Is there such a thing as too much (horse) power?

 

Lucid Air Sapphire, 1,234 hp, 0-60 in 1.89 seconds, 205 mph top speed

I recently read a review of a new car by a respected writer who said the car was a bit of a slug. I checked a Car and Driver road test of the same car and found its 0-60 time was a tad over eight seconds. Is that too slow?

On the other hand there is the Lucid Air Sapphire that according to Lucid does it in 1.89 seconds (Car and Driver says 2.1). Is that too fast?

I don't think either question has an absolute answer. I mean what is too slow or too fast?

I have often said that sometimes you can have the most fun driving a slow car as fast as possible. Here's a couple of cars to ponder:

I once owned a 1971 Toyota Sprinter like the one in the picture. By no means a "fast" car. Zero to 60 was around 14.0 seconds. It only had around 60 hp from it's little slant OHV four-cylinder. But running that engine through the gears was fun. I never got a speeding ticket driving it, even when I drove it flat out!

A car I fell in love with - twice - was a late '90s Subaru Impressa 2.5 RS coupe. This "not quite a WRX" (it was a non-turbo) was faster than my old Toyota (0-60 in about 8.3 seconds) was a real hoot to drive quickly. It had enough power to be fun, and with its AWD it felt safe. I first drove one at Sears Point during one of the Western Automotive Journalists Media Days. There was a light rain and I wanted to drive something that would make me look like I knew what I was doing. The 2.5 RS coupe was my choice. Later, when I drove one for a week I said that it would be a good car for a young driver - it had the look, enough power, and it was relatively benign. 

I could argue it is the driver, not the car that is the problem. Here is a post from the California Highway Patrol "This evening, the driver of this Mustang passed our Specially Marked Patrol Vehicle as it was entering SR-99. The Mustang was caught on radar at 139 MPH as its driver recklessly passed other motorists. An enforcement stop was conducted and the driver was placed under arrest. Their vehicle, which was allegedly purchased one hour before, was impounded. The CHP will take all measures to remove these reckless drivers from our roadways. They pose a great risk to themselves and everyone they share the roadway with." CHP shares their takedowns of miscreants on social media.

That pretty much sums up a big part of the problem. Way too many cars have way too much power, and that power is often in the hands of idiots.

Yet there is a place for high performance cars; it just isn't on most of our highways and byways. I live in Northern California, and most of the roads I travel on are busy. Regardless there are idiots who speed, weaving in and out of traffic. There will always be idiots unfortunately; maybe someday we will figure out how to keep them off our roads. (Heck we can't even rid our roads of drunks.)

But getting back to the start of this article, other than the ability to enter a highway to smoothly merge (something many folks can't do even with huge horsepower cars), 0-60 times for family vehicles are irrelevant. Does any non-performance car need to accelerate to 60 mph in less than five seconds? No. So why do car reviewers continue to harp on how quick a family sedan is? Beats me. 

Maybe one of the slowest cars available over the past few years is a Mitsubishi Mirage. A 2024 model was tested by Car and Driver. It's 78 hp, 3-cylinder, accelerated the 2,100 lb. car from 0-60 in just under 11 seconds.  

The tortoise slow Mirage would have been a rocket back in the malaise era (roughly 1973 to the mid-1980s). A 1979 Ford Mustang Turbo was timed by Road & Track at 10.4 seconds to 60. And the magazines fawned over the Mustang.

This reminds me of skid pad testing. The big three car magazines used to gush over how many "g's" a test vehicle would pull on a skid pad. It was the be-all and end-all of roadholding. Except it wasn't real world. We do not drive our cars on perfectly flat and clean skid pads. Our roads are crowned, pot-holed, and trashy.

Likewise, for all but the most experienced and qualified, we don't need rocketships for the road. Our roads are not drag strips or race courses. Sir Jackie Stewart was quoted as saying, "I drive five miles per hour slower than the speed limit."

Bragging rights are one thing but let's get real. Outside of a handful of vehicles, there is no need for sub-five second acceleration times.