DavidM

I got a friend who has an XR6 Turbo. It's an automatic (with kind of tiptronic mode) and has around 12,000km on it. So I met up with him tonight and not only did I take it for a good spin, we also did some comprehensive acceleration 'comparisions' ... but more on that later.

I was impressed with the car. It does not feel like a turbo at all, and no matter how hard I tried to trick it, it never showed any signs of turbo-lag. It just felt like a decent high-capacity engine and pulled well from idle. The steering really imressed me as it is very direct and the car is very responsive to it. Also it's not bad size/feel. It's certainly a lot better than what I have grown to expect rom cars like that. The car has a bit of roll ... maybe about as much as a CV8-R Monaro, so it's not too bad, but nothing as flat/stiff like the Zed, S2000 or even a top of the line HSV. The car does not feel like its 1685kg ... it feels good 150kg lighrter. Also it does not feel as big as it is ... it felt reasonably tossable and nimble around round-abouts, and was very willing to turn into corners. In corners it was very balanced where you felt like the car relies on it's front and back pretty much equally. On the limit it had understeer ... but it was predictable and also reasonably mild (that is I'm sureunless you're entring corners at way above what the car is capable of). Same with the rear - it was very well tied down and had very good power down. You had to really provoke it with the throttle to get some oversteer and then it was very controllable and predictable ... and this is around 40 - 60kph corners.

OK, onto the acceleration comparisons. Let me start by saying that the Zed (mine with the hi-tech exhaust) totally blew it away. It was never even close ... here are the details. We did about 20 different runs and some fair few times to get some pattern/consistancy. We both had only the driver on board. Also the XR6-T was manually shifted.

- Test #1: 0-120kph, agressive launch for the Zed and 'normal' launch for the XR6-T:
I launched with a clutch-drop (ie. ~2500rpm) and the XR6-T was just floored off idle. As soon as we went, I flew alway good 2 car-lengths before 40kph. It felt like the XR6-T missed the start, but the driver said that the car just took a 'moment' to respond. From then on I pulled away at a very noticable rate and by the time we shut down at 120kph, I was good 5 - 6 car-lengths ahead.

- Test #2: 0-130kph, agressive launch for both cars:
I launched with a clutch-drop (ie. ~2500rpm) again, and the XT6-T was power-braked to 2500 - 3000rpm and launched from there (with a bit of wheel-spin). This time things were very even off the line. Until my rear tyres hooked up we were side by side. If I got the launch a bit wrong, the XR6-T would get about 1/2 a car-length ahead of me. If he got it wrong, then I'd get about 1/2 a car-length ahead. Though, after 30kph (ie. once my tyres hooked up) I flew away in 1st gear, and by the end of 1st I'd always have good 1.5 - 2 car-lengths lead. Then in 2nd I'd pull away another 2 or so car-lengths and by the time we shut down at ~130kph, I was good 4 - 5 car-lengths ahead.

- Test #3: 10-130kph, rolling start in 1sr gear:
After that we decide to take the launch out of it, and did some rolling start tests. We did this a couple of times and the results were always the same. At the start we'd either stay even until around 30kph, or I'd be pulling away a little bit (ie. at most 1/2 a car-lengths lead by 30kph). After that I'd again fly away like a rocket and I'd have 1 - 2 car-lengths lead by the end of 1st. Then I'd pull out another 2 or so car-lengths in 2nd, and by ~130kph I'd be good 5 car-lengths ahead.

- Test #4: 10-130kph, rolling start in 2nd gear:
So we decided to see how it perfroms in higher gear. We started form 10kph again, but this time both in 2nd gear ie. the XR6-T stayed in 2nd for the whole run, and I only had to make the 2nd-to-3rd change. The XR6-T fared worse here than in the 1st gear rolling start and I would start pulling away straigh-away. I was pulling away at all times, and I'd even have a lead by around 30kph (ie. 1/2 way through 1st gear), I'd be good 1/2 - 3/4 car-length ahead. Then things went as in the other tests and I flew away to good 6 car-lengths lead by 130kph.

