Deceptively fast?

[TEG]

It might also have something to do with the fact that so many of us are coming from Priuses or 4-cylinder economy cars. The LEAF feels like a race car after driving the Prius around.

I test drove a Tesla Roadster and then a Leaf "back to back"... And guess what - the Leaf felt really slow by comparison.
Everything is relative...

 

[EVDRIVER]

It might also have something to do with the fact that so many of us are coming from Priuses or 4-cylinder economy cars. The LEAF feels like a race car after driving the Prius around.

I test drove a Tesla Roadster and then a Leaf "back to back"... And guess what - the Leaf felt really slow by comparison.
Everything is relative...

Did you floor the Tesla? If you did you would surely know the cars are not even comparable, an econobox to one of the faster cars on the road. I would not call the two relative, more like distant

 

[TEG]

Did you floor the Tesla? If you did you would surely know the cars are not even comparable, an econobox to one of the faster cars on the road. I would not call the two relative, more like distant

Of course - every chance I got.
And yes, night and day.

 

[cdub]

Did you floor the Tesla? If you did you would surely know the cars are not even comparable, an econobox to one of the faster cars on the road. I would not call the two relative, more like distant

Of course - every chance I got.
And yes, night and day.

30 thousand dollar car vs a 120 thousand dollar car. Of course it's night and day.

 

[IBELEAF]

Leaf is somewhere in between of 4 cyl and a v6. I am comparing it to 150hp Sentra that it replaced and my other car which is v6 CUV with 220 hp

 

[EVDRIVER]

It's not about price, the LEAF could have significantly more power at a minimal cost if desired. The car was designed and specified more toward efficiency, if it had more power people would use it and complain about the range. It's an 80kw motor designed for a specific power curve.

 

[trentr]

I'm sure most of you have seen this but will post it anyway. 11.8 secs quarter mile. Tesla is around 12.7 secs

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrHXdM9f13k[/youtube]

 

[DannyAmes]

It's not about price, the LEAF could have significantly more power at a minimal cost if desired. The car was designed and specified more toward efficiency, if it had more power people would use it and complain about the range. It's an 80kw motor designed for a specific power curve.

I couldn't agree more..!

The Leaf is well balanced between range and performance.
It maintains that normal car feel an average ICE car has only smoother.

Off topic-
Now lets see how efficient Ford builds their upcoming en mass EV Ford Focus and then draw comparisons in range to a Leaf.
It will be interesting since its a similar sized 23 KW propulsion pack and a larger 123 HP electric motor.

I hope Ford does a great job, this is a tall order.
Nice to have more EV's on the road no matter who makes them.


http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/11q1/2012_ford_focus_electric_official_photos_and_info-auto_shows

 

[Boomer23]

I'm sure most of you have seen this but will post it anyway. 11.8 secs quarter mile. Tesla is around 12.7 secs

Great to watch again. And if you listen all the way to the end, he got the quarter down to "under 11.5 seconds".

 

[Boomer23]

It might also have something to do with the fact that so many of us are coming from Priuses or 4-cylinder economy cars. The LEAF feels like a race car after driving the Prius around.

I test drove a Tesla Roadster and then a Leaf "back to back"... And guess what - the Leaf felt really slow by comparison.
Everything is relative...

I have never driven a Tesla Roadster and I probably never will, for this very reason. There is a Tesla dealership in Newport Beach, less than 10 miles away and I won't even walk in there because after I drive that, nothing else will measure up. I don't need the aggravation, or the envy.

 

[smkettner]

It's not about price, the LEAF could have significantly more power at a minimal cost if desired. The car was designed and specified more toward efficiency, if it had more power people would use it and complain about the range. It's an 80kw motor designed for a specific power curve.

I wonder what range 60kw motor would have given

 

[TEG]

...
I have never driven a Tesla Roadster and I probably never will, for this very reason. There is a Tesla dealership in Newport Beach, less than 10 miles away and I won't even walk in there because after I drive that, nothing else will measure up. I don't need the aggravation, or the envy.

If it is any consolation:

The Leaf is easier to get in and out of.
The Leaf has a lot more headroom.
The Leaf has more rearward visibility.
The Leaf is a lot easier to steer at low speeds (Roadster has no power steering.)
The Leaf seats are more comfortable.
The Leaf carries more people and more luggage.
The Leaf is quieter inside at highway speeds.
The Leaf has keyless entry/exit/start.
The Leaf has nice bright LED headlights.
The Leaf offers J1772 standard not a proprietary connector.
You don't have to push aside a heard of onlookers to get into your car.
You don't have to worry as much about other cars not seeing you. (The Roadster is small and low to the ground.)
You don't have to worry about a door ding being a $10K carbon fiber repair.

I won't bother listing all the great things about the Roadster that we miss out on.

