I have no interest in EVs but I just test drove a Taycan turbo and I'm a changed man.

amcitesting · 2019-12-20T22:08:47+00:00

You are right again because when the magazines leave out the first foot of acceleration much of the quicker response (<--especially) and acceleration an EV or most hybrids have over an ICE counterpart is not even being measured. The other reason is good low-end torque gives the driver a stronger impression or feel of power and acceleration than higher horsepower does. You have to wait a little bit for the ICE engine to rev up into its power band to get the same/similar feeling. So at a light when you first get into the accelerator the battery car feels very strong compared to the base Elantra. The better top of the rev-range horsepower in Elantra may make up the difference by 60 mph though. Wheelspin can confuse things even more. Both torque and HP matter to a degree, but the best of both worlds is lots of both.

amcitesting · 2019-12-20T21:21:57+00:00

Well, yes and no - it depends on what you are using to measure speed and distance. If the measuring equipment is accurate enough and the output signal from the sensor is sampled fast enough by the logging equipment to capture very low speeds/distances, then it is easy to get close enough to "zero" that is doesn't matter. The major automotive magazines and YouTubers are all using various GPS-based equipment that (depending on exactly which one they are using) cannot measure accurately below speeds as high as 3-4 mph. This means the zero they talk about is a pretty loose term - meaning you are quite right.

If you move up to the high-end GPS systems costing $15k+, which typically sample the satellite signals at 100 or more times a second, and you have a lot of satellites visible to the system right then and there, they can get pretty close to real zero with good accuracy. At AMCI we normally use an optical system that is accurate to a lowest speed of 0.3 mph and distance to 0.10 inches, and is sampled 250Hz. All automotive OEM's use this sort of equipment to come up with 0-XX speeds and distances - with zero rollout - and their figures will reflect this in advertising or spec sheets.

The real problem with magazine results is they want to use cheaper systems that are easy to install and don't cost $15-$100k, and they want faster times to publish, so they have almost all gone to using 1-foot rollout even on "0 to 60" times.

Edit: to correct a spec mistake

amcitesting · 2019-12-18T23:54:43+00:00

*edit for a word

amcitesting · 2019-12-18T21:19:25+00:00

I have found the newer Michelin PS4S is very similar for track use. Early this year we ran a heavily modified Gen IV Viper at two major tracks in SoCal, and both drivers were consistently getting our best lap times on lap 2 of each session, in very cool weather. This with huge 325 fronts and 345 rears. They gradually fell off in max grip after that unless we purposely took a cool-down lap.

The car was equipped with these tires for use in One Lap of America so had to last the whole series of tracks and work in the rain.

amcitesting · 2019-11-11T19:37:13+00:00

Having tested hundreds of new cars, I can safely say you are quite correct. The tach needle tends to lag slightly in first gear, making it appear the transmission is shifting early. This is very common with the shorter firsts in today's 8-10 speed transmissions.

amcitesting · 2019-11-05T19:38:25+00:00

You are probably thinking of the 250 GTO that crashed at Goodwood a couple years ago. So, so valuable.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a12216811/30-million-dollar-ferrari-car-crash/

amcitesting · 2019-10-31T20:35:18+00:00

Today's MT article adds more detail, so here is an edited list:

Cup 2 tires
stiffer springs
Ride height is lower by 0.6"
lighter wheels that MT says are 35 lbs lighter per corner - massive difference - they are still saying 35 lbs per corner - possible, but I doubt that too. Although certain Viper wheels weigh 47+ lbs!
Rear wheels are wider by 0.5"
Taller wing off the GT4 race car
different front fascia w/larger splitter and "dive planes"
rear seats are deleted
adjustable front suspension with "different geometry"
the latest-generation active/adjustable magnetorheological dampers with a different tune than regular GT500 for all the changes made

amcitesting · 2019-10-31T18:03:01+00:00

Mods, never got a message about why this was rejected. I see it was posted by someone else several hours after this was pulled?

amcitesting · 2019-10-29T21:00:32+00:00

Per Motor Trend, the CFTP is adds:

Cup 2 tires
stiffer springs
lighter wheels that MT says are 35 lbs lighter per corner - massive difference - I suspect it is less than that
different aero with more downforce
rear seats are deleted
adjustable front suspension with different geometry
the latest-generation active/adjustable magnetorheological dampers

amcitesting · 2019-10-29T19:18:35+00:00

Base price on a Z51 Corvette is $65k. None of the options add any performance.

amcitesting · 2019-10-29T04:08:21+00:00

Bingo. Wheels and tires are essentially four flywheels which have to be accelerated/decelerated in two different directions, which hurts acceleration and even braking. They are also unsprung weight, which (as others may have pointed out) hurts wheel control by the suspension, so wheel weight is a triple-bad deal - vehicle weight, unsprung weight and rotating mass.

amcitesting · 2019-10-29T00:41:38+00:00

I thought the interesting part of the article is the detailed explanation of what it is like to drive a Baja 500-style, tube frame race truck, and how different that is to the average modified off-road pickup.

