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Ya know, after reading the Autofile on the MDX in Autoweek, I got to wondering why their 0-60 time was so much quicker than any other reviews I have read. Then I noticed they were testing a base model. The time was at least .25 and in some instances almost .5 second quicker than reports in Motor Trend, Car&Driver and the likes that were all testing Touring models. This is a very significant difference between these tests.
There is the possibility it was just track conditions, temperature, air density, etc. that caused the difference in the test results.
But, I am wondering if any of the differences between the base and Touring models would contribute to any measureable extent. Such as:
1. Rolling resistance of Goodyear vs. Michelin tires. The Good year tires look to be much more of a highway tire, and the Michelin look like more aggressive mud/snow variety.
2. Weight from additional options, such as power passenger seat, other power options, roof rack, etc.
3. Any significant drag from the roof rack? Seems unlikely, but not impossible.
4. Any other differences?
Whaddayathink? Do you think the road test result in the Autofile is a fluke, or contributable to test conditions, or a true difference between the Base and Touring models?
Is the Base model the choice of the hot rod crowd?
Hmmmmmm....... |
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| I'm sure all those things will make a difference, weight is always a major factor. The driver, will make a big difference also, how fast they react off the line. |
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quote:
Originally posted by RGWomack
I'm sure all those things will make a difference, weight is always a major factor. The driver, will make a big difference also, how fast they react off the line.
The magazines do not do a "dragstrip test" where the clock starts when the "lights blink" but instead measure from when the 'beam' is broken...
The time between when the lights blink & the beam is broken = reaction time.
I don't think a variance of half a second can be attributed to any of the factors in the touring vs base. Even tires would be awfully hard to give up half a second.
That leaves a "prepped" test vehicle and/or impromperly calibrated measuring tools as most likely suspects. The reality is that even with the tight tolerances has for manufacturing some units are just better than others. If the Acura guys were able to compare 10 or so candidates to drop off at Autofile I'm sure they picked the best, and then went the extra step of checking every air passage, fuel filter and spark indexing to eek out the last bit of zoom. The vehicles that went to other magazines probably were not gone over with such a fine-toothed comb...
In the 60s & 70s the test-to-test variability was often greater, but with carbed engines and easy to customize trannys it was much easier to tweak the cars for the magazines. Times in the quarter mile often were more than a second different. Charges of running over-bored engines were often raised, but there was no incentive to harm the buddy-buddy relationship between advertisers & publishers. Now even a domestic supporter like Motor Trend would probably jump at a chance to grab headlines ( and time on 60 Minutes) for 'exposing' any manufacturer who obviously set-up a car far different than the showroom configuration. Heck, the Ford Corba & Mazda Miata OWNERS have cried foul when the production line vehicles didn't match the output published! |
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| Half a second? Different gasoline. |
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The first review was MotorWeek last September testing the base model with a 0-60 time of 7.6 seconds, so I assume the AutoWeek time of 7.75 is right on the money for the base model also. My guess is the half second difference would be attributed to the roof rack which definitely obstruct air flow and creates drag.
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| I did 0-60 in my garage in 7.0 seconds,I kept the garage door closed to keep wind resistance down.Can anyone beat that? |
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| May be using a car that has already been broken in can make a difference in addition to different testing conditions, tires, weight, etc. |
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quote:
Originally posted by mdxwannabe
I did 0-60 in my garage in 7.0 seconds,I kept the garage door closed to keep wind resistance down.Can anyone beat that?
Huh?? |
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