Afterwards we hopped in the XR6-T and tried to hand-time the 0-100kph runs. Of course, this is not very reliable or accurate, but still, this is what we got at best. We went by the revs to determine when the XR6-T reached 100kph in order to get some accuracy. We tried it with him driving and me timing and vice versa. btw, at this stage the XR6-T was pretty 'hot' and that does not favour the turbo at all (as the numbers show), but here are the best numbers we managed (with 2 on board):
- normal (ie. everyday) launch = 7.7sec
- Agressive, left-foot-braked launch = 7.2sec

So not too spectacular, but it agrees with the European magazines that tested the XR6-T recently. They managed 6.4sec when the car was 'cold', but could not do better than 7.3sec for 0-100kph when the car heated up. So obviously the XR6-T does not perform that great once it's heated up. Also I'm sure that the heat had some effect on the results I saw when lined up with the 350Z. Though, when we started the car could not have been that hot (ie. just normal driving) and I was still blowing it away ... maybe just not by as much. As it was I'd say that the '99 WRX (Auto) would beat it by a few car-lengths and the Astra Turbo would have been close. The HSV R8 (260kW) would annihilate it just as bad as the Zed.

In summary I'd say that:
- My exhaust accounts for good 2 car-lengths to 130kph.
- The XR6-T is pretty strong through the 1st gear (in particular bellow 35kph). Bellow 35kph it's very close to the 350Z, but above that the 350Z is noticably quicker.
- In 2nd gear the 350Z feels (and seems) a lot quicker.
- Over 100kph the XR6-T did not feel anywhere as strong as bellow 80kph.
- I'm sure a manual XR6-T would do better because it has more agressive gearing. Still, the magazines list the Auto only about 0.3 - 0.5sec slower to 100kph. And to 160kph they list them closer (ie. 0 - 0.3sec difference) ... so I would not expect any major improvement.

So the straight-line speed was not that impressive, but the car did feel great for a big family sedan. And the Auto bow was awesome ... not unlike the one in the Zed, but not as quick shifting and responsive.

mchapman

iTrader: (1)

Nice work David.

How would the stock 350z go?

ottonove

very interesting, but i'm sure the XR6T will blow the zed away once hey start working on the engine... and real cheap too compare to the zed

harryw

APS!

As always

H

mchapman

iTrader: (1)

Just combat that with the APS Twin Turbo System for the Zed. (11.9s Quater Mile )

zuff

APS are not cheap....You'll need to spend big to go 330kw!

As for the xr6t when i test drove it i thought it was very slow. The dealer wasnt impressed with my opinion but couldn't argue. I had just stepped out of a 350z.

Was thinking about getting one for the wife. Now looking at the forester turbo... Appartently it's coming out STI tuned. :ekk:

Z350Lover

iTrader: (2)

zuff:

I am sure the STi tuned one will be a great FAMILY sports car too!!!

BTW, if you have any chance, you can make a run with a stock zed (or with the exhaust to see the flywheel's effect!)

cheers,

richie

DavidM

Nice work David. How would the stock 350z go?

Thanks. Stock 350Z shoudl be only only 2 (certainly no more than 3) or so car-lengths behind me by 130kph. So I'd say a stick 350Z should have no problem with the XR6-T ... instead of ebating it by 5 - 6 car-lengths, you'll get more like 3 - 4. Which is a prettyt good beating.

very interesting, but i'm sure the XR6T will blow the zed away once hey start working on the engine... and real cheap too compare to the zed.

Very true, but that goes for any turbo engined car. They are all relatively cheap to make go fast.

As for the xr6t when i test drove it i thought it was very slow.

