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zero to sixty times

We recently observed that it is possible to create a simple 0-60 mph calculator that determines a car's theoretical 0-60 time based on a few simple criteria such as its weight and power to a reasonable degree of accuracy.  (anything from 0.1 second to 1 second in most cases).  See this page for more information on our 0-60 Time Calculator

Here's some examples of the results from our own tests, the manufacturers' tests, and our calculations.

As you can see, the calculated 0-60 times almost without exception within plus or minus 10% of the test results, though the figures for the Porsche Carrera and Porsche GT3 at one end of the table, and those for the BMW Z4 at the other might take a bit of reconciling.

So how do we explain the variances between our calculations and the test results? 
(both our own, and those of the manufacturer's)

We'll we'd argue that there are good reasons why some of those at the bottom of the table (i.e. the ones that perform better than they have a right to) such as the Z4 and Audi TT must be particularly good at putting the power down from the off, and probably also have a fairly broad spread of torque - allowing them to have their engines in the power band from the off so that excessive clutch slip and wheel spin isn't necessary to get them away from the line.  

In addition, three out of the five cars at the bottom of the table are four wheel drive vehicles that can also get their power down on the road as efficiently as possible.  The other two are both rear wheel drive with front-mid layouts and that's another good configuration.

All we're saying here about these vehicles is that their 0-60 times are very good when taking into account their weight and maximum power output, and as we've explained, this is really just a bit of fun.

At the end of the day, if you're interested in performance away from the line, then it's the test 0-60 that you should concern yourself with - a Boxster S (3.2) still hits 60 in 5.4 seconds compared to the 5.8 of the 3 litre BMW.  And a TVR Tuscan S will be quite a bit faster than either of these two, with a sub 4 seconds time (both according to the manufacturer, and our calculations).

So how are we going to explain the times for the two 911s at the top end of the table, and the Aston Martin Volante, all of which are producing figures that are somewhat slower (5%) than our calculations.  We're not so sure about this one, but we'll argue that they're all big powerful supercars and maybe the speed off the line wasn't the designer's primary consideration?  These cars are at their best when hurtling round at speeds over 100mph, and maybe that's why they don't quite make the 0-60 dash in the times that our empirical formula would predict?

(Please note - manufacturers' specifications can change - please check any manufacturers' details for yourself before basing a purchasing decision on any data on Cars-Cars-Cars.Org