How fast can a "slow" car go?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bindidot
  • 75 comments
  • 5,457 views
B

bindidot

Messages
60
We have all heard about the Skylines that do 1/4 mile in a nanosecond and Escudo's that go 31 trillion MPH, but I thought it might be interesting to see what some folk here can get the "slow" cars to do.

By playing with the gears I got the '49 beetle to go 13.61 in the 1/4 mile (400m), and yet another gear adjustment was rewarded with a 140.1 MPH top end. This would be a very respectable street car indeed. I wasnt very diligent about trying to eek out a tad better time and top end so I'm sure these figures can be beaten, at least slightly anyway.

Naturally the Beetle had every "go fast" trick I could get including a 50 shot of nitrous. I'd be interested to see what others can get their "slow cars" to do, anything from Model T's to Fiat 500's to 2CV's and even James' blindingly fast Daimler 1886 motor carriage need apply.

Bindidot

*****************************************************************
Below is a continously updated list of all cars tested and reported in this thread. Nothing fancy, nothing official....just a bit of fun to see how quick we can get the so called "slow" cars to go. Feel free to submit your results, no proof is needed as this isnt a contest, but please keep the results true. In this list, its the SLOWEST cars that make it to the top. :) Thanks.

All speeds in MPH

1886 Daimler Motor Carriage
top Speed: 12
tested by: Drifter5

1886 Daimler Motor Carriage
top speed: 67 (downhill)
tested by: Onedarkhorse

1915 Ford Model T Tourer
top speed: 20
tested by: 04Nissan350Z

1915 Ford Model T Tourer
top speed: 57 (Downhill)
tested by: route_66

1915 Ford Model T Tourer
top speed: 61 (Downhill Midfield Raceway)
tested by: Chris Criswell

1963 Daihatsu Midget
top speed: 84
1/4 mi: 18.214
tested by: bindidot

Citroen 2CV
top speed: 117
1/4 mi: 17.0
tested by: Markc123

Citroen 2CV
top speed: 113
1/4 mi: 5:11.362
tested by: bindidot

1958 Subaru 360
top speed: 120.93
1/4 mi: 16.186
tested by: bindidot

1962 Mazda Carol
top speed: 134.22
tested by: superbad

Honda Life Step Van
top speed: 138
1/4 mi: 16.871
tested by: enuttage

1970 Honda Z ACT
top speed: 142.70
tested by: superbad

1949 Beetle
top speed: 147.7
tested by: mbavaria30s

1949 Beetle
top speed: 140.1
1/4 mi: 13.61
tested by: bindidot

Fiat 500R
top speed: 160
tested by: del sol man

Honda N360
top speed: 160
tested by: Teampots

Volvo 240 Estate
1/4 mi: 13.8
tested by: route_66

Honda Today
top speed: 162
tested by: deimos

Volvo 240 Estate
top speed: 176
1/4 mi: 14.301
tested by: bindidot

1969 Nissan Bluebird 1600
top speed: 179.98
tested by: superbad

Toyota Sport 800
top speed: 180.1
tested by: HID45

Honda Beat
top speed: 182
1/4 mi: 13.785
tested by: enuttage

1978 Honda Civic
top speed: 191.47
1/4 mi: 14.30
tested by: bindidot

1979 Autobianchi Abarth
top speed: 195
tested by: Small_Fryz

Peugeot 106
top speed: 196.70
tested by: bindidot

1979 Nissan Bluebird
top speed: 203
1/4 mi:12.106
tested by: deimos

1976 VW Golf GTI
top speed: 203
tested by: bindidot

Citroen C3
top speed: 210
1/4 mi: 13.972
tested by: deimos

1974 Triumph Spitfire
top speed: 215.71
tested by: bindidot

1973 BMW 2002
top speed: 217
tested by: mbavaria30s

Ginetta G4
1/4 mi: 10.5
tested by: Wildhalcyon

*****************************************************************
 
bindidot
We have all heard about the Skylines that do 1/4 mile in a nanosecond and Escudo's that go 31 trillion MPH, but I thought it might be interesting to see what some folk here can get the "slow" cars to do.

By playing with the gears I got the '49 beetle to go 13.61 in the 1/4 mile (400m), and yet another gear adjustment was rewarded with a 140.1 MPH top end. This would be a very respectable street car indeed. I wasnt very diligent about trying to eek out a tad better time and top end so I'm sure these figures can be beaten, at least slightly anyway.

Naturally the Beetle had every "go fast" trick I could get including a 50 shot of nitrous. I'd be interested to see what others can get their "slow cars" to do, anything from Model T's to Fiat 500's to 2CV's and even James' blindingly fast Daimler 1886 motor carriage need apply.

Bindidot
Click to expand...