 

[IBELEAF]

Missed the most important selling point about Leaf... it is about 1/4 of what Tesla costs

 

[Herm]

I wonder what range 60kw motor would have given

It can be done easily with software, or by your foot.. but US drivers would resent having their power and top speed limited. Europeans are used to driving with much less power, 0-60 times of 12-15 seconds are common.. so perhaps Nissan could re-calibrate the eco mode for Europe. My guess 50kw would be fine.

 

[wishboneash]

Well, we can always put up a "My big brother is a Tesla Roadster" licence plate. That will leave most of the cars in the dust! :lol:

 

[LEAFer]

From a PHYSICAL size perspective ... it should be "My little brother is a Tesla Roadster" :lol:

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/870-Fisker-Karma?p=71631&viewfull=1#post71631

 

[Devin]

I'd certainly say the fastest feeling car I've ever been in is a Tesla Roadster S. They didn't allow me to drive it because of my age and their insurance but one of the Tesla reps took me for a spin in it. Just as well since I wouldn't have had the guts to give it the beans quite like he did.

That said, compared to ICE performance vehicles I would say the Leaf is certainly up there in 0-40 acceleration. It certainly feels as fast as my mom's Maserati Quattroporte which despite the 400HP Ferrari-sourced V8 has the severe disadvantage of having to hunt for gears with the automated manual system. My dad and I joke about how the Maserati is the most disappointing plug in of all as it has to stay on the battery trickle charger at all times or else the computer gets confused after a few days and it has to be flatbedded to the dealer for a reset.

To me the Leaf seems a little faster on the low end than my dad's Volt but I haven't driven the Volt in EV mode as much as I'd like. Range-extending mode in the Volt sucks a lot of the fun out of the performance of that car. I'd say the Leaf and Volt are on par for 0-40 but the Volt takes the cake on it's way to 70.

Of all the cars I've driven I'd say the Leaf feels most similar to my parents former 2001 Jaguar XJ8-L. That car had one of the smoothest powertrains I've ever driven and a healthy 290HP V8 on hand. It also had a very comfortable and smooth ride and handling, similar to the Leaf, yet also not numb or imprecise like a Chevy Impala or Toyota Avalon. The main place where the Leaf beats it is the instantaneous response. In the Jag there was always some degree of lag from pushing the pedal down to the car actually getting a move on. Probably a lot to do with the weight and length versus the Leaf.

 

[aqn]

Keep in mind that the results for these cars are all most likely manual transmissions which require a decent amount of skill and a certain amount of abuse to produce those types of performance figures.

And furthermore, the LEAF cranks out 200+ ft-lbs at zero RPM. Even fire-breathing hairy-chested cars need to get their revs up a bit before they'd see that kind of torque. I'd bet on the LEAF in 25-foot or 0-20 mph races .

For me the deception is midrange acceleration.

I would agree that the LEAF is a very easy car to drive quickly around town. It is wonderfully torquey between 15-40.

This is one of the LEAF's characteristics that I thoroughly enjoy. At just about any speed, a stomp yields immediate response, which is exactly the kind of behavior I need when I need to "stomp": to get out of where I am, or get to the spot where I want to/need to be, quickly.

In cars with a manual transmission, that would require a downshift (probably about 1 to 1.5 seconds; yeah, it seems like it should take less than that), unless one is in the habit of keeping the engine in the fat part of the powerband all the time. In cars with automatic transmission, it'd take probably almost a second for the transmission to shift down. Automated manual transmissions, even those with dual clutches, would probably not be able to downshift instantaneously, especially if one wants a downshift when the transmission controller is predicting an upshift.

I tried to find some 40-60 or 60-80 times but it seems roadandtrack.com and caranddriver.com no longer test for that kind of performance. That information would be highly illuminating.

And finally, this thread's title should probably read "Deceptively quick?" not "Deceptively fast?". The LEAF's top speed is in the mid-90s, and it takes a while to get there, so I don't think I would call the LEAF "deceptively fast"!

 

[TEG]

Keep in mind that the results for these cars are all most likely manual transmissions which require a decent amount of skill and a certain amount of abuse to produce those types of performance figures.

And furthermore, the LEAF cranks out 200+ ft-lbs at zero RPM. Even fire-breathing hairy-chested cars need to get their revs up a bit before they'd see that kind of torque. I'd bet on the LEAF in 25-foot or 0-20 mph races .

Keep in mind that with a fixed gear ratio the Leaf acts like it is always stuck in "4th" gear.
So, you don't have the mechanical advantage of a lower gear ratio to torque multiply at low RPMs.
So all that low end torque is muted a bit, particularly right off the line.

 

[aqn]

Keep in mind that the results for these cars are all most likely manual transmissions which require a decent amount of skill and a certain amount of abuse to produce those types of performance figures.

And furthermore, the LEAF cranks out 200+ ft-lbs at zero RPM.

Keep in mind that with a fixed gear ratio the Leaf acts like it is always stuck in "4th" gear.

Good point!