Does speed REALLY matter?

[Outcast]

Understandably whenever there is a discussion about cars, top speed will invariably come up. My question is; does speed actually matter? I mean when do we ever hit top speed anyway? The fastest I've gone is about 240km/h which was close to, but not, the top speed (it was in my 740Li if you guys were wondering). So whenever I look at cars, yes, I note the top speed but in my mind I know I probably wouldn't ever hit those numbers. To reiterate. Is top speed really all that important to you guys?

 

EDIT: I just read through what I wrote and I am sorry if its hard to understand or I just repeat myself a lot. I just arrived in London and back in my apartment for a little R&R. Haven't smoked pot in a few months whilst at work in China so I am crazy stoned right now.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Outcast

[Sup3rman]

The acceleration IMO is more important...top speed is really something you may only hit on autobahns or old airstrips. Top speed is a number you can show off.

[Garfield 2]

Understandably whenever there is a discussion about cars, top speed will invariably come up. My question is; does speed actually matter? I mean when do we ever hit top speed anyway? The fastest I've gone is about 240km/h which was close to, but not, the top speed (it was in my 740Li if you guys were wondering). So whenever I look at cars, yes, I note the top speed but in my mind I know I probably wouldn't ever hit those numbers. To reiterate. Is top speed really all that important to you guys?

 

EDIT: I just read through what I wrote and I am sorry if its hard to understand or I just repeat myself a lot. I just arrived in London and back in my apartment for a little R&R. Haven't smoked pot in a few months whilst at work in China so I am crazy stoned right now.

I look at acceleration. I wouldn't mind if a car accelerated from 0-100 kph in 4.9 and its top speed was 180kph.

[Lurch]

Not really, unless a car/trucks is actually RPM limited for it and can hit it pretty easily. I don't go above 100 mph that often. I've never even maxed the car out before either (hit 125 once before I let off. Official quoted top speed is 131). If you had access to places where you can reach such speeds (parts of the autobahn when there's no traffic or private runways), it might be a bit more important.

 

 

[Cursed]

Not at all for me. The fastest I've ever driven was 85MPH and that was in my old Mini.

[Kifflom112]

Top speed is just a bonus in my honest opinion.

What really matters is how the car handles. Is it fun, is it good at turning, etc. If the car hits 212mph but handles like a piece of sh*t, I won't really care much about it.

I also feel that acceleration is more important than top speed as well. But I wouldn't really want my car to take off from 0-100km/h in 1 second either.

[DarrinPA]

Top speed is just a bonus in my honest opinion.

What really matters is how the car handles. Is it fun,

This. Some cars are just fun, you can be going 40 mph and yet it's much more fun than a fast car at 120mph. Why not have a car that's always enjoyable, rather than just at top speed? That's how I feel.

[Sup3rman]

Talking about acceleration and top speed, the Venom GT recently made a record for reaching 0-300km/h in 13 seconds i believe. That is pretty incredible...but yet again kinda pointless. Ofc, it show how much cars have evolved. Some cars take that much time to reach 100km/h.

[Ex Hellraiser]

I don't care much about top speed as I do acceleration. My little Escort can't accelerate for sh*t, and I hate that I can hold people up when the light turns green, even when pushing the gas pretty hard.

 

 

I've hit 90 mph in it, and the speedometer stops at 85

[SRB]

Acceleration is the most important, as is handling. I've gone 128 in a 240sx and thats as fast as I've gone. My brother was driving. Top speed only would come into play with street bikes.

 

Take a buell vs a gsxr and the buell will be left in the dust on a highway or straight away.

[mr quick]

I don't give a rats about top speed (though the Saab will go well over 200 kmh ) it's the acceleration up to the (silly) speed limt that gives me the kicks

[epoxi]

I think the way a car handles at a high speed is more important than the actual speed it is capable of doing. It is vital that a car feels safe and stable otherwise the ability to go that fast has to practical purpose (because you'd be too damn scared/dead).

 

@fatal1ty: I know what you mean, I have to start from a green light pretty heavy on the throttle if I don't want to hold up the traffic behind me.

Edited January 16, 2013 by epoxi

[Lurch]

 

I think the way a car handles at a high speed is more important than the actual speed it is capable of doing. It is vital that a car feels safe and stable otherwise the ability to go that fast has to practical purpose (because you'd be too damn scared/dead).

 

Yep, like while a Mclaren F1 might have done 241 mph for its record run, it's reportedly very scary at that speed or anything north of 200. Hence why they brought out the Longtail GTR (and the 3 GT longtail street cars) for the 97 season.

