104 ms·

0-60 in 9 seconds is not only terrible, it is dangerous. Despite what state rules are regarding merging onto freeways/highways/tollways/etc., a car really shoul

by lr 7y ago

0-60 in 9 seconds is not only terrible, it is dangerous. Despite what state rules are regarding merging onto freeways/highways/tollways/etc., a car really should be doing the speed of the other cars on the road at the merge point, otherwise all kinds of bad things can and do happen. I drive a lot, and the pokey cars merging are terrible for everyone involved at the point of merging.

bradlys 7y ago
9 seconds is plenty. The issue is that most drivers in those cars don't floor it to get onto onramps. So, 0-60 goes from 9 seconds to 20-30 seconds because they just refuse to push the pedal down further.
everdrive 7y ago
This is easily possible with a 9 second 0-60 if the on ramps are built properly. I have a Ford Fiesta, and it's lucky to hit 0-60 in 9 seconds. I always make sure I'm at highway speed before I merge.
Hamuko 7y ago
>0-60 in 9 seconds is not only terrible, it is dangerous. This is a downright laughable statement. My car does 0-100 km/h in about 8-9 seconds. Plenty fast. In fact, I'm not really encountering any road users that accelerate faster than I do. No issues with merging, no issues with overtakes, nothing. Here's someone joining the Autobahn with the same engine and gearbox as me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUiXwbbITGQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUiXwbbITGQ Please watch and observe at how undramatic this whole thing is.
- natch 7y ago
  No issues you're aware of. I see a lot of blithely self-unaware tailgaters who seem to fear hanging back because (I guess, from personal experience not as a tailgater but as someone who has driven ICE cars) that they'll have trouble catching up again if they give a little space.
  - Hamuko 7y ago
    Yeah, no issues with my speed. Again, if I'm accelerating faster than pretty much anyone on the road, the problem isn't my car's acceleration. Also, no one on the roads has any trouble catching up. The reason why people tailgate is because they're annoyed by people driving slowly (while possible still at the speed limit) in front of them.
    - natch 7y ago
      I get annoyed by people driving slowly, but tailgating does not help in any way, shape, or form. Because I can jump forward and pass them considerately, leaving ample space, when there is a chance, even from 10 car lengths back. Because of fast acceleration that is available even at speed. It's not the catching up that's a problem. The problem is being to catch up while the dynamic, temporary, window in traffic is still open. Were I to be driving a slow ICE car, that option of passing would not be available at all in many traffic windows that appear, because I wouldn't be able to close the n-car-length distance. This leads some people to tailgate, or follow more closely than they otherwise would, for various values of closely, because they are clinging to that hope of getting through a temporary window in traffic at some point. (Setting aside the other less practical reason for tailgating, simple aggression / macho signaling). Perhaps you are an exception. Thank you. :-)
      - perl4ever 7y ago
        You sound like you're talking about passing on a rural two lane highway, but it's not clear. That's when acceleration seems like an advantage, but it's pretty hazardous no matter what. You might hit a deer regardless.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    Nobody accelerates at the rate their car is theoretically capable of in normal driving, except maybe passing at high speed. I don't like it when somebody merges on the highway at 45 mph, but it has absolutely nothing to do with their ability to accelerate. Any car that can do 0-60 in ten seconds can go over 100 mph.
bayindirh 7y ago
> 0-60 in 9 seconds is not only terrible, it is dangerous. No. I drive a 2001 Ford focus automatic. It's only 4 gears, has a torque converter and driven by a 100BHP engine. On paper, it's a sluggish car. The gearbox has two kickdown modes. Give throttle a gentle push and it shifts down (interpreting we need to go faster) but, if you floor it, the gearbox quickly kickdowns until engine near-redlines, engine program changes to beast mode and the acceleration becomes unbelievable. I had used the feature a couple of times involuntarily and it literally saved my life. 0-60 in 9 seconds is not terrible. Not adding required emergency features is.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  I don't think people generally understand horsepower, even a lot of people who think they know about cars and maybe think they know the basic math and equations. It's a bit simplistic, but if your engine puts out a reasonably constant amount of torque over different RPMs, then horsepower is proportional to RPM. If you have 100 peak HP, and a similar figure for torque it implies you have that horsepower at over 5000 rpm. So if you are accelerating moderately and your engine is turning maybe 2000 rpm, then it's only making 40% of the peak power, which in this case is 40 hp. Say you had 300 hp, but you don't rev to 5K - you'd be aware of how it feels and think 100 hp is nothing - but you are getting barely more than that at 2K. I actually have a newish car with 300 hp and an old one with about 150, and so from experience, the difference in power is very misleading, because the low powered car is usually running at twice the RPM on the highway, whereas the high powered one has an automatic transmission that really doesn't like to downshift. So it doesn't feel especially powerful unless you force it to rev. Now and then I read an article about a car from roughly the late 70s, early 80s, when it appeared most cars made a ridiculously low amount of power. People say "wow, that big V-8 only made 200 hp" (or something like that). But comparing it with the torque figure should make it clear that if you compare it to a modern engine at a given, low RPM it's going to be much closer. They simply didn't produce torque and power at high RPMs. People like to talk about engines with low end torque, but in my opinion, there's no such thing - only engines that don't have high end torque.
trophycase 7y ago
I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted so much. Acceleration that is too slow can be very dangerous (my old girlfriend had a junker that couldn't get up to speed quickly and almost got rear ended a few times) and also disruptive to the flow of traffic. The more efficiently a car can flow through lanes (i.e. merging farther left on the highway without having the next car have to brake for you) can reduce traffic.
- Hamuko 7y ago
  Because it's completely ridiculous to think that a 0-100 km/h in 9 seconds is dangerous. I'd be able to safely merge with a 1992 200E, which does 0-100 in like 18 seconds.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  What do you do about the delivery trucks? The tour buses? The semi trailers hauling backhoes? Are you looking forward to a brave new world in which all of them do 0-60 in 5 seconds? When I was a kid Porsche made a car that did 0-60 in ten seconds. And Suzuki I think bragged about how their hatchback could do it in 8 or 9 and compared themselves to Porsche.
detaro 7y ago
For reference, here's an older 0-100km/h list for 9s: https://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/rotherbach/beschleunigung-0-100-km-h-9-0-sekunden-t3601249.html https://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/rotherbach/beschleunigung-0-... (and the full list https://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/rotherbach/beschleunigung-0-100-km-h-the-comprehensive-list-t3601500.html https://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/rotherbach/beschleunigung-0-... )
Nullabillity 7y ago
If you're driving fast enough (or are inattentive enough) that you can't stop (or even slow down) for any reasonably expected obstacle then that's completely on you, and you need to slow down.

