Will mileage become irrelevant?
02/28/2025
I can still remember well how much we were guided by the measured 0-100 km/h times 30 or more years ago when it came to deciding whether a car was suitable for us. The standing kilometers or top speeds were also important.
Today, things are completely different. Hardly any car needs more than 10 seconds to accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h. Most cars can even do this in under 10 seconds. The majority even manage this in less than eight seconds, sports cars and fast compact cars only need four to six seconds, while super and hyper sports cars have to master this discipline in less than three or even two seconds. The effect of forward acceleration on the body is similar to that of emergency braking, except that you are pressed into the seat instead of the seat belts. Only rarely can and want to use such extreme acceleration values, it is simply too strenuous.
Accordingly, the acceleration capacity also loses interest; what difference does it make whether you can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.4 or 2.8 seconds?
Even a basic Boxster over ten years old with the smallest 2.7-liter six-cylinder engine at the time managed the standard acceleration discipline (0-100 km/h) in under six seconds. That's still good enough for 99+% of all traffic situations, isn't it?
Accordingly, buying a classic or neoclassic is much more about the emotions and impressions that arise when driving. The sound and the driving experience are more important than the acceleration times of a more modern successor, which are a few tenths better.
And even if an MGA easily needed over 15 seconds to get to 100 km/h back then, it still feels much sportier today than some modern SUVs that can do the same in a third of the time.
But perhaps the Zwischengas readers see things differently? Are the "naked" performance figures becoming irrelevant? Comments are welcome!
_RM.jpg)
