Can a small car pull into traffic faster than a large car?

Answer

yes and no.

The size of a car is indeed one of the factors in how well a car can pull into traffic. But it is not the only factor. Another, equally important, factor is the horsepower of the engine. (A purist would note that it is actually the available torque at the drive wheels that matters, but for simplicity's sake, just think of horsepower as the second factor.)

The ability to pull a car into traffic is dependent upon how quickly it can achieve a speed which matches that of the traffic. The weight to horsepower ratio will determine ease of reaching the appropriate speed. Smaller cars can be successful with smaller engines, but larger cars can be equally successful if they have larger engines.

90% (a WAG, but probably pretty reasonable WAG or "wild assed guess") of the challenge of getting a car to merge with traffic is related to time to get up to speed. Once at the same speed as the traffic, the merge process is merely the ability to find the physical space for your car to fit between two car's bumpers. Since most drivers allow multiple car lengths between themselves, the difference in length between a "small" car and a "large" car is negligible.

So, the issue is something like 90% getting to speed and 10% (or less) finding the space for your car to fit between two cars on the road.... On the other hand, if your "car" is a 40ft motorhome, then there might be another story...:-)

My 2 cents:

The above seems to be about right. Also note that in a situation where you're making a turn into traffic a smaller car (with a shorter wheelbase) can usually be better angled as you stop. Thus, you might be stopped at a 90 degree T intersection, and by steering just so, you can make that 85 degrees you have to turn while accelerating in a 1978 Lincoln Continental, but in a 2003 Honda Civic (shorter vehicle) you can angle the car as you stop so that you only have to turn 60 degrees while accelerating.

Added thought

Don't forget to add traction to the equation. Not only do you need a good power to weight ratio for fast acceleration, you need to have enough traction to support it. It is common to see vehicles try to enter traffic in a winter storm forget that the don't have enough traction to safely enter traffic, no matter how much power they have.

First answer by skip. Last edit by Tigerman67. Contributor trust: 27 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 155 [recommend question]

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