The Model T and Motor Carriage don't have any upgrades though, so they can't go fast. :dopey:

How much horsepower can that Beetle have?
 
my red fiat panda with falken wheels (the second ones) is fully modded with 154 bhp 100 shot of NOS , its slammed 40 mill , and 4.0 degrees of negative camber up front tyres are RH/RSS (for even wear) gearing at auto 17 and driving aids at 0/20/1 (yes 0/20/1) i love taking it into family cups set at around +7 or +8 and destroying cars like aston matrin db9's,m5's,jag e types,m3 csl's and gtr's, pretty much any so called driving machines with 4 or 500 bhp

try it its good a-spec points at about 170 and its a good close race (dont expect to out drag them at the lights though its all breaking, cornering and nitrous on straights.
 
my motor carriage goes up to 12mph and getting up hill is hard. especially when u get up half way and then the carraige stops and u have to start all over again.
 
Ebiggs
The Model T and Motor Carriage don't have any upgrades though, so they can't go fast. :dopey:

How much horsepower can that Beetle have?
Click to expand...

The Beetle has a staggering 81 HP, plus whatever the nitrous gives it....not sure if there is a formula for determining HP after nitrous.


I was aware you couldnt juice up the Motor Carriage, but the Model T as well eh? Shame in a way.
 
bindidot
The Beetle has a staggering 81 HP, plus whatever the nitrous gives it....not sure if there is a formula for determining HP after nitrous
Click to expand...


the numbers on the adjustment scale in the setup screen for the nitrous are bhp at flyweel so if its set at 50 thats 50 bhp at flywheel 100=100bhp and so on.
 
bubba blackmeat
the numbers on the adjustment scale in the setup screen for the nitrous are bhp at flyweel so if its set at 50 thats 50 bhp at flywheel 100=100bhp and so on.
Click to expand...

Oh OK, so with my NOS set at 100, thats giving me a grand total of 181 HP. The performance still seems too good for only 181 HP, but then again that kind of HP goes a long way with the Beetle tipping the scales at a mere 655 KG.
 
bubba blackmeat
my red fiat panda with falken wheels (the second ones) is fully modded with 154 bhp 100 shot of NOS , its slammed 40 mill , and 4.0 degrees of negative camber up front tyres are RH/RSS (for even wear) gearing at auto 17 and driving aids at 0/20/1 (yes 0/20/1) i love taking it into family cups set at around +7 or +8 and destroying cars like aston matrin db9's,m5's,jag e types,m3 csl's and gtr's, pretty much any so called driving machines with 4 or 500 bhp

try it its good a-spec points at about 170 and its a good close race (dont expect to out drag them at the lights though its all breaking, cornering and nitrous on straights.
Click to expand...

:crazy: sounds incredidble. I generally don't tune my cars that much though although i did do as much as possible to my Karmann ghia and won the classic car cup in pro hall with it - beating a 300SL
 
911_gt3_rs
:crazy: sounds incredidble. I generally don't tune my cars that much though although i did do as much as possible to my Karmann ghia and won the classic car cup in pro hall with it - beating a 300SL
Click to expand...

I'd be interested to see what the Karmann Ghia is capable of in the top end and the 400M.

I just tried to see what the 2CV could do, but unfortunatly I cant get it to do much from a standing start so 1/4 mile (400M) took an incredible 5:11.362 to achieve but once it gets going I managed to get it to 113 MPH, thats with 5th gear as low as it can be set and the nitrous blasting the whole way. After tuning it has 151 HP with the nitrous, 51 HP without.

If anyone else has a "tuned to the max" slow car, it would be fun to see what you can get it to do in both the 400M and top speed. I think I'll try either the Volvo 240 Estate or the Peugeot 104 next and shall post results here.
 
bubba blackmeat
the numbers on the adjustment scale in the setup screen for the nitrous are bhp at flyweel so if its set at 50 thats 50 bhp at flywheel 100=100bhp and so on.
Click to expand...

Really , I Always believed it was, to determine between the length and power of shot,

so 50 mean even between power and length of use, and 100 would mean, really short shot but extremley powerful
 
Volvo 240 Estate

271 HP + 70 w/nitrous

Best 1/4 mile: 14.301

Best top end 176.0 MPH!...surprising.

A little disappointing 1/4 mile considering the incredible top end from this "little" beast. Again, playing with the gearing a little for both runs.
 
Just did the '78 Civic. Amazing for what started out life as an econo-box, I managed a 14.30 1/4 mile and rediculous 191.47 top speed! IRL this little wonder would give a stock new Corvette a good run in acceleration and walk away from it in the top end. :cheers:
 
tm2003
Really , I Always believed it was, to determine between the length and power of shot,

so 50 mean even between power and length of use, and 100 would mean, really short shot but extremley powerful
Click to expand...

thats right as the bottle is only a given size, for arguement sake lets say its a 10lb bottle and you put 50 shot nozzles on it it'll last longer than with 100 shot nozzles

imagine 2 new cigarette lighters that have flame adjusters 1 all the way to -- and the other at all the way at + and you lit them till they ran out of gas which do you think will empty first
 
bindidot ........ always remember this simple rule. weight has nothing to do with top speed only accelaration....... imagine 2 identical cars but one is 500kg heavier it is just as fast topend as the other car, it'll just take longer to get there. it's drag in the passing air that affects top speed.
 
