C/D Fastest Cars of the 80s

[JST]

Car and Driver just pushed out a “Fastest Cars of the 80s”
compilation, which I thought was interesting to page through.

https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...st-cars-1980s/

It won’t surprise you to learn that the 959 was the fastest car they tested in the 80s, and for those of us that grew up then, the rest of the list isn’t that shocking either (though I was a little surprised about how fast the 512BB was). With all the talk here about how the 964s aren’t that quick by modern standards it’s also fascinating to see the ‘89 Carrera 4 make the list.

Speaking of modern standards, it’s also wild that my current fleet (other than the Jetta) all accelerate faster than most of the cars on this list and even give the 959 a run for it’s money; the Tesla launches harder, gets to 60 half a second faster, and even clears the quarter quicker (though it’s trap speed is slightly lower); the BMW struggles with traction but though it’s 4/10s behind at the 1/4 it’s actually got a higher trap speed than the 959.

But maybe the most surprising one for me was the Boxster. Despite its traction disadvantage (which helps explain it being 2/10s of a second slower to 60), it has the same 1/4 time as the 959 and even a higher trap speed.

Cars have gotten really fast.