Why do some cars accelerate from 0-60 faster than from 5-60? Shouldn’t the rolling start always be faster as both cars are in the same gear?
In: Engineering
When you do the 0 – 60 you rev the engine to the RPM where it produces the most power and then dump the clutch. This is very hard on the car, but produces the fastest acceleration. The complaint against this is that it’s not how people drive, so 0 – 60 times don’t represent how a car feels when you drive it.
For 5 – 60, the engine will already be in gear and at very low rpm. So this tests the engine’s power across the entire rpm rage. This is more what you will experience when you need to accelerate onto an onramp.
AWD cars, like Subaru STI, get much better times for 0 – 60 since the AWD helps the car accelerate without wheel spin.
5-60 would be the test you want also if competing against an electric car. Electric motors have maximum torque between 0 and 1 RPM. All internal combustion engines are extremely weak at very low RPM so an electric will leap way out off the line.
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