My definition of a fast car is one that does the quarter mile in 13.9 seconds or faster. We don't care that much, because on the street, the time you need a fast car the most is when you're passing slow drivers on two lane highways. Plus, a fast car isn't always a good car.
If I can jump off the line and beat the average ricer street racer out of the traffic light in something that looks like an old man E36 M3box commuter, I am usually content.
Destroying Mustangs in my MINI is quite nice. Making them look stupid in a Yugo was better.
12 second 1/4 mile is fast.
5 second 0-60 is quick.
Fast? Whatever is beating me is fast. Whatever I'm driving is slow. Whatever I'm beating is probably also fast, I'm just that good. 
Here's another thing: "Fast" and "Fun to drive" don't always come hand in hand. This is where the "slow car fast" thing comes into play sometimes.
Last year, I did some brake work to a friend's 1990 Honda Civic DX sedan with an automatic. It felt like a little go-kart with a roof, and I had fun driving it around my usual test loop bedding in the brakes. Going 35mph in that car felt like going 85mph in my Mazda. When I took it up to 55mph to diagnose a shimmy, man, I felt like I was traveling at warp speed! When she sold the thing, I almost bought it because it was that much fun.
The same goes for the old Dodge GLH Turbo. I got a ride in my buddy's car back when it was all stock, and it was even more impressive. The feel of imminent danger was all around us as we hurdled down a backwoods NH road near his house. I felt like I was in a tin can with seats! That car has a modded T2 setup now, and is even faster than that. Even though it's not quite comparatively fast to say... a new V6 Camry, it FEELS a lot more dangerous and gives you funny feelings when you are riding around in it.
I tend to think of speed in qualitative terms.
This thing is terrifying and actively trying to kill me no matter how gentle I am with it=fast
If provoked this thing will try to kill me=quick
No amount of wailing on it within reason will produce a dangerous reaction=slow
Kenny_McCormic wrote: I tend to think of speed in qualitative terms. This thing is terrifying and actively trying to kill me no matter how gentle I am with it=fast If provoked this thing will try to kill me=quick No amount of wailing on it within reason will produce a dangerous reaction=slow
I'm on board with this one- usually people who talk about "fast" mean the speed with which it will turn your pants brown, not the speed it's actually capable of.
SilverFleet wrote: Here's another thing: "Fast" and "Fun to drive" don't always come hand in hand. This is where the "slow car fast" thing comes into play sometimes. Last year, I did some brake work to a friend's 1990 Honda Civic DX sedan with an automatic. It felt like a little go-kart with a roof, and I had fun driving it around my usual test loop bedding in the brakes. Going 35mph in that car felt like going 85mph in my Mazda. When I took it up to 55mph to diagnose a shimmy, man, I felt like I was traveling at warp speed! When she sold the thing, I almost bought it because it was that much fun. The same goes for the old Dodge GLH Turbo. I got a ride in my buddy's car back when it was all stock, and it was even more impressive. The feel of imminent danger was all around us as we hurdled down a backwoods NH road near his house. I felt like I was in a tin can with seats! That car has a modded T2 setup now, and is even faster than that. Even though it's not quite comparatively fast to say... a new V6 Camry, it FEELS a lot more dangerous and gives you funny feelings when you are riding around in it.
The most terrifying car i've ever been in was a 1st gen Neon ACR.
It was fast. LEGITIMATELY fast. (Trapped 155mph-ish in the 1/4 mile.)
But it felt even faster than that because well... it was a damn E36 M3box Neon. Completely horrifying as the boost ramped up in 4th gear.
This thing, but a year or so later i think.
http://youtu.be/wgcNo2W9Qpk
It has certainly changed. Back in the late 80s when I was driving an 85 Accord with 88hp, cars like 5.0 Mustangs and turbo Dodges felt incredibly fast to me. I could never imagine getting used to that kind of power. Later, in the 90s when I had cars like that, the first thing I did was modify them to make them faster. Now my wife's 7-passenger kid hauler is about as fast as those cars were, and my truck is faster.
My GTO (mid-13s) still feels fast to me, I think anything in the 13s is still pretty quick. But things like less sound deadening, a smaller car, and a manual transmission all make a car feel faster. A good exhaust note helps, too. I personally think anything quicker than 12.99 is becoming just silly for a street car, you can barely touch the throttle without getting into superlegal and borderline dangerous speeds.
