0-60 MPH Calculator

Hey guys I need some help. I am looking for a calculator or an equation that will determine based on gear ratio, engine HP (not at wheels), and engine torque (not at wheels) how fast I will get from 0-60. I know there are other factors that will determine it but I just want a general estimate. PLEASE HELP! Thanks.
 
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For something like that to work, you would only need engine torque, peak power rpm, gear ratios, vehicle weight, wheel/tyre height, and the torque curve (this would be most accurate as a spline interpolation but a quadratic eq would give you a close guess. Having a starting rpm may also make it more accurate.

It would be sort of like work out where 60 is on the lowest possible gear, go from lowest rpm first gear to peak power rpm (or higher, or whatever is best for best accel), allow 0.2 seconds (or something)between gear changes for the gear change. In this gear change time, you could also work out the new vehicle velocity if you had the frontal area and coefficient of drag of the vehicle. start next gear at rpm to match new speed, take it to the shift point again (work out the time to get to the shift point), etc until you reach 60 mph in the lowest possible gear (below peak power point).

I could probably make a program to do it, probably, but it'd be an effort, and take a while, and I'd probably never get around to it.
 
MustangMatt1966 said:
y dont you just have someone sit in the car with you, and take a stop watch and time you...thats seems like the best way? :shrug:


Please tell me you are joking.




0-60 time is pretty much 'impossible' to calculate. Traction, the driver, and environmental factors will play a role here. Why do you want to know 0-60 time? bragging rights?
 
allcarfan said:
0-60 time is pretty much 'impossible' to calculate. Traction, the driver, and environmental factors will play a role here. Why do you want to know 0-60 time? bragging rights?
Allcar (Does that include Pinto's) is right. However you can do the sunglasses test.

Put your sunglasses on the dash. Mash on it. If your sunglasses hit the rear window you are fast enough!! :D
 
it would be tough to make such an estimate... since it depends on so many things...

gearing, quality of driver, weight, how high you stall/rev your motor before hand, any incline you might see, quality of road, tire size/stickiness, suspension configuration, engine's power band on both the hp and torque sides of things, and probably dozens of other factors. Plus its so quick that it can vary greatly from attempt to attempt even if you are a great driver.

Quarter mile is a much easier number to predict, as many of the variables tend to become less significant. However, even that is more or less impossible to get more than a general guess.
 
The reason I want to know 0-60 is it will help me determine how much faster or slower I will get from 0-60 by changing my gears. I want to determine torque lost and gained as well. See essentially when you change gears you are changing how much torque will be put to the rear. Theoretically you will go from 0-60 faster with 4.1x gear than you would with a 3.2x gear. But you have to take in to consideration you are losing your top speed. So I want to see numbers from various points of view.

I guess another way to look at it would be:


Guy1 has 3.5x gears with a max rpm of 6500 and a top speed of 139 mph
Guy2 has 4.1x gears with a max rpm of 6500 and a top speed of 118 mph

Guy2 makes it to 60 mph faster than guy1 (How much faster is the main question) but tops out at 118 mph
Guy1 makes it to 60 mph slower than guy2 (How much slower is the main question) but tops out at 139 mph

Who makes it to 1/4 mile faster?
 
ssppiitt said:
The reason I want to know 0-60 is it will help me determine how much faster or slower I will get from 0-60 by changing my gears.

It'll be approximately proportional to the ratio of the gear change. So like 3.00 / 3.50 of your current 0 - 60. It may be slower, because shorter gears have to spin faster, and take more energy, it may be faster because your engine is better utilised with the gears. Then again, it may be worse off with the new gears and be even slower than it was in the first place.