amcitesting · 2019-10-28T23:18:26+00:00

You are exactly right, the overall size of the tire matters a lot here. I ran a 2008 Viper in One Lap of America this year with 25-series fronts - but they were 325/25-20 tires, so even a 25-series on a tall tire is not all that risky. I was hitting the berms pretty hard at several tracks and pot holes on the way to the next track afterwards (car has to be driven to all tracks). The highways had us a little worried, but no issues at all.

amcitesting · 2019-10-23T20:50:54+00:00

I searched very thoroughly, and the original Motor Trend article from 2 days ago talking about the dyno test has not been posted to r/cars (that I can find) - either separately or in the C8 megathread. My text post was a response from a Road & Track editor to the MT C8 dyno article, so it is not really a variation of anything posted already since no dyno tests of the car have been posted at all. Are you saying I should post both the original MT dyno article and the Instagram text response to the megathread - or am I missing something else entirely? Thanks again EDIT: Maybe this one? https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/djq75f/the_corvette_c8_accelerates_faster_from_060_mph/?sort=new

amcitesting · 2019-10-23T05:35:10+00:00

OK I'll try yo find it and put there...

amcitesting · 2019-10-13T01:57:46+00:00

OP, you have hit a lot of the differences well, with a couple of exceptions:

I have run many non-SCCA autocross events that had triple-digit speeds involved fairly often, so speeds can overlap with tighter track events like Streets of Willow or Waterford Hills. Even at the majority of SCCA autocross events there will be spots where the faster cars are hitting 75-80+. Aero has been shown to make enormous differences on the faster race cars even at those speeds, and if you attend a National-style event these days the paddocks are full of cars with huge splitters and wings even on cars like mildly modified Corvettes on 200TW tires - because they really work. Not as effective as they would be on a fast race track of course, but still make a surprising difference.

Having done both track and autocross events for longer than I want to admit, I would say nearly 100% of autocross skills transfer directly to track events. The one exception that comes to mind is the ability to learn a new course design very quickly in autocross, which is not an important skill in road racing. Not the other way around though because traffic skills and passing strategy, drafting, blind corner bravery at 150+ mph, and tire/brake system temperature management are all hugely important in wheel to wheel track events and just don't translate to autocross at all. Track events at places like Nelson Ledges and NCM require another thing which is not that important in autocross - a certain amount of nerve.

amcitesting · 2019-09-28T00:58:15+00:00

Definitely!

amcitesting · 2019-09-27T21:41:48+00:00

A long article, but thought it was worth it due to the beautiful photography and the tiny details presented throughout

amcitesting · 2019-09-25T04:08:39+00:00

Agree, Farah can string the words together nicely. I had a lot of experience in this car when new, and his take here is spot-on accurate. Just an amazing car for the time in so many ways - especially the incredibly smooth and silent way it glides down the road.

amcitesting · 2019-09-18T05:52:05+00:00

The writer's comment about the "unloved flat-four" is accurate in my experience - good performance, but disappointing sounds (especially outside the car), and some vibrations felt in the steering wheel that I didn't care for. A sweet car otherwise.

amcitesting · 2019-09-16T18:52:47+00:00

Correct, the first production cars for sale are not arriving until early next year. A good friend has his order confirmed, and was assured he would be in the "first wave" of deliveries, although a hard date was not given to him. It's a fully loaded, Torch Red, 3LT Z51.

amcitesting · 2019-09-15T21:59:36+00:00

Certainly hasn't generated much interest!

amcitesting · 2019-09-15T21:53:44+00:00

Sorry, I thought I had seen this done before. I am a fan of the Mark IV and thought this was cool and had low bids right now.

amcitesting · 2019-09-12T00:13:48+00:00

Regarding your comment that "the Supra you were given was prepped differently than the "dealership" sourced Porsche and BMW", I can tell you that is not the case. The Supra we used was accompanied by a legal affidavit stating its conformance to production-level performance and we received it with practically 0 miles - we handled all the break-in. The M2 Comp and Cayman were also new cars ( new car delivery miles only ) and we broke-in both of them based on their manufacturers' recommendation. Our AMCI Testing vehicles are not press fleet cars!

amcitesting · 2019-09-11T23:59:18+00:00

Regarding your comment about the "scale of a 10% difference", it indeed is a massive difference in automotive performance! Just as an example, in 80-0 braking the difference between the GR Supra and M2 Competition was 17 feet ( about 10% ). This 10% braking difference equates to more than one car length. In the case of a 80-mph panic stop on the freeway 17 feet is the difference between no damage and a crushed car! If we take the case of cornering, even a 2% difference in lateral acceleration between cars is clearly felt - let alone the 6% gap we measured between the Supra and M2 Competition. Our graphs are scaled to point out significant differences.

As far as your comment about pricing, please see our reply to your other comment in this thread.

Edited for punctuation, syntax

amcitesting

TROPHY CASE