Why is this? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

imbest123 · 01-30-2006, 06:03 PM

Ok so i decided to put this in the camry section because there are more people here than anywhere plus im a camry owner =D. so i drove my friends 97 m3 today and wow... fastest car ive ever driven. what i dont understand is lets say a camry has 240hp and 236lb torque and weighs around 3100. would it be as fast as the m3 since it has identical specs or would it still be slower? my friend is telling me it will be slower without giving a reason and i believe him to be honest but i want to know why or if that is even right.

white3ch0c0late · 01-30-2006, 06:17 PM

The M3 is a 6-speed, first of all. Camry is only 5-speed, and sometimes 4-speed. 2nd, a Camry doesn't have 240hp. The 3.3L's have 225, and the new ones will have 268. 3rd, the M3 is an i6, not a v6. And lastly, the M3 is RWD, while the Camry is FWD.

imbest123 · 01-30-2006, 06:26 PM

well i knew about all that but im stating a hypothetical situation. lets just assume the camry did have those specs and was rwd but v6 instead of i6. would it still be a lot slower? oh his m3 is 5 speed.

white3ch0c0late · 01-30-2006, 06:30 PM

Well then it would come down to dynamics... things like design of the car as it stands up against air resistance, weight of the wheels, engine design and engine dynamics, what kind of gas you're using, what kind of oil you're using, and the like.

imbest123 · 01-30-2006, 06:33 PM

oh ok. i was thinking that but i wasnt sure so i asked. i didnt know that the weight of the wheels affected the speed. makes sense but i never thought of that. thanks!

Donald · 01-30-2006, 06:51 PM

The factors that usually prevail in accelleration performance comparisons is power to weight ratio, torque to weight ratio, how wide the torque range is accross the power band, and the matching of the gear ratios to all of this.

When you get to high speeds, horse power and aerodynamics start to take over, and ofcourse, gearing.

Cyorke · 01-30-2006, 07:07 PM

Gearing and aero are the biggest factors when it comes to top speed. Gearing is probably the biggest factor when it comes to 0-60 with HP and torque being eqaul between two cars.

a car with 500 HP but very low gearing and shitty aero will not necesarily be able to have a higher top speed than a car with 200 HP, high gearing and good aero. Look at some ofthe cars that have set land speed record and they do not always have high HP numbers but they have almost no aero drag. Also most of them have to be pushed to a certain speed before they can even move under their own power.