I was on my usual route this morning and as I was caning it in the Corrolla I past my reference point.......a national speed limit sign

.....in the S2000 I'd have been doing 80mph and in the Fezza just over 100mph....now bearing in mind there is only a 20mph difference I have to say that subjectively the Ferrari felt much much quicker but in reality sub 100mph it simply wasn't actually that much quicker in the overall scheme of things

sooooo....my question is this....is it bhp that makes a car feel quick or torque....? and can a car with a good torque figure make the car feel quicker than it actually is

 

Yes

 

Ottawa.



.....sorry, what was the question again?

 

No idea, Paul...never driven a particularly torquey car.
I certainly feel fast enough in the S, particularly at the VTEC crossover.

 

Id say a 20 mph difference is MUCH MUCH quicker

 

what fezza is it? I reckon it'll have more torque than the S.. But yeah, torque does make a car feel quicker than it is, classic example is a mate took me in his Golf Gti 16v a few years back and it FELT quicker than my Astra GTE 16v.. when we had a drag against eachother it was not even close though, I battered him.

But he had a nicer dash...

 

Testarossa.........but it was all over after 7000rpm when of course the S2000 has only just woken up!

The Ferrari 'felt' much quicker and of course it was but using my benchmark in reality not 'that' much quicker...not sure what 20mph defecit would look like with a ghosted S2000 in pursuit but I'd argue on the road not far behind.....

 

...and could go round corners


zero - I'd say 20mph is a considerable difference, consider... takes about 8 seconds to get from 60 to 100, so to 80 is 3 secs or so which leaves another 5 seconds to get to 100. I'd guess the S would be 2 seconds behind.

 

When I was a nipper I LOVED them

Aren't they real rocketships in a straight line though? The S would do well to be anywhere near..

 

Ever driven a 'chipped' Audi S3/TT? The torque delivery makes the car feel rapid (which in reality it is!), but no more so than a S2000 which feels no where near as quick.

Turbocharged torque delivery is a strange sensation IMO. In deisels you get a big shove that lasts for all of 1/2s - the increase in acceleration feels huge but in reality is not that great since once the initial torque peak has been passed there is very little torque/power left. Petrol is better, but the power still tails off markedly after the initial wallop that you get at around 2000rpm.

In the S2000 you don't get the big shove at around 2000rpm but a much more progressive increase in power and then the 'step' into VTEC. The gearing makes up for the lower torque and makes the most of the power at higher revs - a different style of driving.

I know which I prefer

Andy