by lr 7y ago

bradlys 7y ago

9 seconds is plenty. The issue is that most drivers in those cars don't floor it to get onto onramps. So, 0-60 goes from 9 seconds to 20-30 seconds because they just refuse to push the pedal down further.

everdrive 7y ago

This is easily possible with a 9 second 0-60 if the on ramps are built properly. I have a Ford Fiesta, and it's lucky to hit 0-60 in 9 seconds. I always make sure I'm at highway speed before I merge.

Hamuko 7y ago

>0-60 in 9 seconds is not only terrible, it is dangerous. This is a downright laughable statement. My car does 0-100 km/h in about 8-9 seconds. Plenty fast. In fact, I'm not really encountering any road users that accelerate faster than I do. No issues with merging, no issues with overtakes, nothing. Here's someone joining the Autobahn with the same engine and gearbox as me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUiXwbbITGQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUiXwbbITGQ Please watch and observe at how undramatic this whole thing is.

natch 7y ago
No issues you're aware of. I see a lot of blithely self-unaware tailgaters who seem to fear hanging back because (I guess, from personal experience not as a tailgater but as someone who has driven ICE cars) that they'll have trouble catching up again if they give a little space.
- Hamuko 7y ago
  Yeah, no issues with my speed. Again, if I'm accelerating faster than pretty much anyone on the road, the problem isn't my car's acceleration. Also, no one on the roads has any trouble catching up. The reason why people tailgate is because they're annoyed by people driving slowly (while possible still at the speed limit) in front of them.
  - natch 7y ago
    I get annoyed by people driving slowly, but tailgating does not help in any way, shape, or form. Because I can jump forward and pass them considerately, leaving ample space, when there is a chance, even from 10 car lengths back. Because of fast acceleration that is available even at speed. It's not the catching up that's a problem. The problem is being to catch up while the dynamic, temporary, window in traffic is still open. Were I to be driving a slow ICE car, that option of passing would not be available at all in many traffic windows that appear, because I wouldn't be able to close the n-car-length distance. This leads some people to tailgate, or follow more closely than they otherwise would, for various values of closely, because they are clinging to that hope of getting through a temporary window in traffic at some point. (Setting aside the other less practical reason for tailgating, simple aggression / macho signaling). Perhaps you are an exception. Thank you. :-)
    - perl4ever 7y ago
      You sound like you're talking about passing on a rural two lane highway, but it's not clear. That's when acceleration seems like an advantage, but it's pretty hazardous no matter what. You might hit a deer regardless.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  Nobody accelerates at the rate their car is theoretically capable of in normal driving, except maybe passing at high speed. I don't like it when somebody merges on the highway at 45 mph, but it has absolutely nothing to do with their ability to accelerate. Any car that can do 0-60 in ten seconds can go over 100 mph.

