Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Automotive
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-25-2015, 10:11 PM
 
Location: Metro Washington DC
15,394 posts, read 25,628,292 times
Reputation: 10394

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal View Post
Do people seriously "race" each other at stop lights?
Sometimes. It happens when two lanes narrow to one a short distance after the light, or when there's an entrance ramp to a freeway just beyond the light, an other situations like that. I've found that 0-60 times are meaningless if the guy in the slower car hits the gas first. By the time the dude in the faster car gets going, it's too late.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-25-2015, 10:29 PM
 
Location: Valley of the Sun
2,617 posts, read 2,299,062 times
Reputation: 2823
Quote:
Originally Posted by brownbagg View Post
i was thinking about this on the way home, my car has not been over 45 mph in i dont know when. whenever i go to work, store, here, there. there is always somebody doing 30 in a 55 and no way to pass. you and 42 other cars will be behind that car for thirty miles. stop lights every 200 feet. it take me 45 minutes to get to work. its only 12 miles.

so why have v8 and v6 why not everybody have a 4 clyinder, even big f350 ford trucks, a little azz four cylinder. it never gets over 45 mph anyway so why bother, just once i would like to do the speed limit and go through a green light.
You need a new commute.

You also need to get out and drive more! That poor car.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-25-2015, 10:31 PM
 
Location: Valley of the Sun
2,617 posts, read 2,299,062 times
Reputation: 2823
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal View Post
Do people seriously "race" each other at stop lights?
My commute entails two lanes turning left around a cornered freeway entrance then up a small graded hill and it's pretty fun to haul ass around the corner and shoot the interstate doing 80+ MPH early in the a.m. for me. I drive a fairly fast car that's pretty loud and I get people trying to race me all the time. It's actually kind of fun. But as someone else mentioned, if the slower car gets on the gas first, even though I know my car is faster, it's hard to make that up in such a short distance.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-25-2015, 11:49 PM
 
Location: Denver, CO
3,135 posts, read 11,814,193 times
Reputation: 2484
My tuned Taurus SHO does 0-60 in low 4's. Hitting 60mph 2x faster than most other cars is just fun. Might be an ego thing too. I can't drive a slow car, life is just too short.

A GTR-R and 911T do it in sub 3 seconds. The P85D does it in low 3's. Good times!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-26-2015, 12:59 AM
 
33,387 posts, read 34,617,896 times
Reputation: 20027
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal View Post
Do people seriously "race" each other at stop lights?
yes, yes they do.

but think about it, sitting in your car at a red light. the guy next to you is revving his engine at you, there is clear road ahead and you have the urge to go, fast. and when the light goes green you firewall the throttles, and slowly you pick up speed with a constant solid acceleration. and then you feel the aircraft rotate and start to climb.............oh wait wrong forum for that
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-26-2015, 07:40 AM
 
2,861 posts, read 3,823,586 times
Reputation: 2351
0 to 60 was more relevant when 10 seconds was good. It still serves as a standard on which to judge acceleration quickness. As others have said, 1/4 mile performance is another measurement that has stood the test of time (no pun intended...). They allow comparing cars over the years and still apply to contemporary cars too. Together they probably represent a good view of applied power and traction.

Years ago driving skill also entered into the equation...not so much today...and soon not at all
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-26-2015, 07:43 AM
 
18,475 posts, read 15,422,249 times
Reputation: 16116
Some people find an enhanced driving pleasure with fast acceleration...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-26-2015, 08:31 AM
 
15,677 posts, read 20,170,578 times
Reputation: 20838
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal View Post
I keep seeing a lot of references to the speed at which a car goes from 0 to 60. While I understand the need to accelerate upon entering the highway, most on-ramps will provide for more than 10 seconds of road.

Come to Massachusetts then. Very aggressive driving here.

There are a few highways that are 3-lanes wide, 50-60MPH and have businesses and driveways on the right hand side. You literally pull into 60MPH traffic from a dead stop. A lot of our highways have NORMAL travel speeds of 75-80MPH for all 3 lanes. Merging onto the highway at 35MPH is dangerous.

A car with good 0-60MPH performance means I can merge a LOT easier.

My daily driver has 300HP. My girlfriend's has 150HP. On a recent trip loaded up with luggage...I thought I was going to die merging onto a few highways.


Oh and it's also fun watching that speedometer needle wrap around.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-26-2015, 08:41 AM
 
Location: Flushing, NY
259 posts, read 266,267 times
Reputation: 200
It's one of the many objective benchmarks for comparison. Doesn't mean much the way you might drive, but it means something to others.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-26-2015, 08:42 AM
 
67 posts, read 69,700 times
Reputation: 143
To me 0-60 is just to see how fast the car is and how easy it is to merge onto the highway. That's one of my priorities when buying a car. My Accord has 200HP and can go to 60 in about 6-7s, not exactly fast but it does make a difference compared to a Corolla or Civic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal View Post
Do people seriously "race" each other at stop lights?
Not really racing from what I've seen. Some people have a lead foot and they smashed the gas pedal then brake 2 seconds later. Then they go on car forums complaining about low mpg.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Automotive
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top