With a motorcycle and a car with equal weight to power ratios, which one is faster through a curve?

Answer 1

The car of course. It has much better traction on the curve. This has been proven time and time again on top gear. I'm sure there is a vid on youtube of it. Even if the bike has the advantage, a car can take the corners faster. If they have equal power to weight (and Im not sure in what universe that could happen, maybe its an ariel atom?) the car would smoke the bike always.

Answer 2

Power to weight ratios in cars are typically much, much lower than those in bikes. You'd have trouble finding a motorcycle with a power to weight ratio similar to that of a car, and when you do, it's not going to be a sportbike. You're not going to have good suspension and tires on it, either.

As previous posters have pointed out, power to weight ratios have nothing to do with how fast a vehicle can go through a curve.

If you're talking about the maximum possible speed a vehicle can go through a curve, with no consideration as to what's coming before or after that curve, about the only thing you need to know is how well the vehicle corners. I believe that's going to be found in the coefficient of drag, but others can correct me, I'm sure.

In the real world, there are other considerations. If there's a 1/8 mile straight from the last corner to the present corner, it's important to think about how much the vehicle can accelerate in that 1/8 mile. If that vehicle acclerates very quickly, it's also important to think about how quickly that vehicle can slow down. In both of these measurements, the bike's weight gives it a pretty big advantage.

If that straight before the corner was 4 miles long, you'll be looking at different variables still. The top speed of a motorcycle is limited primarily by aerodynamics, and motorcycles have much worse shapes for moving air than cars do.

In general, a motorcycle is going to have an advantage when dealing with tight, relatively slow courses with lots of turns. Cars will have an advantage when the track gets longer, straighter, and faster.

As a generalization, I'd say that a car has the potential to be faster through the corners. However, there are so many other variables (beyond power to weight) that it's nearly impossible to say.

Answer 3

The only cars with equal power-to-weight ratios as a motorcycle are Formula 1 race cars. Seriously.

Ken K is a numb-nut if he thinks the traction of four wheels offsets the HUGE weight penalty! The contact patches of motorcycles is smaller in total area than having four wheels, but more weight puts more stress against the static friction (grip) of the tires, and there's a reason sportbike tires go out in less than 5,000 miles. They are made softer and grippier than car tires, so Ken K is comparing apples to oranges!

And his Gixxer to Corvette comparison? Perhaps he should refer to the 0-100-0 test that a European car magazine does every year. Just for fun, they throw in a GSX-R1000, and EVERY other car pales in comparison to the SUB-10 SECOND time the Gixxer can do! Ferraris, Aston Martins, BMWs, Porsches, you name it.

Let's do some numbers. If a 1000cc sportbike has 160hp and weighs 450lb, that's 2.8lb for every 1hp.

A fast car, even a Corvette C6R Le Mans racecar, still weighs over 2400lb. To get the same ratio, this super-hopped-up racer would have to have over 862hp! But it only has 590hp, so sad!

But something else comes into play here. Power-to-weight ratio only affects acceleration, only weight and grip affect braking, and only weight and DOWNFORCE affect cornering.

So an F1 car will accelerate as fast as a MotoGP bike, but will outcorner it hands down. Why? Because of the downforce holding the F1 car to the ground and allowing it to carry more corner speed.

But these are extreme examples. In the real world, a motorcycle can SMOKE anything on the road if the rider is good. My bike has 97hp, and your Hummer has a 5.7L, 400hp Hemi. But I weigh 15 times less, and you don't have 1200hp under the hood.

Answer 4

As some people have mentioned it is not about horsepower but about suspension and downforce. Assuming both the bike and the car can go equal speeds a bike would beat most all cars. The ultimate answer (comparing best against best) is that a car would win. I am of course referring to Indy cars. The downforce is so incredible that if they got up to speed they could run on the ceiling. Also on tracks around the world the only thing faster in the corners than Moto GP bikes are Indy and Formula One cars.
RIDE RED!!!!

Answer 5

Cars will always trump motorcycles through curves because of its weight displacement and capability for more traction. The car has larger traction contact patches than motorcycle as well as having four of them compared to two. This larger traction consideration trumps the power to weight ratio which is not applicable to cornering forces anyway.
The newer sport cars, from Corvettes down to Mazda's, can come close to reaching 1G on the skid-pad tests, which motorcycles can't reach yet.
If motorcycles progress to that point, then the cars will be that much further ahead again.
By the way, I am a life-long motorcyclist, just so you don't think I've got a beef against motorcycles.

Answer 6

Power to weight only matters when comparing acceleration.

A car with a low center of gravity, good tires and minimal body roll will totally smoke the bike thru the turns, since it has four tires, not 2.

This also depends heavily on rider and driver, but in a perfect world and perfect comparison, if that can even be considered possible, the car will go through the turns faster.

Answer 7

Probably the motorcycle but that would depend on the person manning the vehicles... a newbie motorcycle rider might have a "fear factor"... lol... then again how is the car set up to bank the corners???

OH SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT - difficult question

Hotttttt Doggggggg

Answer 8

Most certainly a car has more potential for cornering. 4 wheel independent suspension keeps at least some of the tires on the road and with optimal contact. Optional 4 wheel drive keeps the back from spinning out under hard acceleration. Aerodynamic bodywork can exert several G's of downward force at high speeds. And the suspension isn't compromised around hard corners... whereas the bike is now absorbing bumps at an angle.

Answer 9

The bike will be faster, depending on available power and other variables, but a sport bike with an experienced rider will outrun most any fast car out there, including high perf sportscars. There will always be exeptions, they really are quite close, but in general, most sport bikes will outcorner most sports cars, if the drivers are equally experienced with the machine they are operating. AND if the bike would end up a bit slower, it sure as hell will catch up and pass on the other side of the curve.

Answer 10

I have a question for you. Which is smarter? A cat or a dog? Because everyone already knows that a cat can smoke a dog and if you don't think so come and race me, because I'm a cat. also if you THING your dog is fast think about how much you spent on it and how much it costs to get a Calico 1000. also think about fur to face ratio and it should hit you that a cat is top of the line and all you race dog fans are bitches. but i got to say the alley cats and butterflies are the ****.