[vltvlt972]

GM Authority states that the Gen-2 Volt goes from zero to 30 MPH in 2.2 seconds.

For comparison, the Tesla Model S 85 takes 2.3 seconds.

This car is A rocket off the line, and it is so tempting to leave other cars 10 or 20 car lengths behind when the light changes.

I know it burns lots of energy but I feel it is actually a safety issue because so much city driving involves being surrounded by masses of traffic. If I pull away from twenty or fifty cars waiting at the traffic light, I am often driving on an empty road with no cars even near me. It is like driving at night when there is no traffic (for a short time at least).

I also have a Z28 and can do the same thing but with much noise and vibration which announces my fast takeoff to the world. The Volt is a "stealth getaway" car. It is so quiet and non-race car-like that it attracts little or no attention with its fast acceleration.

I am not sure if others have experienced and commented on this advantage of driving the Volt but it seems like a valuable feature of the Volt (and PHEVs in general).

 

[OoPEZoO]

Its something only drivers of these kind of vehicles understand. The everyday usefulness of that acceleration is fantastic.....merge points, darting through traffic, smoking that jerk that is trying to shoot up the right side and cut you off. I get constant blank stares from everyone at work when the subject comes up.....except for the hand full of Tesla owners we have. They obviously get it

My only ongoing concern about that quick shot of acceleration is the amount of red light runners we have around here. Have to be extra vigilant about checking both ways before darting out into the intersection after a light changes.

 

[adermott]

That's only 0 to 30 which is a pretty small sample size. Go against a porche or an Audi A8 and you will find once they hit second gear you are looking at there tailights. But i agree for the most part off the line volts leave most cars in the dust for city driving. For merging onto a hyway traditional sports cars or perhaps teslas will kill a volt.

 

[obermd]

That's only 0 to 30 which is a pretty small sample size. Go against a porche or an Audi A8 and you will find once they hit second gear you are looking at there tailights. But i agree for the most part off the line volts leave most cars in the dust for city driving. For merging onto a hyway traditional sports cars or perhaps teslas will kill a volt.

But for getting across an intersection and having room to change lanes for your next turn it's priceless. Now to go get stickier tires so I don't spin them on take off.

 

[JoeReal]

That's only 0 to 30 which is a pretty small sample size. Go against a porche or an Audi A8 and you will find once they hit second gear you are looking at there tailights...

Once they hit second gear and you see their taillights, big chance that cops would be on their tails after they exceed the typical city speed limits. The 0-30 time of the Volt has tremendous advantage in city driving that have posted city limits of 25-35 mph. Muscle cars would usually have reached over 50 mph by the time they catch up and it is their ticket magnet. Or they're slamming their brakes hard at the next light, the falling of pride only to be repeated again at the next block or it's the ticket.

I only accelerate very quickly to 5 mph over city speed limit and no more.

 

[JRRF]

I only find this valuable if I'm already rolling. Otherwise it's almost impossible to not light the tires. And unless you absolutely floor it, the average sedan who's interested in "racing" you will be equal with you within less than 3 seconds. The only people you can get far enough away from are those not trying.

The slowest of these econo cars does 0-30 in 2.6 seconds. At 30 mph you might be 1/2 car length ahead of them. How does that get you away from traffic? It's very easy to "beat" some grandma who doesn't care what you are doing.

https://www.caranddriver.com/review...ng-performance-data-and-complete-specs-page-6

 

[Eagleco]

I just had fun with this yesterday when someone in a fancy Mercedes SUV behind me tried and failed to cut me off.

We were both taking a right turn and then needed to be in the left lane of the road we were turning on to, for upcoming left turns. I properly went into the right lane first, but they turned straight into the left lane as so many do.

They gunned it, as I heard all the racket. I was able to still signal my turn and pull into the left lane in front of the fancy and noisy Mercedes, with room to spare. Had I been in my Cruze yesterday, I would have just had to let the a-hole go on by.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[vltvlt972]

JRFF: These are good points but as one astute reader (joereal) noted, speed limits in cities range form 25 to 45 MPH. By the time the average sedan passes me, the driver will need to hit the brakes to avoid exceeding the speed limit. All that Tesla power is mostly unusable in many (or even most) city driving situations. Most drivers are "grandmas" in the medium size city I live in.

Also note that of your econobox examples, all have manual transmissions and three out of four are turbochanged. These may not be your "average" small cars. Small cars with automatics and without turbos might be considerably slower.

Your 2.6 0-30 econobox time is about 15% slower than the Volt i.e., 200 ft. versus 170 ft. is big difference in any race. This is more than half a car length.

Finally, flooring these econboxes at the light is likely to produce a commotion similar to the spin cycle on older washing machines. Drivers and passengers will experience quite a lot of noise and vibration. With my 2018 Volt, my wife who thoroughly dislikes it when I drive the Z28 aggressively does not even notice when I floor the Volt at the light and leave the other drivers in the dust.

