Quote:
Originally Posted by strokeoluck
Had a kid in a newer VW Golf (or so it looked) next to me at a light as we were waiting to turn left onto a two lane on ramp for a hwy bypass. He gunned it when the light turned green, clearly looking for some action, so I obliged. Once I popped it into second gear I went past him on the ramp, but frankly I was surprised at how he stayed relatively close to my bumper through third gear. Once I hit fourth I was putting some distance between us, and then I topped out at 130 in fifth gear (my limit, not the cars). Either he couldn't or wouldn't hit that speed so I finally left him in my dust.
Now, for all I know he had the car subtly modded, but it sure looked fairly stock. Maybe a GTI (do they still make those?) at most. But I guess that's what surprises me a bit about this 330 HP. It feels very spirited when I'm not racing someone...but when it comes time to go head to head, it appears a VW can almost keep up?! Thank God I wasn't next to a 10 year old Mustang! ;-)
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That is the DUMBEST measurement of "power" in cars. And while I do not condone "street racing," it's not the street racing part that's dumb.
Did you know that for two cars with a 1 second gap in 0-60 time, the difference, by the time you hit 60 for both cars, is about 1/2 of a car length? Go ahead. Do the math. That means, if say, your MZ4 Coupe is as spec'ed hits 60mph at 4.7 seconds, and the Vee-Dub hits 60mph at 5.7 seconds, by the time you BOTH hit 60 mph his front bumper will be at about your door?
All those internet talks of so-and-so "walking" his opponents by bus-length are all urban legend. No one is walking anyone else by bus-lengths. NO ONE. Walking someone else by bus-lengths is in the realm of cars with 200+ HP difference, or between a guy that has little clue on how to properly launch a car, or a guy who has no interest in staying in it.
Case in point, I once passed a Porsche 996 Turbo S in my puny Z4 3.0i by "OUT-DRAGGING" him down a straight. The HP difference between the two cars was 200+. How is that possible? I tucked into his wake as we exited the turn and I got a slight jump on him. By the end of the LONG straight he was maybe only about 1.5 car length ahead of me, which allowed me to brake extra late and take the pass on the inside (this was with some eggin' on by the chief instructor, otherwise I would have NEVER taken a pass without a point). TWO HUNDRED FREAKIN' HORSES difference.
I laugh every time I read a story about how some idiot "killed" another car by bus lengths, or someone expecting to pull car-X by said car lengths. It is clearly a sign of someone who does not know what they're talking about, has not had enough experience driving cars and drag racing. It can't be done. It doesn't happen. The only time said car beat another car by "bus length" is when car that was beat gave up.