We’ve all heard of “Ten Second Cars”, but what are they, really?
A “ten second car” acts, in a way, as a description more than a category. Strictly speaking, a ten second car is a vehicle capable of traveling a fourth of a mile (from a dead stop) in ten seconds. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? After all, would barely get most of us out of our own neighborhoods. If we take a look at the math, however, any skepticism quickly vanishes.
A vehicle traveling an average of sixty miles an hour would only travel 1/6th of a mile in the allotted ten seconds, or roughly 3/4 of the distance required to earn the title of “Ten Second Car”. What’s more, this scenario negates the required time associated with acceleration, and instead assumes the vehicle is already traveling at a speed roughly that of a car on a highway. The average speed required over a forth of a mile– to completion in ten seconds– is 90 miles an hour (a speed not legal on public roads anywhere in the United States, leaving the realization of “Ten Second Cars” performance testing to raceways and– perhaps more commonly– illegal drag races).
But being able to travel 90 miles an hour doesn’t create a very limited field, does it? After all, most vehicles today are capable of traveling well over a hundred miles with their governors out, and we’ve all seen a lunatic or two on the freeway, weaving through traffic and bent on proving it.
No, it’s that these cars need to begin from a stop that makes them truly elite. Most cars, in fact, wouldn’t even be able to accelerate to 90 miles an hour in ten seconds, and even if they could, they wouldn’t be anywhere near a fourth of a mile in that time frame since they’d need to average that speed from the start.
So, what DOES it take to make the feat possible?
An ultra-light frame, a ton of horsepower, and– quite possibly– a couple shots of nitrous. It’s said that a Ferrari 355 Spider runs the quarter mile in just under 14 seconds, if that helps put things in perspective. And, at the point in which a car finishes the quarter mile in ten seconds, it needs to be traveling somewhere around 150 miles per hour.
To sum up the question, then, a “Ten Second Car” is an extremely dangerous, road ripping monster. Many believe that the properties required of a machine with these capabilities can’t even exist in a street-legal vehicle. So, if you were hoping you could convince your parents to get you one for your birthday, you’re probably out of luck. If you do find one, there’s a good chance it’s illegal, and an even better chance you wouldn’t survive driving it. Best to leave these legends to the movies and professionals.
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