versus focusing on lowering 0-60 mph times.

 

[NW-Bound]

I'd rather see OEMs focus on making an EV that can go for 300+ miles without costing $75,000+ versus focusing on lowering 0-60 mph times.

I think all car makers do. However, of the above goals, one is easier than the other.

 

[Car-Guy]

There's an old Datsun sedan out there the owner stuffed full of batteries & super capacitors...beats any ICE vehicle at the drag strip.

That's amazing, I'd really like to see a video of that... Current records at the drag strip for an ICE is in the area of 335 miles per hour and 3.62 seconds in 1000 ft so that would really be something to see... I wonder what the G force is like?