bayindirh 7y ago

> 0-60 in 9 seconds is not only terrible, it is dangerous. No. I drive a 2001 Ford focus automatic. It's only 4 gears, has a torque converter and driven by a 100BHP engine. On paper, it's a sluggish car. The gearbox has two kickdown modes. Give throttle a gentle push and it shifts down (interpreting we need to go faster) but, if you floor it, the gearbox quickly kickdowns until engine near-redlines, engine program changes to beast mode and the acceleration becomes unbelievable. I had used the feature a couple of times involuntarily and it literally saved my life. 0-60 in 9 seconds is not terrible. Not adding required emergency features is.

perl4ever 7y ago
I don't think people generally understand horsepower, even a lot of people who think they know about cars and maybe think they know the basic math and equations. It's a bit simplistic, but if your engine puts out a reasonably constant amount of torque over different RPMs, then horsepower is proportional to RPM. If you have 100 peak HP, and a similar figure for torque it implies you have that horsepower at over 5000 rpm. So if you are accelerating moderately and your engine is turning maybe 2000 rpm, then it's only making 40% of the peak power, which in this case is 40 hp. Say you had 300 hp, but you don't rev to 5K - you'd be aware of how it feels and think 100 hp is nothing - but you are getting barely more than that at 2K. I actually have a newish car with 300 hp and an old one with about 150, and so from experience, the difference in power is very misleading, because the low powered car is usually running at twice the RPM on the highway, whereas the high powered one has an automatic transmission that really doesn't like to downshift. So it doesn't feel especially powerful unless you force it to rev. Now and then I read an article about a car from roughly the late 70s, early 80s, when it appeared most cars made a ridiculously low amount of power. People say "wow, that big V-8 only made 200 hp" (or something like that). But comparing it with the torque figure should make it clear that if you compare it to a modern engine at a given, low RPM it's going to be much closer. They simply didn't produce torque and power at high RPMs. People like to talk about engines with low end torque, but in my opinion, there's no such thing - only engines that don't have high end torque.

trophycase 7y ago

I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted so much. Acceleration that is too slow can be very dangerous (my old girlfriend had a junker that couldn't get up to speed quickly and almost got rear ended a few times) and also disruptive to the flow of traffic. The more efficiently a car can flow through lanes (i.e. merging farther left on the highway without having the next car have to brake for you) can reduce traffic.

Hamuko 7y ago
Because it's completely ridiculous to think that a 0-100 km/h in 9 seconds is dangerous. I'd be able to safely merge with a 1992 200E, which does 0-100 in like 18 seconds.
perl4ever 7y ago
What do you do about the delivery trucks? The tour buses? The semi trailers hauling backhoes? Are you looking forward to a brave new world in which all of them do 0-60 in 5 seconds? When I was a kid Porsche made a car that did 0-60 in ten seconds. And Suzuki I think bragged about how their hatchback could do it in 8 or 9 and compared themselves to Porsche.

detaro 7y ago

For reference, here's an older 0-100km/h list for 9s: https://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/rotherbach/beschleunigung-0-100-km-h-9-0-sekunden-t3601249.html https://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/rotherbach/beschleunigung-0-... (and the full list https://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/rotherbach/beschleunigung-0-100-km-h-the-comprehensive-list-t3601500.html https://www.motor-talk.de/blogs/rotherbach/beschleunigung-0-... )

Nullabillity 7y ago

If you're driving fast enough (or are inattentive enough) that you can't stop (or even slow down) for any reasonably expected obstacle then that's completely on you, and you need to slow down.