Boomer23
Well-known member
Most of us who have our LEAFs seem to think that the LEAF is pretty quick off the line. Back last summer, Nissan claimed that the LEAF was as fast as a V6 Infiinti M35 up to 30 or 40 mph (I forget). I've seen comments that some of us think that we can beat almost anything off the line (we know that they'll catch up to us pretty quickly). I myself enjoy zooming off the line and realizing how small the rest of the cars become in the rear view mirror after just a few seconds.
So I was looking for evidence that this is true. I figured that this seat-of-the pants impression should show up as a fairly fast time up to 30 mph or so, and then tail off to the 9.4 seconds to 60 mph that we're aware of.
I wanted to get some comparisons of acceleration for "average" cars in these speed ranges. It turned out to be difficult to find acceleration results for "average" cars in recent magazines. Seems like they mostly want to test super cars these days. So I dipped back to a 1999 R&T issue and found a Volkswagen New Beetle 1.8 T with a 0-60 time of 7.1 seconds and a comparo test of an Acura Integra GS-R, a Mitsu Eclipse GT, and a Toyota Celica GTS with similar 7 second 0-60 times.
The bottom line is that I can't demonstrate that the LEAF is faster, or even as fast as these cars at lower speed ranges.
So I'm going to conclude that it's the feel of instant torque and the quietness of the drivetrain that convince us that we're accelerating faster than we really are. Either that, or we need some measurements of time to distance rather than time to speed (would that show any different results?)
I'd love to see some video of timed drag races of a LEAF against some average commutermobiles. Anyone want to film some?
LEAF: R&T Feb 2011
0-20 mph 1.8 sec
0-30 mph 3.0 sec
0-40 mph 4.6 sec
R&T Nov 1999
VW New Beetle 1.8T
0-30 mph 2.3 sec
0-40 mph 3.8 sec
Acura Integra GS-R
0-20 mph 1.6 sec
0-40 mph 4.0 sec
Mitsubishi Eclipse GT
0-20 mph 1.4 sec
0-40 mph 3.9 sec
Toyota Celica GT-S
0-20 mph 1.3 sec
0-40 mph 3.8 sec
So I was looking for evidence that this is true. I figured that this seat-of-the pants impression should show up as a fairly fast time up to 30 mph or so, and then tail off to the 9.4 seconds to 60 mph that we're aware of.
I wanted to get some comparisons of acceleration for "average" cars in these speed ranges. It turned out to be difficult to find acceleration results for "average" cars in recent magazines. Seems like they mostly want to test super cars these days. So I dipped back to a 1999 R&T issue and found a Volkswagen New Beetle 1.8 T with a 0-60 time of 7.1 seconds and a comparo test of an Acura Integra GS-R, a Mitsu Eclipse GT, and a Toyota Celica GTS with similar 7 second 0-60 times.
The bottom line is that I can't demonstrate that the LEAF is faster, or even as fast as these cars at lower speed ranges.
So I'm going to conclude that it's the feel of instant torque and the quietness of the drivetrain that convince us that we're accelerating faster than we really are. Either that, or we need some measurements of time to distance rather than time to speed (would that show any different results?)
I'd love to see some video of timed drag races of a LEAF against some average commutermobiles. Anyone want to film some?
LEAF: R&T Feb 2011
0-20 mph 1.8 sec
0-30 mph 3.0 sec
0-40 mph 4.6 sec
R&T Nov 1999
VW New Beetle 1.8T
0-30 mph 2.3 sec
0-40 mph 3.8 sec
Acura Integra GS-R
0-20 mph 1.6 sec
0-40 mph 4.0 sec
Mitsubishi Eclipse GT
0-20 mph 1.4 sec
0-40 mph 3.9 sec
Toyota Celica GT-S
0-20 mph 1.3 sec
0-40 mph 3.8 sec