origins of the 0-60 time?

Ive heard one theory that it is because cars used to sell on top speed figures, and then when the law tightened up on the motorways about speeding they needed something else to sell the cars with, so 0-60 figures became fashionable as these were more legally achievable than boasting top speed figures. like when they tested something up one of the motorways...cobra was it?

Cobra did 180mph down the M1 iirc ;)

My mate knows someone who was working for a company, either a car manufacturer, or the TRL, or someone involved in vehicle testing, who got to drive cars very fast on the Surrey stretch (J10-12) of the M25 shortly before it opened, back in the day.

The 0-60 benchmark dates back to well before motorway days.

That's about right. Freeway acceleration - some US magazines still call it this.

Back when automatic transmissions weren't anything like as sophisticated as they are today, cars with a similar power to weight ratio had very different acceleration times.

It's quite common to have some freeways with stop lights on the on ramp, the idea is that you nail it and people have to give way on the freeway. But if you're only going 33 mph they might run into you. :)

We probably got our hands on it when sufficient cars broke the 0 - 60 mph time in seconds, not minutes. Then it was replaced with 0 - 62 mph for the

Some cars need second for 60 and third for 62... :)

Probably the first common auto was the GM Hydramatic - which dated from the '40s. Rolls - and several other UK makers adopted it in the '50s. It was a four speed without a torque convertor but used a fluid flywheel for initial takeoff, and this was pretty similar in operation to a clutch on a normal start - ie, it wouldn't allow you to use high revs on start off. And those gearboxes were geared very much to the 0-60 time. A typical Rolls auto of the time might have a maximum speed of say 110 mph or so, but only 70 or so in third.

When the torque convertor became common so did wacky transmissions like the 2 speed fitted to some modest UK Vauxhalls where the 0-60 was measured with a calender.

I always thought it was just because 60mph is one mile per minute - ie, a good benchmark to hit back when cars had a hard time getting to it.

Chris.

with which the media outcry is the reason we have speed limits today...

and it wasnt a normal cobra...

IIRC, it was more to do with multiple pile ups in fog. Where of course 70 mph is too fast anyway.

Spot on. Isn't the French limit 50 km/h when it's foggy?