LaFerrari and Sesto Elemento face off on desert highway

Great example of how an almost 1,000 lb weight difference appears in real life. Sesto is much more responsive to throttle input. Then the HP and aero of LaFerrari kick in.

 

I believe that the Sesto was first on the throttle. You can clearly hear it having a half a second head start. If anything, the electric (pun intended) response of these hybrids is hard to match.

 

sesto got the jump and then about 5 seconds later the laferrari starts pulling bus lengths on it.

 

You will see the same thing happen with 918 vs LaFerrari, but maybe 2 seconds.

 

Sesta stomped the throttle 0.5 secs earlier.

The response of the LaF, P1, 918 are on another level.

 

I'm in love with Sesto Elemento for years. Power to weight ratio is just extraordinary!!

 

Yep, and then it took 5 seconds to make up the difference. You'd see nearly the same results if they started at the same time.

It's all about weight. On the street I doubt you'd stay with that Lambo in the other cars. Add up the delay you see here on a typical mountain road (# of times you're on/off throttle) and that Lambo will be far ahead. Power to weight is important, but it's weight alone that affects dynamic response.

 

Not really. Half a second jump start makes a huge difference. Judging by an obscure video is not wise.

 

I am not very good at math or science, but this seems like one of those times where the KE = 1/2M x V^2 equation might be relevant.

If they are both traveling at the same speed when the rolling start commences, then the only other variable in the equation is Weight. Thus, I add my vote to weight being the contributing factor, not the gap in reaction time.

 

The equation you cite gives the resulting energy of the system, ie. it's a resultant output, not an input.

What you want is
F=ma
-> a = F/m

The forces being applied (from the engine, via the transmission linkages and differential and tire contact patches to the road, accelerate the mass of the vehicle, which then moves forward. There is also a negative accelerative force due to air resistance, unless wind speed in the direction of travel is equal to or greater than the car's speed at any instant. That requires a separate set of calculations which take into account the Coefficient of drag and cross-sectional area of the car. Localized turbulences due to things like the windshield wipers and side mirrors also play a role.

The video is fun but meaningless.

 

The acceleration road force (F) for a vehicle in lbf is 375 x (hp/mph). 1 lbf = 32.2 ft-lb/s^2.

So you could calculate A = F/M at speed intervals and get a pretty good idea of how the vehicle weight makes a huge difference. But you need to do it with a computer (e.g., Excel) to get the hp as a function of speed. It would be pretty accurate at low speeds (e.g., under 100 mph) before aero and other friction loses would require more complex equations.

I have programs that can estimate actual vehicle acceleration very accurately. Engineers use these programs when designing cars. When already moving, acceleration is largely dependent on weight, hp vs speed, friction/losses, gear change speed and aero.

 

Not a fair race. The Sesto is nearly $800K more expensive! Of course it would take off faster!

 

The Laferrari will win every time!!!