[Shovelman]

It wasn't much of a race, just enough to let me know he had some real horses.

(acceleration from 30 to 90mph)

Ford Flex, I don't know what year or engine, just that it was blue and white, and it has to weigh 1000 pounds more than my 230.

I was not able to walk away, he stayed right with me....might have done better if driven differently but that's not the point. Schooled by a behemoth! Dented ego.

[MassNerd]

That Ecoboost motor is no joke. Good tuning potential.

[Rocky58]

Originally Posted by Shovelman

It wasn't much of a race, just enough to let me know he had some real horses.

(acceleration from 30 to 90mph)

Ford Flex, I don't know what year or engine, just that it was blue and white, and it has to weigh 1000 pounds more than my 230.

I was not able to walk away, he stayed right with me....might have done better if driven differently but that's not the point. Schooled by a behemoth! Dented ego.

I'm not too surprised. Some of the Flex get low 14 quarter miles. And rolling 30-90 gives it an advantage. There's a lot of momentum with that whale going 30 mph!

[Joe240]

If it was the flex with the ecoboost, it has 365hp.

[B58togo]

Originally Posted by Rocky58

I'm not too surprised. Some of the Flex get low 14 quarter miles. And rolling 30-90 gives it an advantage. There's a lot of momentum with that whale going 30 mph!

So because it's a heavy vehicle, it has an acceleration advantage once in motion? Not sure I follow your logic.

[AndDown]

Now, if you had an M240, 6 cylinder with turbo, it would have been a different story. I have the 230 and in Sport mode, it’s plenty fast for me but it’s still only a 4 cylinder. The Ford Flex with Ecoboost comes with a 6 cylinder twin turbo and as Joe240 says, has 365 horses pulling it.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by B58togo

So because it's a heavy vehicle, it has an acceleration advantage once in motion? Not sure I follow your logic.

The inertia of a rolling-start build of power is quicker than taking off from a dead stop.

[Rocky58]

Originally Posted by Poochie

The inertia of a rolling-start build of power is quicker than taking off from a dead stop.

Exactly, it has to do with the speed versus time graph - the slope, the acceleration, varies from speed to speed. Here are the 0-30 and 0-90 times of a 2019 Autoboost Ford Flex and a 2017 230.
Flex 0-30 mph (s): 2.2
0-90 mph (s): 12.6

230 0-30 mph (s): 2.0
0-90 mph (s): 12.4

The 230 is faster but the delta from 30 to 90 mph is 10.4 for both

This is just an example of how the curves for acceleration can vary over time depending on a lot of factors, including shift points. I have no idea why that Flex did so well against the OP's 230.

[230iZTR]

The Ford Ecoboost 3.5TT V6 is a detuned (or rather, not tuned up) version of the engine in the FordGT. When equipped with AWD, it hooks up really well and can run a quarter mile in about 14 flat in stock form, and mid 13's with a tune.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by 230iZTR

The Ford Ecoboost 3.5TT V6 is a detuned (or rather, not tuned up) version of the engine in the FordGT. When equipped with AWD, it hooks up really well and can run a quarter milele in about 14 flat, and mid 13's with a tune.

Oh, it's twin-turbo; well, there's your answer right there.. OP should of started with that

[Shovelman]

Originally Posted by Rocky58

Flex 0-30 mph (s): 2.2
0-90 mph (s): 12.6

230 0-30 mph (s): 2.0
0-90 mph (s): 12.4

The 230 is faster but the delta from 30 to 90 mph is 10.4 for both

I have no idea why that Flex did so well against the OP's 230.

Thanks for the numbers Rocky. The difference is now clear, if I add some details.

I didn't know we were racing till I got into 4th at about 40mph. At that point a downshift might have helped but I just kept the pedal down thinking that I'd pull away as my horses got their legs going, but the thundering herd behind didn't flag.

[liebetrau88]

Originally Posted by Rocky58

I'm not too surprised. Some of the Flex get low 14 quarter miles. And rolling 30-90 gives it an advantage. There's a lot of momentum with that whale going 30 mph!