 

[JRRF]

JRFF: These are good points but as one astute reader (joereal) noted, speed limits in cities range form 25 to 45 MPH. By the time the average sedan passes me, the driver will need to hit the brakes to avoid exceeding the speed limit. All that Tesla power is mostly unusable in many (or even most) city driving situations. Most drivers are "grandmas" in the medium size city I live in.

Even Mazda is now tuning and gearing their cars to be quicker from 0-30 where most people need the power.

 

[269983]

Say what you will about the Volts 0-30 time but in the end people don't envy my Volt like they do my X5-M.

 

[JRRF]

Say what you will about the Volts 0-30 time but in the end people don't envy my Volt like they do my X5-M.

Make something pricey enough and market it properly -- people will envy it.

In essence, double the price of a Volt and take the Chevy brand off of it -- people will envy it.

 

[269983]

Make something pricey enough and market it properly -- people will envy it.

In essence, double the price of a Volt and take the Chevy brand off of it -- people will envy it.

That's part of it. The other part is it looks a hell of a lot cooler and performs so well...even though it's an SUV.

Having said that my point is that having a car (the Volt) which can go 0-30 as quickly as it does isn't really all that interesting to most people.

 

[mjones21]

The Volt is quick off the line compared to other compacts, but it's really not that far ahead, as can be seen in that C&D article above.

While technically correct on the Tesla time, you're comparing the Volt to probably Tesla's slowest variant ever made. A battery on the larger side with no performance upgrades and RWD rather than AWD. For some perspective, a Model S P100D goes 0-30 in under a second and 0-60 in under 2.3 seconds.

Not trying to put a damper on anything. The Volt is certainly fun to drive for what it is -- a comfortable, economical, highly efficient compact, which does OK for itself performance-wise compared to pretty much any vehicle in its class other than a Civic Type R or Focus RS. It certainly blows away any other similar PHEV or hybrid cars in terms of performance, but it's no sports car.

 

[vltvlt972]

Envy is certainly a powerful motivator for the high-end auto owner (I know it well).

But fun to drive, quiet and smooth, eco-friendly, economical, and having "early-adopter status" (and I almost forgot, not supporting the $200B a year petroleum industry) go a long way toward owner satisfaction ...

 

[MikeyCVolt]

Attached is based on Motor Trend test data for the cars listed. Even the Civic Type R needs 4.7 seconds and 200 feet to catch the Volt. Yes, after that, it's over. But that quick 0-30 time is what puts the distance on other cars and even the faster ones need a couple hundred feet to pass you by. And yes, go up against a true performance or muscle car and you'll see nothing but taillights from the get-go, but against other (even sports) hatchbacks and even the entry level V6 Camaros and Challengers, there's not much out there that is going to beat a Volt across the intersection.

Mike

 

[JRRF]

That's part of it. The other part is it looks a hell of a lot cooler and performs so well...even though it's an SUV.

Having said that my point is that having a car (the Volt) which can go 0-30 as quickly as it does isn't really all that interesting to most people.

You're ignoring your own biases. And that's by design of the people who make a living marketing things to all of us. It's telling that you use the word "cooler". That's completely subjective, but works for you. It might not for someone else. A Jeep SRT is on a par with an X5M in many ways. But the Jeep brand simply doesn't garner the same cache as the BMW -- Marketing. There are people who will only by BMWs, or who will only buy MBs, because they are tied to the cache of that brand. It makes no difference that there are other cars that are equally attractive, high quality, and perform/drive as well. Marketeers have done their job.

 

[Eagleco]

Say what you will about the Volts 0-30 time but in the end people don't envy my Volt like they do my X5-M.

You must run in a different crowd than I do.

If I spent $100k on a car, my friends and relatives would think I had a screw loose for spending so much on transportation.

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[269983]

You're ignoring your own biases. And that's by design of the people who make a living marketing things to all of us. It's telling that you use the word "cooler". That's completely subjective, but works for you. It might not for someone else. A Jeep SRT is on a par with an X5M in many ways. But the Jeep brand simply doesn't garner the same cache as the BMW -- Marketing. There are people who will only by BMWs, or who will only buy MBs, because they are tied to the cache of that brand. It makes no difference that there are other cars that are equally attractive, high quality, and perform/drive as well. Marketeers have done their job.

My comment about cooler was wrt the X5-M compared to the Volt. I suspect if you were to poll people you'd find the overwhelming majority favoring the X5.

 

[269983]

You must run in a different crowd than I do.

If I spent $100k on a car, my friends and relatives would think I had a screw loose for spending so much on transportation.

Because they're envious.

 

[MikeyCVolt]

My comment about cooler was wrt the X5-M compared to the Volt. I suspect if you were to poll people you'd find the overwhelming majority favoring the X5.

I'll give you the "status card". But cooler, I dunno. The X5-M is just a fast SUV. Nothing special about that. I've had quite a few people ask me about the Volt. It's something different and its blend of EV/ICE is unique. One thing I've learned from a long line of sports cars and muscle cars is that no matter what you have, there's always something faster. In contrast, there are no other cars that can do what the Volt does.

Mike