Top 10 least powerful cars on sale in the U.S.

To me, the problem with having a "powerful" vehicle, is unless you have access to a race track, where do you go where you can routinely benefit from the usually unneeded power of the vehicle?

A vehicle is only under powered, if it doesn't have enough power to meet your routine needs.

I really don't have anything against the personal choice to want more power, even if it is wasteful. But my observation is in the real world most people are NOT hauling huge Yachts behind their Pick-Ups...and/or seldom do we have the need or ability to go from 0-60 in less than 3 seconds.

It all depends on how you want to define "Powerful"....yes, torque and speed can be called powerful. But I think it's pretty "powerful" to be able to pass gas stations as opposed to being able to pass other commuters.

 

^^ I try to keep track of the number of times I have floored the fuel pedal in my hybrids over the past 8 years:

once for show;
twice to beat a yellow light (that I should have stopped for.)

 

Every day on every on-ramp. Just like you're supposed to. It's quite annoying for everyone else when people forget/refuse/space-out on on-ramps and fail to accelerate at a reasonable rate to anywhere near the new speed limit [or minimums if they apply], let alone merge with traffic. For "low-power" cars like ours, flooring it is a reasonable acceleration rate when you have to jump from a 30 MPH access road to a 70 MPH interstate with only a few hundred foot on-ramp.

Flooring the accelerator isn't to be immature and show off or to break the law, it's to improve everyone's safety when merging by reducing the speed deltas. There should be no correlation between your anger/hormone levels and the position of the accelerator.

 

In the Mazda 808 Mizer, Mazda GLC, and in the Toyota Corolla All-trac wagon I spent 100% of the time I was accelerating, floored. (under 30 HP per drive wheel will encourage that) With the gen 2 Prius I am rarely floored, all the power I need happens before I find the floor.

 

I've never felt the need to floor mine, and I'm very conscious of drivers behind me. But most of the on-ramps I use are pretty long, giving plenty of time to get to speed (often without even entering the power zone) before reaching the highway.

 

i own a 2011 mx 5 that i drive for fun and for a sports car still considered underpowered ,But fun is fun and its fun to drive ,i do enjoy driving my c its a different kind of fun getting city milage like a moped and the skill it takes to squeak every mpg out of the car thats fun too .It is also a very relaxed drive unlike any car i ve owned.

 

It says that the "Least Powerful Car" list is really, really stupid.

Maybe they should call it the "Requires Fewest Soldiers Dying in Middle East Oil Wars" list.

 

1967 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 0-60 mph 10.8 Quarter mile 17.4
1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 0-60 mph 11.6 Quarter mile 18.4
1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II 0-60 mph 11.2 Quarter mile 18.4

 

Which would be more anserine by far.