I just read about the Noble M12, for a car that does a 1/4 mile in 11.8 seconds and 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds, it's really fast.

But is that fast enough?

What do you consider "fast"?

 

When a car is capable of trapping at or above 110-115 mph (depending on the platform) I'd consider it fast. Anything below that is just quick.

 

Low 12's 110-120ish.

 

0-60's in the 5's and a 14.00 1/4 mile time is respectable and seems to be the benchmark for the time being (although mustangs/camaro's/rx7's/supras did that since 93 or so).

11.5 at 120 is a good number I hope to hit someday , therefore it is what I consider to be FAST.

 

I'd consider the S2000 to be super fast; fast enough to kill its passengers.

 

With dozens of luxo sedans able to hit 5.2-5.5 to sixty and 13.6-14 in the quarter... not exclusive enough these days to be FAST.

Sure 20 years ago, it would have been... but kind of like athletes 20 years ago... not so impressive by modern standards.

FAST to me is 3-4 standard deviations above the norm (>97th percentile) in performance... these days maybe <4.8 and <13?

Now VERY FAST maybe <4.5 and mid 12s...

With CRAZY FAST reserved for <4 and <12...

 

My Kawasaki ZX6R Ninja.

 

Different cars give different sensations of speed.

Driving a Smart Roadster, where you're sitting really, REALLY low, the 0-60 in 10 seconds (or something like that) is enough to give me a sensation of speed.

In a very similar way, sitting in an Opel Speedster or Elise, the 0-60 (which is 5-6 seconds) gives an even more immediate feeling of speed, but the Smart was already able to give this in a relatively decent amount.

Larger cars, especially the kind where you sit higher, give less the sensation of speed, even if you're driving really fast. For example, driving an Autdi TT (which some would argue is a sporty car) with over 200hp sure can give you respectable 0-60 times, but when I drove one, I didn't feel it. I was sitting too high up, almost felt like driving my GF's Smart ForTwo or a Mercedes A class. The front is just incredibly short and you sit upright in all three cars. So much for a sensation of speed.

Give me a car with a long front (S2000, Z4, SLK), and then tune the seat so that I'm sitting there way back, almost as if I was lying down, and the car in question will give me the very same sensation of speed as the Speedster did, even though the car is heavier and larger. Get my drift ?

 

modded 4 cyl cars: mid 12s.
anything with a stock turbo and mods better or a V8 better run low 12s or better before i give it props.

stock cars, "fast" is all relative to price and competetion. like an enzo compared to a C6 Z06 compared to a 350Z. IMHO

 

I would consider my old R1 fast (140mph trap speeds). I had a R6 (125mph trap speeds) which I thought was crazy fast for a while, but unfortunately it started to feel slow, especially on hot days. But the r1... NEVER felt slow and felt crazy fast when running it through the gears. The acceleration cannot really be described, but every time I twisted the throttle, made me giddy like a 8 year old on christmas morning.