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.
Last edited by DavidM on 04-22-2004 at 01:07 AM
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.
Last edited by DavidM on 04-22-2004 at 01:07 AM
