2001 Honda Prelude vs 2000 Volkswagen Jetta?

K

kirktotallyrocks

New member
My best guess (without driving both) would be that the Prelude is probably geared higher. This would reduce it's acceleration off the line, but would give it a much higher top speed. Generally speaking, the weaker a car is, the lower the gearing it is given so that it still feels like it's peppy, but get it on the freeway and it will top out quickly and the higher-powered cars will leave it in the dust.

It's just the first thing that comes to mind. There are many factors to acceleration: weight, gearing, traction, etc. Gearing seems the most likely...
 
A friend has a 2001 Honda Prelude with 200 horsepower and I drove his car and it had good accelaration....
I believe that my 2000 Volkswagen Jetta has the same acceleration and it has 115 horsepower. Do you think it may be the torque?
 
Two things here at play while the Honda has more horsepower it has a lower torque if is a high rev engine, which means once is moving it can get further faster, but it will under perform in hills, bends, and speeds where the revs are half the next gear. Your vehicle might only have 115 horsepower but Volkswagen are usually pretty good with torque been higher meaning your rev are lower but you have more power delivery, just means you will need to shift faster, and never worry about hills, turns, or take offs. Except if your vehicle is a diesel due to the lag in turbo boost it does not make them racing engines(yet) but it will have amazing torque that will make it feel very fun to drive. Also remember that weight plays an important role along with torque, so if his vehicle is lets say 200 hundred pounds heavier and his torque is 170ftlbs your vehicle is 120ftlbs for the same weight his vehicle will be only about 30ftlbs better while he has the max torque band meaning that for every thousands of a rev less of max he will actually be just 5ftlbs better. and about the same rev where your max is he will be over powered by 30ftlbs, per example going up a hill. Calculations are simply roughed out but you can easily search and find out how they are done.
 
Two things here at play while the Honda has more horsepower it has a lower torque if is a high rev engine, which means once is moving it can get further faster, but it will under perform in hills, bends, and speeds where the revs are half the next gear. Your vehicle might only have 115 horsepower but Volkswagen are usually pretty good with torque been higher meaning your rev are lower but you have more power delivery, just means you will need to shift faster, and never worry about hills, turns, or take offs. Except if your vehicle is a diesel due to the lag in turbo boost it does not make them racing engines(yet) but it will have amazing torque that will make it feel very fun to drive. Also remember that weight plays an important role along with torque, so if his vehicle is lets say 200 hundred pounds heavier and his torque is 170ftlbs your vehicle is 120ftlbs for the same weight his vehicle will be only about 30ftlbs better while he has the max torque band meaning that for every thousands of a rev less of max he will actually be just 5ftlbs better. and about the same rev where your max is he will be over powered by 30ftlbs, per example going up a hill. Calculations are simply roughed out but you can easily search and find out how they are done.
 
My best guess (without driving both) would be that the Prelude is probably geared higher. This would reduce it's acceleration off the line, but would give it a much higher top speed. Generally speaking, the weaker a car is, the lower the gearing it is given so that it still feels like it's peppy, but get it on the freeway and it will top out quickly and the higher-powered cars will leave it in the dust.

It's just the first thing that comes to mind. There are many factors to acceleration: weight, gearing, traction, etc. Gearing seems the most likely...
 
Back
Top