Momentum has nothing to do with this, that's not how physics works. If both cars are traveling 30 mph, it will still take more effort/work to move the heavier car. Momentum is a relative motion. With that being said, the Flex could easily have more efficient gearing from a 30 mph roll and an optimized torque curve for this situation. That is what is giving it the "win", not momentum.

[morphomeman]

Yeah, 4th in 40 was just the wrong move.
Should have downshifted.
Live and learn. Next time, if there is a next time.

[Sportstick]

I guess just about any OEM can put increasingly more powerful motors in just about any vehicle. The more interesting part to me (work related) is that almost anything without a trunk that's not a minivan nor pickup is now almost-reflexively regarded as an "SUV"! All sorts of unibody tall cars have certainly had their status upgraded in the marketplace view over the last decade or so.

[XutvJet]

Did the OP begin accelerating at the same exact moment or before the SUV went WOT? Reaction time is everything. With equal accelerating cars, if you react even 0.5 seconds slower, you put yourself at a massive disadvantage in a race, especially a shorter one.

Years ago when I'd drag race my 1996 Maxima (don't laugh) which was good for lower 14s at 100mph, I would routinely out-react drivers of faster cars in the opposite lane. If I out-reacted the other driver by a 0.5 seconds (1/2 a second), I could end up outrunning a higher 13 second car because they simply didn't have the real estate to catch me in the 1/4 mile. To spectators, my Maxima appeared faster/quicker because the difference in reaction time looked very minimal and I would get the win light BUT the other car would post a faster/quicker 1/4 ET and MPH. They were also closing in on me quick and would have run around me had the race gone another few hundred feet.

[Gamb1t]

Bet he burned more gas than you did.... let's hope.

[chattanooga240]

Be careful of those SRT Jeeps running around too..

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Shovelman

I was not able to walk away, he stayed right with me....Schooled by a behemoth! Dented ego.

Filed under: There's Always Something Faster.

The funny thing about it is that today the sleepers are the ones you either didn't know about in the first place, or they're vehicles you imagined were slow but are not.

This is an remarkably wonderful time for performance vehicles of all shapes, sizes, and kinds.

[Maynard]

I'd prefer it if they were working on good driving dynamics, instead of putting monster power into slushboxes. I know - hopeless, but I can dream. Most Americans would trade good handling for an extra cupholder, let alone another 100hp.

[msej449]

And bear in mind you're probably being sensible, too, given you're on a public road. I have this a lot on mountain roads: Some people are prepared to risk their X5M straying off the tarmac, or swinging well into the oncoming lane at a hairpin. I'm not. Especially since where I drive, much of the road has no barrier, and going off-tarmac means rolling down the mountain. Simply not worth pushing the M235i anywhere near close to its limits when a small mistake means a horrible death. So I'm happy to let the big SUVs catch me up - I just pull away out of every corner and they spend half of the next straight trying to blow up their engine to catch up. And quite often, if a big truck is turning at a hairpin as they approach, they end up at a dead stop and have to reverse back

[B58togo]

Originally Posted by Poochie

The inertia of a rolling-start build of power is quicker than taking off from a dead stop.

Originally Posted by Rocky58

Exactly, it has to do with the speed versus time graph - the slope, the acceleration, varies from speed to speed. Here are the 0-30 and 0-90 times of a 2019 Autoboost Ford Flex and a 2017 230.
Flex 0-30 mph (s): 2.2
0-90 mph (s): 12.6

230 0-30 mph (s): 2.0
0-90 mph (s): 12.4

The 230 is faster but the delta from 30 to 90 mph is 10.4 for both

This is just an example of how the curves for acceleration can vary over time depending on a lot of factors, including shift points. I have no idea why that Flex did so well against the OP's 230.

So the Flex has more optimal gearing or is in its torque peak at 30 mph, and that is what is helping it; not its gargantuan mass.