Interesting .. .so you've driven one as well and didn't think it was that fast also. That is interesting as some of the numbers the mags get from the XR6-T would indicate that the car is very fast ... I was expecting to to be not far behind the HSV R8, but it's not even close.

Z350Lover

iTrader: (2)

Most of the aussie magazines are quite bias to local production cars, such as Ford and Holden.... don't know if there are money involved.... kekeke.... we never know..

cheers,

richie

ottonove

I ran with a stock(?) zed the other day, with my mods I can say I can reel one in no prob (he's in front of me), I can feel my car is pulling harder under acceleration, and I only need to push the car 8/10 to keep up, and I know he's not going pull away at all

DavidM

Hey Ottonove,
What cars are you talking about? What car were you in, and what car were you 'running with'? Also what mods do you have?

ottonove

Im in my silver zed running with another silver zed
mod: JWT Popcharger, JWT FW, UR Pulley, HT

mchapman

iTrader: (1)

Don’t be fooled by his feminie exterior.

ottonove

actually my mini is more macho than my avatar suggest, its an all black MCS, I just couldnt find a better photo to use and I like the new open top mini.
BTW, there is currently a 250hp Hartge Mini Cooper S (MCS) and will soon be a 275hp MCS comong out from JCW. I was told the 250hp Hartge is faster than WRXs and Type R on the track, both on the straight and in corners, tho I assumed the WRXs are stock or only lightly modified

ottonove

would actually loved to see a 250hp MCS against the zed.... must be interesting

mchapman

iTrader: (1)

Its ok otto, your amongst friends

Flasher

Great stuff David. Always good to read a comparison between different cars.
A friend of mine also test drove a Turbo Taxi and came up with exactlly the same conclusion - good steering, not bad handling, and not as fast as expected.
He kept telling me my car felt way faster, now I have proof

4WSboy

Would he take you over the 1/4 mile though?

Dunno what they claim for that?

XR6 is quicker than the XR8 yeah?

That run I had at ESDW vs XR8 , although I wasnt great, the Ford was going great guns over the last bit metres for a 168 kph odd finish...

Me... relatively unmodded...

DavidM

Would he take you over the 1/4 mile though?

Not even close ... I'd expect to win by close to 10 car-lengths. Afterall, I had him by 5 - 6 car lengths by 130kph. 400m was only about 3 (or so) secs away, and I was pulling away very strongly. I'd certainly gain another 3 (or so) car-lengths by the end.

XR6 is quicker than the XR8 yeah?

In some ways yes. To 100kph the mags clock the XR6-T quicker ... but we're talking about 0.2 - 0.4sec. To 160kph they are pretty close, but the XR8 has managed a better 160kph number (ie. in the best result) than the XR6-T ... that would imply that over 100kph the XR8 should be quicker. Though, we are talking about 10ths of a second again. After 160kph I'd expect the XR8 to be quicker.

Though, over 400m the XR6-T seems to post fractionally better numbers. Though, they seem so close to the XR8 numbers that there should not be more than a two car-lengths (or so) between them.

Though, the XR6-T seems to do better on the track (ie. road loop) as it has better balance and less weight.

Ford was going great guns over the last bit metres for a 168 kph odd finish

As I mentioned in the other thread, I'd expect the Zed to be close to that speed at the end of 400m. 161 - 163kph is what the mags here manage with the Zed. Ftr comaprisions sake, the Astra Turbo can trap at 153kph. IT-R traps around that speed as well.

In the States some guys claim up to 167kph trap speed from their Zed's ... though, that does not seem normal. Low 160s are though.

Im in my silver zed running with another silver zed

Aaaah, I see. Someone you kow, or just someone you 'met' on the street?

mchapman

iTrader: (1)

The ford to watch is the FPV GT-P with a 290kw V8. Though i'd say we could take that too. Alan sold his S2000 and got one, I consider that a step in the wrong direction.

Dave your thoughts on FPV GT-P vs 350ZHT and 350ZS?