Does a low top speed in a performance car bother you?

[CKY]

cerb4.5lee said:

That is what I love so much about roads, because you can actually drive at a higher top speed on the road than you ever could on most tracks. Plus most tracks turn their noses up at you if you go sideways, and they don't like loud exhausts either.

It is weird, because tracks are meant to be fun, but you have to adhere to a tank load of rules and regulations though, and it kind of defeats the object in many ways I think.

I think the trackday issue you highlight is due to the number of 'road warriors' over the years who have booked a trackday off the back of doing 150mph or whatever on the motorway and thinking they can drive a bit. A few exploratory laps of the circuit with the TCS/stability control keeping them on the black stuff then imbues a false sense of security, the systems get slackened off or switched off, 5 minutes later a length red flag to pull some bright spark's BMW out of the gravel trap.

To answer the "Does a low top speed in a performance car bother you?" - not in the slightest, driving fast in straight lines is boring and effortless, corners are where the fun is to be had sorting the men from the boys.

[murphyaj]

wc98 said:

Another thing from this discussion i can't comprehend is enthusiasts owning cars or bikes they have never maxed out. Every single vehicle i have ever owned i have had flat out ... and every motoring enthusiast i know is the same, including those owning Mclarens, Ferraris etc.

Where?

Had a Ferrari and three Aston Martins, currently have a McLaren; never taken any of them to V-max. Not even sure how I would go about such a thing to be honest. Even on a track day it would be pretty tricky, you'd need a runway, and a long one at that. Took the Ferrari to a runway once but didn't get it to top speed, once you are going over 150 you're covering ground really, really, really fast so a mile of tarmac disappears very quickly. I know Straightliners do events at Elvington a few times a year where you get a 2-mile runway to play with, and even there according to their results you're unlikely to hit vmax in a modern supercar. At their May event they had an 812, 296, a 600LT and an Aventador turn up, none of them hit their V-max.

If I attempted such a thing on a road in the UK and got caught I imagine I'd be luckly to avoid prison.

[Exasperated]

Complaining about a low top speed on a performance car is like complaining you can't see the Mona Lisa's tits. It might make it a bit more exciting, but it doesn't take away from the core elements.

[cliffords]

cerb4.5lee said:

ecsrobin said:

cerb4.5lee said:

We've been discussing the top speed on another thread about the new electric MG Roadster, and its top speed is only a 125mph, yet it has over 500bhp though.

For me personally I'd want it to go quicker than a 125mph, and I don't like Volvo anymore because they limit their cars to only a 112mph as well.

So would a low top speed in a performance car bother you?

How often are you above 125?

Not too often, but I will go over a 100 most days though. I think it is more that I'd be pegged back to just 125 if I did want to go quicker though, and that bothers me.

What country are you in?

[Ken_Code]

I’ve a couple of cars with top speeds over 200mph, and think that it’s possible that if instead they were limited to something like 150 that they could have been better.

There can be compromises involved when a car must be able to safely do such high speeds, and they aren’t necessarily ones that make them better at normal speeds.

Steering speed, geometry, tyres and gearing might suffer.

[cerb4.5lee]

cliffords said:

cerb4.5lee said:

ecsrobin said:

cerb4.5lee said:

We've been discussing the top speed on another thread about the new electric MG Roadster, and its top speed is only a 125mph, yet it has over 500bhp though.

For me personally I'd want it to go quicker than a 125mph, and I don't like Volvo anymore because they limit their cars to only a 112mph as well.

So would a low top speed in a performance car bother you?

How often are you above 125?

Not too often, but I will go over a 100 most days though. I think it is more that I'd be pegged back to just 125 if I did want to go quicker though, and that bothers me.

What country are you in?

They call it Mexico nowadays I think!

[cerb4.5lee]

CKY said:

cerb4.5lee said:

That is what I love so much about roads, because you can actually drive at a higher top speed on the road than you ever could on most tracks. Plus most tracks turn their noses up at you if you go sideways, and they don't like loud exhausts either.

It is weird, because tracks are meant to be fun, but you have to adhere to a tank load of rules and regulations though, and it kind of defeats the object in many ways I think.

I think the trackday issue you highlight is due to the number of 'road warriors' over the years who have booked a trackday off the back of doing 150mph or whatever on the motorway and thinking they can drive a bit. A few exploratory laps of the circuit with the TCS/stability control keeping them on the black stuff then imbues a false sense of security, the systems get slackened off or switched off, 5 minutes later a length red flag to pull some bright spark's BMW out of the gravel trap.

To answer the "Does a low top speed in a performance car bother you?" - not in the slightest, driving fast in straight lines is boring and effortless, corners are where the fun is to be had sorting the men from the boys.

It is always a funny one for me, because I don't lack confidence on the road, but I don't feel like I have enough confidence for a track if you know what I mean though. Plus I've always been pretty crap in the corners as well, and I think that it why I've generally always gone for pretty quick performance cars, so that I can at least have a bit of fun in a straight line.

I've always been different to the majority with that too, and I prefer straight lines to corners. I ought to move to America really!

[otolith]

If they just lied to you about the top speed, would most people ever find out?

(This was once a TVR forum, after all...)

[v9]

Wacky Racer said:

Better to have all the performance between 20-90mph than some stupid 170mph top speed that the average person would never get near.

Same with Motorbikes.

This, for the vast majority of cases, is the right answer I think. I’ve traded quite a bit of top speed on my bike for more acceleration, and enjoy it much more. It’s something I use on every single ride, and a crazy quick bit of mid range punch is so much fun in busy traffic. Makes overtakes effortless.