 

 

A lot of very fast cars these days that are really white-knuckle experiences at high speeds. I'd much rather drive something that's compliant at its limit.

[evh5150vanhalen]

The fastest I've gone was 275 km/h in my Challenger, you feel every little dip and it's magnified. Where the car is heavy it didn't get floaty but I don't think I'd want to go much faster. I do want to try to get to 200mph though just for sh*ts and giggles, I think thats around 330km/h.

[Ex Hellraiser]

Yep, like while a Mclaren F1 might have done 241 mph for its record run, it's reportedly very scary at that speed or anything north of 200. Hence why they brought out the Longtail GTR (and the 3 GT longtail street cars) for the 97 season.

 

 

A lot of very fast cars these days that are really white-knuckle experiences at high speeds. I'd much rather drive something that's compliant at its limit.

The Bugatti Veyron is supposedly very stable at its high-end, whereas most others feel as though they are about to fall apart.

[Pico]

The fastest I've got is about 120mph in my 240sx and my Trans Am. When the top speeds hit near 200, for street driving I don't see when that'll be necessary unless you're on a wide open road racing another very fast car or on a closed track. As others have said, acceleration generally matters more. But top speed can be indicative of how well the car will accelerate through each gear. Still, when I read stats of cars I'm always more interested in 0-60, 0-100, and higher speed passing times (like 70-100mph).

[BCspeed34]

Speed matters up to a certain point. As long as I can get up to 130-150MPH, that's all I really need. As such, I've never been over number on my bike. Even less in a car, where my top speed was around 120MPH or so.

 

For me it's all about the acceleration. Being able to pull out of a corner is what excites me the most.

[rader1]

Just to ME the number one number i go by for real world peformance is the 60mph-130mph time.

[sivispacem]

Just to ME the number one number i go by for real world peformance is the 60mph-130mph time.

This, plus 0-100-0 and 30-130. Standing mile and V-max style runs (like they do at Bruntingthorpe) are also good performance indicators. I think the record at the V-Max events at Bruntingthorpe is something like 217mph. One of the fastest cars ever to run on it was a "somewhat" modified B5 RS4 Avant which managed 205 miles per hour...

[ItsAllAboutGTA]

Acceleration is the most important thing,its useless if you have a fastest car in the world but,have a sh*tty acceleration,its better to have a normal car with a good acceleration

[sivispacem]

Acceleration is the most important thing,its useless if you have a fastest car in the world but,have a sh*tty acceleration,its better to have a normal car with a good acceleration

What kind of acceleration, though? Off-the-line acceleration is very different to mid-range acceleration.

[JayC]

Living in a city I find the most important to be 15-40mph in order to effectively get around the traffic. Hell the motorway speed limit in Glasgow is only 50 mph.

 

I did go around 110mph once or twice in my MX5 though but it was pretty unstable without a front lip.

 

But I'm more concerned with the car looking awesome than going fast.

[ryuclan]

I would rate acceleration above top speed as that is what looks most impressive. Fastest I've gone was 120 in my 95 New yorker lmao. Scared the sh*t out of me.

[Ex Hellraiser]

I've done 90mph for a short stint in my Escort, when the speedometer tops out at 85

 

The whole car chatters violently above 80, and likely wouldn't turn even if i tried.

 

The car really isn't built for speed or acceleration at all.

[Ben73]

Never even got close to the top speed of my 300c Hemi.

 

Can't risk my licence like that. If only there was somewhere I could legally test the top speed of my car around here.

[jelly]

Completely uninteresting, not to mention that the actual driving needed to reach top speed is boring too.

 

What's fun is good mid-range response, being able to lay it down out of a corner or overtaking someone regardless of your gear.

 

Hence..

 

 

[Lurch]

Hence..

 

 

Diesels need to be in their powerband just as much as gas engines.

[trip]

What's fun is good mid-range response, being able to lay it down out of a corner or overtaking someone regardless of your gear.

This.

 

We aren't allowed to speak of our [past] Corrado in this house, but yes...totally yes. It's not like I ever had the chance to take my Corrado on a track or anything so all the fun was in the higher speed handling and such.

[sivispacem]

Hence..

 

 

Diesels need to be in their powerband just as much as gas engines.

Plus said powerband is much smaller.

[rader1]

Hence..

 

 

Diesels need to be in their powerband just as much as gas engines.

Plus said powerband is much smaller.

Not only that but there are VERY few diesel platforms that are well suited to make big power or turn. If you're talking about race cars(like the Audi TDIs) that's a very extreme exception. Diesels rely more on the "feeling" of acceleration more than actually accelerating.