I saw last night an advertisement on television for the new Mercedes ML 430. The advertisement said “the faster five human beings have ever gone from 0 to 60.” Now give me a break! What would be a vehicle capable of holding five passengers, that would accelerate faster from 0 to 60? I need ammunition to debunk the commercial. How about the space shuttle on take off? I’m not 100% sure on that, since the beginning of the lift off doesn’t seem very fast. And a plane has to taxi on the runway before it takes off the ground.
P.S. the web page mentioned in the link above says “The ML 430 accelerates from 0 to 100 kph in only 8.4 seconds and has a top speed of 210 kph.”
La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit.
H. de Livry
Forget the space shuttle, there are about 100 different passenger vehicles that will seat five and go from 0-100k in less than 8.4 seconds, which is actually pretty slow.
Since we’re including non-road vehicles I’ll have to include my ride in “Miss Piggy” when I was in the navy. M.P. is an S-3 Viking (three of them actually) antisubmarine plane converted to haul passengers and a bit of cargo to carriers. It has a crew of three plus room for five passengers IIRC. Takeoff speed is probably in the neighborhood of 120 knots or so and a catapult shot from a carrier takes not much more than a second. As carnival rides go it beats the shit out a Tilt-A-Whirl.
I believe the 1969 Dodge Charger was a two-seater.
Nicrkz:
I know not put a lot of faith in advertising. My question should probably be rephrased as follows. What vehicle currently in existence, or previously existing, would provide the fastest way for five adult humans of average height/weight to go from a stand-still to 60 mph?
I don’t believe it would be a plane because of the needed taxying time. Small planes only have two or four seats. Most racing vehicles would not accomodate five people.
For the purposes of this discussion, I am suggesting that we not consider cases such as five clowns crammed into an F1 racing car or five people tied to the hood of a dragster.
If we consider the limitations mentioned in this post, would Mercedes Benz have a valid claim?
P.S. 0 to 60 mph is roughly 0 - 100 kph. The time for the Mercedes Benz vehicle is advertised as 8.4 seconds, as mentioned in the original post.
La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit.
H. de Livry
Sorry guys, I was posting while you were replying.
dhanson, I’m not a car expert. Could you mention one of the vehicles that would do that?
Padeye, it also sounds like you have a winner. 120 knots would be (IIRC) 120 nautical miles per hour, approx. 138 miles per hour. You’re saying the S-3 Viking antisubmarine plane reached that speed in one second? That’s pretty darn fast.
You think wrong. The 69 charger was a standard sports sedan type style along the lines of old’s 442, or chevy malibu. In fact, in several D.O.hazzard episodes, they stuffed boss hog in the back. he counts for at least 3.
We live in an age that reads to much to be wise, and thinks too much to be beautiful–Oscar Wilde
Are we talking average “Joe’s” here? Civillians don’t get ‘cat’ shots which are pretty fast… ditto the wild ideas of 5 seat dragsters etc. Dodge Chargers are not 2 seaters, well, not really , but — anywho, no ‘rocket sled’ or such so hummmm …
“Average” Joe can’t afford a new Mercedes either so what’s your point? The original claim was “the faster five human beings have ever gone from 0 to 60.” Mercedes didn’t limit it to affordable passenger cars in their brash claim.
Actually, any car shoved off of a good cliff would get up to 96 ft/sec. (65 mph) in about 3 seconds. And I’ve owned plenty of cars that would’ve been good test vehicles.
What about that Darwin Award guy that stole a jet engine and fired it off once he’d attached it to his car?? I’ll bet he accelerated a heck of a lot faster than he originally intended to, judging from the lack of residue left of either him or his car on the side of the cliff he blasted into.
Any guesses what the last thing was that went through his mind??
The Alfra Romeo 164 with the V6 engine holds 5 and can beat the Mercedes in 0-100.
As for planes, yes they have to taxi but they usually come to a complete stop before starting the takeoff anyway. So it really is 0-100, and it seems to be much faster than any car.
Well, the Chrysler 300M for one does 0-100K in 7.7 seconds, and it’s a brand-new, 5 passenger car.
The BMW 540i is a 5-passenger sedan, and does 0-100K even faster, in 6.1 seconds. Even the version with the small 2.8L engine does it in 7.7 seconds.
The BMW 7-series does 0-60 under 7 seconds with the V-12, and 7.1 seconds with the V8
The Lexus E300 does 0-100K in 7.5 seconds.
Maybe the fastest 5-passenger vehicle is the Mercedes C-class, which does 0-100K in under 6 seconds.
Anyway, I’m tiring of listing them all, but there are plenty more, including your average sedans from GM and Ford. 8.4 seconds is actually a pretty slow number. Anything slower than that would probably get a ‘poor acceleration’ rating from people like Road and Track or Car and Driver.
Thank you all, and especially dhanson for his list of cars that can beat the Mercedes SUV.
So is this a clear case of false advertising?
P.S. I spelled it wrong in the OP, what the commercial says is "“the fastest five human beings have ever gone from 0 to 60.” Maybe the word “ever” wasn’t in the sentence. But even without the word “ever” the commercial seems to be clearly misleading. Has anyone else seen this television ad? Maybe I’m remembering the quote totally wrong.
La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit.
H. de Livry
Arnold Winkelried
I used to own a 70 Dodge Charger.
It will seat 5 people in comfort,two in the front seat and three in the back seat.
In a pinch it will hold eight or nine people as long as they are friendly.
Damm good car and fast too,(440 cid v-8 3x2 bbl carbs aka the 6pack to go).
Peace
t lion
" I Wonder What Happens When I push THIS Button? "
Dodge Chargers are not 2 seaters, well, not really , but — anywho, no ‘rocket sled’ or such so hummmm …
The original claim was “the faster five human beings have ever gone from 0 to 60.” Mercedes didn’t limit it to affordable passenger cars in their brash claim.