Quote:
Originally Posted by bman6074
Also wouldn't air density and elevation change things a bit. This could be why they report different 0-60 times.
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Yes, it very well could. The term is called "Density Altitude" in the aviation world has a very big effect on aircraft performance.
High altitudes combined with hot air temperatures results in much thinner air. Normally aspirated (no turbo) engines really suffer under those conditions. Typically, a normally aspirated engine can only achieve about 75% of its sea level rated HP at an altitude of 8000 feet or so. And that's on a so-called standard day. A "standard" day is described as 59 degrees temperature at sea level and the barometric pressure is 29.92 inches of mercury. In other words, non-standard days are the norm.
In the case of our turbocharged cars, a big part of the equation is how much reserve do our turbos have (if any) to maintain sea level HP at higher altitudes and/or higher than normal air temperatures.