Are Bikes Faster than Cars? A Breakdown of the Performance
In this article, we analyze the performance of cars and bikes to understand which is faster.
The bikes vs. cars argument is an old one and has generated a lot of discussion. Each side has their own reasons why each one is better. Bike guys always praise the acceleration and agility of bikes, while car guys hold that cars have more traction and cornering speed.
Both sides have their own reasons, so we will breakdown the performance of each in order to understand which is faster.
The main difference between bikes and cars is that bikes are way smaller and lighter than cars. The average high-performance bike weighs around 200 kg (441 lbs), while the average sports car weighs around 1,500 kg (3307 lbs).
On the contrary, supercars are more powerful than bikes. Usually, bikes have around 200/250 hp, while cars have 3 to 4 times more power.
So, despite cars having much more power, the power-to-weight ratio is higher on bikes. Which means that, usually, bikes have better acceleration than cars.
The aerodynamics of a vehicle is very important when traveling at high speeds. Bikes have a small frontal area and are smaller compared to cars. However, cars have a lower drag coefficient. This is because cars have a more streamlined body, while bikes, despite being smaller and having windshields, have a more uneven body, which causes turbulence at high speeds.
Another crucial characteristic is downforce. Bikes don't have wings and ground effect as cars do. This makes cars have much more traction and grip, especially around fast corners.
The most obvious difference between bikes and cars is that bikes have two wheels and cars have four. This reflects in more traction and grip for cars. So, even if bikes can accelerate faster than cars, cars can go faster around corners.
Another significant difference is braking capability. Even though bikes are lighter, they have lower grip due to weight and having only two wheels. Therefore, bikes take longer to brake than cars.
Even though bikes might have better acceleration and agility than cars, cars have better traction and grip. Therefore, being faster depends on the type of track or challenge we're talking about.
