Are cars too fast?

Question

There seems to be a lot of anti 4X4 opinions about these days, but why are cars being made that can exceed the British speed limit by over 2 times? Where can you use a car that does 200mph or even 150mph? These cars cause as much pollution and are as thirsty as most of the large 4X4's, but you never hear anything said against them. If 4X4's should only be used off road then these cars belong on a race track.

Answer 1

Good point, if you look at the MPG figures for average cars they improved from the 70's to the '80's and have hardly changed in the last 20 years, small cars & diesels have got better, most are stuck around 30 mpg, 4l and up v8 engines struggle to get 20 MPG in mixed driving. It mostly marketing, there seems to be a horsepower war going on, and for many a 300BHP car is twice as good as a 250BHP one, no matter that they are incapable of driving it at anything like it's limits. I think as the oil price grows relative to actual income in the future then people will move back to slower cars, as they did after the oil crisis in the 70's.

Answer 2

The answer is simple and it is this :- if all cars had a top speed of say 70 mph then they would probably only have small engines which would only allow you to gain speed gradually ( 0-60 taking 30 seconds would seem quick ) and driving them would be a chore, imagine queueing at lights and not being able to get enough speed going to get to them before they changed back to red, bear in mind that even a 1000cc engine is capable of speeds exceeding the current speed limit, but it gets a bit rough when going fast in a small engined car . The reason that cars are made that are capable of higher speeds is for refinement at lower speeds, so it's more comfortable to drive at 70 in a 2000cc engined car than a 1000cc engined car . The reason that some people complain about large 4x4s is because they take up more room than the average car and therefore seem to be a nuisance .

Answer 3

You must be young.
When the Lotus Carlton was introduced back in 1990, the press had a field-day criticising Lotus and Vauxhall for daring to build a 4-door family saloon that could do about 170mph.
The difference was that the public didn't give a fig, the Lotus Carlton was a rare beast, and the press couldn't at the time tar any other cars with the same brush.
Now the press can have a go at the Range Rover V8 Supercharged for being big, heavy and polluting, and tar a two-wheel-drive 1.8-litre RAV4 (uses less road space than a Ford Focus) with the same brush just because it is an SUV, and many members of the public don't have the knowledge to question them.

Answer 4

A car made to do 70MPH, the Ford Anglia. Stopping distance 60-0 is 240ft, Maclaren Mercedes SLR top speed 208MPH, stopping distance 120-0 is just 231ft. If we have no need to improve ourselves and the technology we produce, we won't. If cars had never been designed to do 200MPH+ we'd never have designed sophisticated braking, control or handling systems to cope with these scenarios, therefore we'd still have the deadly situation that the Ford Anglia would be. If we didn't have any desire to push the boundaries of what we could do we'd never have left the caves. People ask these questions simply because they have no real understanding of human history, culture or evolution. I don't wish to sound rude but I do suggest you take a closer look at all the major changes of our society, and how we evolved into what we are now.

Answer 5

I think so, but I would not want them artificially limited as far as top speed. If you have ever been chased on the highway by a maniac bent on (who knows what?) you appreciate the ability to run away from your pursuer. This has happened to me more than once, as recently as last year. Still, all-in-all, I believe most people in general overdrive their abilities/skills or the weather and visibility conditions and most will drive as fast as the vehicle is capable, which is not too intelligent. I don't mean that everybody who can go 150-200 m.p.h. does it every time they're behind the wheel, but these types of vehicles have tremendous acceleration too, and the temptation to drive overly aggressively is too much for most of these owners.

Answer 6

Possibly, but what option as a buyer of cars do you have?

I drive around in old cars (15-20 years old) because a) I prefer them to new and b) why pay for something really nice that will just lose me loads of money? However if you want something less than 5 years old that isn't fast what will you buy?
My father used to want to drive something basic, reliable and cheap that would only do 80 mph max, but people don't want them, if they did car manufacturers would make them, it isn't because they don't want to, it's because there isn't a viable market for them.

The day of the cheap economic car for the masses has gone there will never be another car like the Beetle because as a society we all want more than it has to offer.
Cars are a measure of status, wealth, and penis size, unless it meets multiple requirements and one of them is speed, cars will never leave the showrooms.
Ironically we now live in a country where 30 mph in a built up area is a luxury, our government is considering a blanket 50 mph limit for all non dual carriageway roads, yet car manufacturers still constantly strive for the 150 mph family hatchback!

That said I wouldn't change laws to restict speed even more, there are enough laws for our benefit, I would make the punishments for speeding more painful: get caught doing more than 100 mph anywhere on a public road and you pay a 2 grand fine, lose your licence for 12 months and have to re-take your test, would you ever do 100?
Get caught doing more than 35 in a 30 limit and you get a 5 grand fine, lose your licence for 24 months and have to re-take your test because you've deliberately chosen to endanger other peoples lives.

Pain is the only really effective deterent, and the above hits everybody.


so why own a car that will even reach 70

Answer 7

The Italians have a saying, "It's not speed that kills, it's bad driving." And nothing could be more spot on. My car is capable of losing me my licence several times over on a very short stretch of road, except I drive it sensibly. But when I need to overtake that tractor in a very small window of opportunity on a country lane, I'm glad my car can do it without breaking a sweat instead of following the tractor for tweny miles in a Vauxhall Viva!

I could go on for hundreds of lines as to why supercars are important, but think of this: If it wasn't for motorsport (performance cars) then weight-saving wouldn't be on anyone's agenda. The planet would die faster without supercars!

Answer 8

most production cars only go up to 110-120,alot of the newer sedans are going up to 130-140 and the selected few are getting up to 160-180.i have gone up to 160 before,i know of many people that have gone up to 170-180 in their Evo 8s and Sti's.
so yes,i believe alot of the newer cars are becoming faster and faster nowadays..and the cheaper they are becoming the more likely younger drivers will get a hold of them.Plus it's not always how fast a car is that makes it dangerous but how quickly it builds speed and accelerates that can make them deadly if used improperly.A slow car getting up to 110 is different then a fast car quickly building speed from 20-100..

Answer 9

Not the car to blame.Its the driver that's to fast.A gun is perfectly safe till somebody pulls the trigger.Just because a car might have 200 on the clock doesn't say you have to do it.

Answer 10

i have wondered that my self!! whats the point in having fast cars when you can't use them to there full potential!! i'd rather a 4x4 any day to a sports car!!