For a race or track car, I agree with Mark Donahue. 
410 Sprint Car
I know most of my cars have maybe felt fast for a while, then you'd swear something was wrong with them...until you drive a slower car and get back in them. My MR2 turbo was a lot like that, my 370 is that way now. Funny, my 370 has a 0-60 in around 5 seconds, that used to be major, major fast, supercar territory. Now it barely gets you in the game. I mean a 930 turbo was similar and was scary fast. Now if you can't do a 4 or sub 4 second to 60, you're not going to do well in the fast car game.
My definition of fast though is relative. It really depends on the car and how you feel driving it. I'm not sure we weren't better off thinking the SER was fast. It some ways, it sure was a lot more fun flogging around in small cars with small tires and 100 to 150hp.
Grizz wrote:Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Fast is when your hootus smells like tuna on the first date.I don't know what tuna smells like, but why does your hootus smell like him? Does he have an opinion on this?
GPS, keep your hootus away from me.
My definition of Fast is relative to cost, weight, intended use, etc.
We have 20XX Challenge cars running 10's for roughly $2k, that's fast. So if it's a $100k sports car it had better be able to beat all of the challenge cars or it is slow.
Local to me, the VW Bug that races street bikes and gives them first move(from a stop or roll) is fast,wheelying past bikes in the triple digits in a bug is scary fast. The turbo C5 FRC that runs from a roll and will break 200mph(it's fast, in a straight line)
I prefer road racing, so to me a production based car on DOT tires that can turn 2:teens around Sebring for less than $100k is fast.
Like I said, to me it's all relative
Go about 2/3 through first, shift into second and roll on the throttle. If the tires spin up and continue to fail to find grip until you're exceeding the speed limit, it's fast enough for me. More than one way to achieve this, but all of them end up exciting.
For me, fast is 0-60 in the 4's, 1/4 mile in 12 seconds or less. Quick is a 13 second 1/4 and 5 second 0-60.
Granted I've been spoiled with 400-500hp cars now for awhile...
I don't believe that "fast" exists, other than on paper...There is only "faster" for competition, and "fast feeling" for everything else.
physicist rant/
Fast is how much distance something can cover in a given amount of time
Quick is how much acceleration something can achieve
/physicists rant
"fast" is any vehicle in the second order std of deviation to the right of the bell when compared to the average of all condenders. 
It's all relative.
My DD is a 6500# E150 with a 4.2 V6. Just about everything is fast after driving that. 0-60 is today if you push it. 
The kink at CMP, is a white knucked event, in a Civic at 100 mph. In a Corvette, not so much. In a F1 car it would be boring.
In my work van it would be a spectacular crash and it will only run 87.
0 to 320mph in about 4 sec. Yeah, that's fast.
Fast? Acceleration or deceleration? As an old chopper jockey in passenger mode, the fastest of each were experienced the same day in the same vehicle.
Fast acceleration was a Phantom II coming off a catapault. Fast deceleration was the same plane stopping with the tail hook. However I agree with Keith Tanner, even a Phantom II probably starts to get boring after the 1st time out.
I measure fast by 0-60 times. And some of you are spoiled. My first four cars were 56 VW, 61 VW, 64 olds F-85 V6 and 72 Vega. The fastest (or for Tuna, the quickest) was the Olds at around 11.5 secs 0-60. I now tool around in a 1964 1147cc Spitfire. To me < 7 secs is loverly. I was once very surprised at how fast the old lady's V6 Solara will go if you really push down on the throttle.
I recently drove a 1981 Plymouth Champ (80hp) from the Midwest all the way home to Florida. Once home I jumped into my 1982 Ford Truck (5 liter straight six) and was amazed at how quick it was.
My truck is not fast......at all ---- but after using 90% of the Champ's potential just to keep up with traffic for 2,400 miles, the old Ford felt like a rocket ship!
It's all relative----- if you think your daily is too slow---- buy a cheap beater from the 80s, when you get back in your regular car--- it will feel amazing!
I haven't measured 0-60 times in my DD. I expect it's not stellar, but i can make the speed show 60mph in about 1.5 seconds from time of launch.
Feeling "fast" may be subjective.
Top speed is not.
0-60 doesn't measure how fast something is, it measures how quick it is.
If you want to feel what fast is, do north of 160 on a bike...on the street. It will give you a new look at life.
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