Auto Magazine Test Procedures

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01-10-2006, 01:20 PM

#11

znod

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Quote:

Originally Posted by grogan545' post='222238

Quote:

Originally Posted by grogan545' post='221860' date='Jan 9 2006, 10:24 PM

I have done a little research on how the big 3 auto mags do their testing.There are some differences which affect the acceleration times.
C & D Uses no rollout (Timer starts as soon as the car moves).This causes approx .3 sec diff(slower)across the board.They also correct for weather conditions to equalize times for similar cars tested under different weather conditions

Motor Trend uses a 12" rollout(similar to drag strip) and they also correct for weather conditions.

R & T uses a 12" rollout but does not correct for weather conditions.This method is the most like drag strip testing.Their times are about what you can expect if you do your own testing using a GT2 timer or equivilent.A few months ago R & T tested several of the acceleration timers.They were all fairlyaccurate when set up according to the instructions.

I think R & T will probably get the best times for the 550,less than 5 sec to 60 and about 13.4 sec and 106mph for the 1/4

Thanks grogan. Definitely useful info to me. Maybe you should switch to a 12" roll out. You 5.0 probably would have be 4.9X

You are correct about the switch to 12"rollout, but the drag strip #s were so close to the GT2 with the 10' rollout that I hesitate to change.Maybe I will reconsider so that our times will be directly comparable
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I see. I would assume the dragstrip times would still be OK if you used precisely a 12" roll out at the strip. Also, we could get an idea of whether a 10" versus 12" roll out is consistently measurable, and the off-strip comparability would be good. If I can get anyone else interested in getting a GT2 and posting their results, then I'll try to get them to use a 12" roll out too. And, maybe you can break 5 with another 2."