F40: 0-60 in 3.2 seconds?

0-60 times are probably the worst measure of a performance car. The numbers you read in magazine tests are always adjusted to compensate for atmospheric pressure, weather condions like wind and temperature, gradients and anything else that could be construed as not being "optimum conditions".
It's quite possible that an F40 recorded a "raw" unadjusted time of 3.2 seconds given the conditions it was tested under. The bottom line is that if a Maclaren was tested side by side with the F40 at the same time, the Maclaren would probably have been quicker, simply because the maclarenpackage (weight, balance, HP, torque etc) is better than an F40.

I believe that the best measure of a performance car is lap times and I wish that magazines would use that criterion as the major performance indicator, especially in multi-car tests, where it appears that the subjective elements like "fun to drive" carry as much weight as 70-0 braking distances.

 

I was wondering what you guys feal are excepted 0-60 times, not adjusted. I also though the F40 was 3.8. And R&T had the F50 at 3.6 ,Enzo at 3.3, and the Mclaren at 3.4, are these number right??? I don't think 0-60 is very relevent now a days, epcecially with these super cars that are all so close, maybe 0-80 or 0-100, and also 3/8 or 1/2 rahter than 1/4 times....what do you guys think about all this???

 

Seems like every 0-60 time is different somewhere else. The F40 does have turbos so its probably faster then the F50 but im not 100% sure.

 

When you mean faster, are talking about 0-60 mph?
If so ...the F40 is not faster because the F40 has turbo lag (time between you hitting the throttle and the turbo providing full boost). Like Jeremy Clarkson said in the Enzo episode, any proper supercar could keep up when its launching but after that its gone. So as for 0-60 mph times, the best I'v seen for the F40 is in 3.8 sec. (3.7 sec maybe once?) 3.2 sec I don't know where they've found that info.
Here's some numbers of the F40 and F50 from Road & Track.
F40:
0-60: 3.8 sec
0-100: 8.0 sec
1/4 mile: 11.8 sec @124.5 mph

F50:
0-60: 3.6 sec
0-100: 8.0 sec
1/4 mile: 12.1 @ 124.5 mph

In conclusion, the F50 is faster at launches but the F40 would catch it right away. If you're are doing a 0-200 mph test I think the F40 would win.

Now if you're saying who is the fastest on the track...
The F50 is ..(better brakes, more downforce, better chassis, more power, better suspensions)

 

Yes those R&T numbers are right.
I don't know what to believe in the 0-60 mph times. You know that the Enzo has already done 0-60 in 3.14 sec in 2 magazines. (Autoweek, Motor Trend)
But people don't talk about it.
What I don't understand is the difference between Europe and North America testing numbers.
Example, for a F40 test in Europe , I saw many journalists only acheiving 0-60 in 4.5 sec and here we have 3.8 sec. F40 US spec is faster than Euro spec?

 

0-60 is the dumbest meaure of performance in the world

 

No, I didn't mean faster 0-60mph. I knew that it takes some higher RPM's for the turbo's to kick in but I liked the way you explained it. Thanks..

Does anyone know how they calculate the 0-60 times for lets just say ... Road & Track. I mean humans DO make mistakes and are not going to be perfect (specially driving a stick). Do they repeat the test about 20 times, and then just take the fastest one? I have always wondered about that. Thanks in advance.

 

I cartainly believe that 0-60 times are completely irrelevant, except of course for keeping people employed to carry out the timing!

Of more importance to me is how mid range acceleration, say from 70mph to 130mph. And braking again from 130 down to 70mph. If you are on the track these are the type of figures you should be interested in.

That said. There's nothing like give it full death at the traffic lights every now and then!!

 

The biggest diffrence between euro and US is that we in europe mesure 0-100km/h=0-62mph, that extra 2mph is alot in some cars becuse it's only possible i 3rd gear.
So to get those 2 extra mph you need to change gear.

 

If the turbo lag was taken out of the question like a rolling start of like 20 mph to 80, 100, 120, or 150 who would be faster???? My guess would be the F40 vs the F50. I'm not a big turbo fan, but dam I wish I had an F40, time to start saving lol, maybe a F430 or CS first though. sigh.....I can dream.

 

In most normal cars it might be 3rd gear, but in most of the cars discussed here, 60mph is the threshhold of 1st and 2nd! Nonetheless, a differance that can change the test numbers...