[Byker28i]

v9 said:

Wacky Racer said:

Better to have all the performance between 20-90mph than some stupid 170mph top speed that the average person would never get near.

Same with Motorbikes.

This, for the vast majority of cases, is the right answer I think. I’ve traded quite a bit of top speed on my bike for more acceleration, and enjoy it much more. It’s something I use on every single ride, and a crazy quick bit of mid range punch is so much fun in busy traffic. Makes overtakes effortless.

My last bike was a ZZR1200, maxed it out once on a runway, used full throttle three times and I had it 10 years. Not sure bikes need any more midrange punch, most of the time that was plenty fast enough with minimal throttle.

The acceleration was exhilarating though....

Same I think in the Cerbera, although thats deceptively quick to get to illegal speeds.

Generally and normal everyday driving it's 85mph on the mtorway, a little quicker abroad, can't honestly remember the last time I went over 100...although I am heading to the Isle of Man again...

When we used to race a Caterham Roadster, you didn't change speed much around places some of the tracks, it was a very narrow range, due to the low top speed vs corner speed

[GT9]

otolith said:

If they just lied to you about the top speed, would most people ever find out?

(This was once a TVR forum, after all...)

[RazerSauber]

Depends on the car IMO. If it's something designed to be flash and ostentatious then yes, it should have a higher top speed. Think Lamborghini etc. It's a d**k waving contest. If it's a car designed for lap times or similar then no. Who ever thought a Lotus needed to be faster in a straight line? They're fast around the bends.

Any ham fisted idiot can take a performance car up to 150+ on a motorway. It's easy. Actually getting performance in the bends is something I get a kick out of. For that, you don't need a top speed higher than 125. You'll be miles ahead of anything before the straights come up. It takes a modicum of talent though and most drivers don't seem to have that.

[Tickle]

No, not at all.

Current car has 5 short gears and I've had it for the last decade. I can only think high speeds would be on straight motorways, roads I wouldn't tend to use if out for a drive, or particularly enjoy.

[Crusoe]

Cars that are designed to be stable at 155mph are also steady at 80 into a 70mph wind so while top speed on the road isn't particularly relevant the higher speed testing can still have benefits at lower speeds making daily drivers a lot more relaxing to drive if you are only using a small percentage of the performance capacity at cruising speed. Longer gearing, less wind noise, better aero efficiency, increased stability etc. Different if you design a GTR to do high speed and then artificially limit it compared to a small hatch with a low top speed.

[Pebbles167]

Would only bother me if I was likely to reach it too easily on track, otherwise no, tend not to drive much over 85 on the roads.

[Mr Tidy]

LooneyTunes said:

Nomme de Plum said:

LooneyTunes said:

Nomme de Plum said:

Mr Tidy said:

Given that observation about the impact high speeds have on range with EVs I can see why they have speed limiters, but then I still can't think of EVs as performance cars!

Both my BMW have 155mph limiters, but apparently they only interfere in 6th and if you are looking for Vmax you'd still be in 5th anyway as they are manuals.

I'll never get close to the limiter in the UK, I just like knowing if I ever go to Germany and find the right Autobahn or visit the Isle Of Man my right foot would be the limiter!

Try a Taycan and you may change your view on their potential as a performance car.

We had a Taycan for three years. I wanted to like it but found it to be most boring car we’ve opened for a long time, to the extent that I only drove it when I had no real choice but to do so.

None of this is criticism, just shows how much views vary on individual cars/preferences!

Or maybe I'd find a Taycan as exciting as LooneyTunes.

[otolith]

All car design is a set of compromises, and not having to support an unusable top speed should remove a constraint in those decisions.

[hedges88]

I thought something was wrong when I hit the top speed in my Galant. I made a mistake of assuming the VR-4 body kit was cosmetic, but it's not. Makes it very hard for the humble GDI motor to feel comfortable with high speed cruising. Lesson learned. Big boy aero needs a big boy motor!

[Puzzles]

Top speed doesn’t really bother me, I couldn’t imagine going 100mph+ regularly.

With all the dash cams, speed cameras etc I doubt it would take long to get caught. Too risky for me.

Also it’s far more built up near me now and more cars on the road.

[Nomme de Plum]

Mr Tidy said:

LooneyTunes said:

Nomme de Plum said:

LooneyTunes said:

Nomme de Plum said:

Mr Tidy said:

Given that observation about the impact high speeds have on range with EVs I can see why they have speed limiters, but then I still can't think of EVs as performance cars!

Both my BMW have 155mph limiters, but apparently they only interfere in 6th and if you are looking for Vmax you'd still be in 5th anyway as they are manuals.

I'll never get close to the limiter in the UK, I just like knowing if I ever go to Germany and find the right Autobahn or visit the Isle Of Man my right foot would be the limiter!

Try a Taycan and you may change your view on their potential as a performance car.

We had a Taycan for three years. I wanted to like it but found it to be most boring car we’ve opened for a long time, to the extent that I only drove it when I had no real choice but to do so.

None of this is criticism, just shows how much views vary on individual cars/preferences!

Or maybe I'd find a Taycan as exciting as LooneyTunes.

Apparently the new version is a huge improvement. I cannot comment yet.

I do not desire a road car to be exciting. Just clinically effective which the Taycan seems to do but it is still very early days in the world of the EV.

My TVRs were exciting and in no way boring but as transport absolutely useless.