I too have tuned that Volvo Estate - Black rims, Spoiler, Nitrous, Suspension, everything

271bhp is the best it can do - but with the nitrous and a lot of gear tweaks i've got 13.8 for the 400m and then done 7'58.8 around the ring - that's faster than my V8 Vantage!!?

It also looks like a ricer's nightmare..........in dark blue it even looks like it has a silver "go-faster" stripe down the side.

Fantastic little car....err...enormous fat brick on wheels!
 
I haven't checked the other things, but I do know that with a lot of settings tinkering, full modifications, NOS...My '79 Nissan Bluebird SSS Hardtop makes it to 196mph or thereabouts. I was going for 200, if I'd made that I's have had a writeup on it. It's somewhere around 950kg with 215bhp/ish. I was surprised - it really is quite an excellent car, especially on fat racing tyres, I absolutely blew away a brand new Honda NSX-R down the main straight at Nurburgring, travelling way over 160mph - no feeling is better! I seriously suggest you try this car.

Deimos.
 
hmmm... it seems like alot of us have too darned much time on our hands...

personally, im just re-buying all my favourite cars in black (well, the ones that come in that colour)... and racing to get the black versions of the ones you cant buy...
 
Oddball_E8
hmmm... it seems like alot of us have too darned much time on our hands...

personally, im just re-buying all my favourite cars in black (well, the ones that come in that colour)... and racing to get the black versions of the ones you cant buy...
Click to expand...

Good plan. I tried doing that too, but too many off my favourites don't come in black! No Astons No Callaway No M3 GTR boooooo.

On Topic - Just got the Model T up to 57mph rolling downhill at the ring.......on the way to a mighty 16'21 lap. floor it....redline....into second....redline.....oh.

It also seems very easy to spin the model T for some reason (at 20mph!) think I'm going to have some fun trying to 360 it.................
 
First of all, deimos, excellent work with the '79 Bluebird. 👍 I really hope you can hit the magic 200 MPH mark. Thats one "slow car" I totally overlooked, I'll definatly give it a go.

bubba, you have a good point there in relation to the reduction of weight and its effects of top speed. I still do a full weight reduction however, the reason for this is to get the benefit for the acceleration test. In a way its even a bonus for the top speed test in that it gets me up there faster, although like you said, it has no ultimate impact on a cars top end in the long run.
 
Alright! I've done it! Seeing as I talked about it first in this thread, I'll talk about it last here too (did that make sense?).

Well, when I made the post last night, the idea of drafting popped into my head. The car could force it's way through the wind at 196mph - surely it could do 200+ in another car's slipstream.

Firstly I tried racing the Mulsanne straight at max difficulty against Cobras and suchlike. However, it turned out that the Cobra and the R390 were running far too close together for me to get both their slipstreams.

So I moved onto a 'Race Meeting' at the Test Course...

I must leave, I'll edit the rest in next time.

Deimos

Continued: So, much to my surprise and delight the Chevy Silverado concept turns up at the Test Course. This car is easily fast enough to blow by me as I leave the pits, but I should be able to catch it if I use NOS at the right time, and it is a perfect car to draft, due to its size. I didn't think I was going to catch her up at first, but that NOS began to tell, and by the time I reached the Silverado's slipstream, I was already storming towards it far too quickly. However with a bit of a swerve and a wobble I just about managed to dip into it's slipstream and achieve what is quite an astonishing 203mph before losing NOS and slowing down to 150ish. I honestly thought I was going to lose control when I tried to overtake that chevy, the back end of the car seems quite loose at ultra-high speed, which I suppose is somewhat unsurprising considering this car's age, but not all bad, it adds a bit of challenge.

If anyone wants to see a replay of this, and has an xport, I'd be more than willing to send it if I can remember how to use my xport - just PM me. Oh and please don't flame me for the large alloy rims - ricey spoiler, I thought this car would be a joke, but it's great.

Deimos
 
deimos
Alright! I've done it! Seeing as I talked about it first in this thread, I'll talk about it last here too (did that make sense?).

Well, when I made the post last night, the idea of drafting popped into my head. The car could force it's way through the wind at 196mph - surely it could do 200+ in another car's slipstream.

Firstly I tried racing the Mulsanne straight at max difficulty against Cobras and suchlike. However, it turned out that the Cobra and the R390 were running far too close together for me to get both their slipstreams.

So I moved onto a 'Race Meeting' at the Test Course...

I must leave, I'll edit the rest in next time.

Deimos
Click to expand...

Keep it up Deimos, 200+ in that car is amazing. There's something about getting basic cars to perform like cars we idolise. Almost a game within itself. When you think about it, it takes either a mega-priced super car or full blown race car to hit 200, yet here's this Bluebird doing it. :lol:
 

Latest Posts

Back