The ever-present 0-to-60 test has change into a standardized measure of a vehicle’s performance chops amongst industry pros and automobile meet aficionados, but that singular measurement doesn’t paint the total picture of a automobile’s character. On the road and even on the race track it’s more likely that a automobile’s 5-to-60 mile per hour results, or rolling start results, reveal more a few cars real-world performance. In a recent study, Automobile and Driver compared vehicles’ 0-to-60 mph times and 5-to-60 mph times to find out which cars had the least difference between the 2 results, and thus probably the most responsive powertrains, and the reverse.
Despite holding the crown for slowest latest automobile on sale today, the 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage G4 actually accomplished the 5-to-60 mph test a tenth of a second faster than it accomplished the 0-to-60 mph run. The 2018 Honda Odyssey matched the Mirage’s delta, making them the 2 most responsive powertrains that Automobile and Driver has tested. The actual time each automobile took to achieve 60 mph varied greatly, with the Mirage posting a 0-to-60 time of 12.8 seconds and a 5-to-60 time of 12.7 seconds, while the Odyssey posted a 0-to-60 time of 6.7 seconds and a 5-to-60 time of 6.6 seconds.
The cars with the least responsive powertrains will not be the culprits you may expect. The automobile with the least responsive powertrain is the 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman T with a two second difference between its 0-to-60 time of 4.4 seconds and its 5-to-60 time of 6.4 seconds. After that’s the 2020 BMW M235i xDrive Gran Coupe with a 1.8-second delta between its 0-to-60 time of 4.2 seconds and its 5-to-60 time of 6 seconds. Automobile and Driver said,
It’s not a shock that the least responsive powertrains are all turbocharged. The worst performer was the Porsche 718 Cayman T, which packs a high-boost turbo 2.0-liter flat-four engine. The 2020 manual-equipped model we tested did the 60-mph launch in 4.4 seconds but was a full two seconds behind on the 5-to-60-mph run. Other laggy engines included a 2020 BMW M235i xDrive Gran Coupe and a 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Velar P250 SE, each of which had a 1.8 second difference between the 60- and 5-to-60-mph times.
A leisurely response is actually not limited to slow vehicles. A four-door 2021 Ford Bronco Outer Banks needed 8.2 seconds to go from 5-to-60 mph, 1.7 seconds off its 60-mph time. But a 2024 Porsche Cayenne Coupe Turbo GT experienced the identical delta, needing 4.5 seconds on the 5-to-60-mph test versus its ballistic 2.8-second sprint to 60 mph.
Not all turbocharged cars performed poorly within the rolling start runs, though. There have been 10 turbocharged models that had a delta of lower than three tenths of a second between the 2 test results. All the cars that had the smallest delta between the tests were naturally aspirated, though, leading Automobile and Driver to conclude that modern turbocharged engines still don’t provide the identical linear power curve as their naturally aspirated counterparts.
As with the understanding that the burden the world has placed on 0-to-60 times only addresses a singular aspect of a automobile’s performance chops, the 5-to-60 rolling start results also concentrate on a single metric, and doesn’t paint a full picture. Comparing each measurements illustrates an interesting point, but these results don’t tell us much in regards to the vehicles tested except for their performance in these two tests. That said, I’m shocked by the huge huge delta between the Porsche 718 and the Cayenne Coupe Turbo GT. The 718 is about 45 percent slower within the rolling test than the 0-to-60 run, and the Cayenne Coupe Turbo GT is over 60 percent slower within the rolling race. Given Porsche’s pedigree and status, I wasn’t expecting such huge performance gaps, but again, Porsches have at all times been about greater than straight line speed.
This Article First Appeared At jalopnik.com