The 0 in 0–60 Doesn't Always Mean Zero

Understanding zero-to-sixty times is quite easy. You start at zero, you accelerate, and when you hit 60 mph (97 kph), you gauge your speed. Even your grandma can grasp the concept, and if she’s cool enough, she probably did her fair share of pulls from a dig in her youth. There is one thing we need to consider, though.

Spend enough time looking at performance figures for American vehicles and eventually you’ll come across the phrase “one-foot rollout.” It comes from the world of drag racing, where the timing system allows the car to move a very short distance before actually tripping the beam and starting the clock.

In other words, the clock doesn’t start until the front tire moves forward to uncover the starting light beam, which is roughly one foot (30 cm) of travel. This makes sense for the drag strip.

The problem is when a 0-60 mph time measured with a rollout gets presented alongside one that wasn’t. Suddenly we’re dealing with numbers that may appear identical but aren’t measured in the exact same way. This isn’t a big deal when talking about cars that hit the mark in six or seven seconds. Who cares if your family car gets there in 6.8 or 7.0 seconds flat? Not me, and probably not you.

But we live in an era of two-second supercars, and the Corvette is literally the best example I can think of – mostly because it comes with such a wide range of performance outputs.

Here’s a bit of fun trivia for you. The Stingray can hit 60 mph in 2.9 seconds with the Z51 Performance Package. The Z06 does it in 2.6 seconds. The E-Ray needs 2.5 seconds. The ZR1 takes 2.3 seconds (with the ZTK Performance Package), while the ZR1X can rocket to 60 mph in an absurd 1.89 seconds on an unprepped surface, with standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber.

The thing is that all these numbers include the standard 1-foot rollout method. Meanwhile, European carmakers like Porsche, Ferrari, and Lamborghini measure straight-line performance from a strict, true standstill (0.0 mph). You can easily make the case for getting rid of the rollout altogether, but I’m not so sure that we should.

Picture this. You’re sitting at a light in your Corvette Stingray, and for whatever reason, you’re looking to get off the line as quickly as possible. I’m not saying you’re going all the way to 60 mph (that would probably mean breaking the law), but you’re getting pushed back into your seat either way. So, are you engaging Launch Control? Probably not.

You’re not sitting there with your left foot buried into the brake, your right foot flooring the accelerator, waiting for the light to turn green. That would be childish and unnecessary.

What you do is... you release the brake; the car begins to creep forward for a split second, and then you bury the throttle. By the time your rear wheels can put the power down, odds are you’ve already traveled something approaching that standard first foot anyway.

So, in a way, a rollout is actually closer to how most people accelerate their performance cars in everyday traffic. No launch control, no brake boosting, no nothing.

How much should I care?

Regarding whether or not your car’s 0-60 time is measured with a 1-foot roll? Probably not that much. Unless you’ve bought a ZR1 or ZR1X specifically for drag strip action. Otherwise, there’s nothing wrong with a 3-60 mph time. Just let it roll and nail it.

Then there’s 30-70 mph (50-112 kph), or 50-70 mph (80-112 kph). These types of numbers are nowhere near as exciting in a press release as 0-60, 0-124 (200 kph), or the top speed. But they tell you plenty about what happens when you pull out to overtake somebody. Even among serious performance enthusiasts, 60-130 mph (100-210 kph) has become increasingly important. Once you get going (in a straight line), traction matters way less than horsepower, aerodynamics and power-to-weight.

This is why I can’t get particularly angry about the one-foot rollout. Yes, manufacturers and publications should make it abundantly clear when it’s being used. If one car gets a running head start on the other, putting those numbers in the same table without an asterisk is... unfair, to say the least.

At the same time, moder cars have become so brutally fast from a dig, it’s beyond ridiculous. We’re talking family crossovers capable of outsprinting a Ferrari from the late 2000s. So, obsessing over one or two hundredths of a second doesn’t make much sense out here in the “real world” - and that goes double for those of us who own rear-wheel-drive cars.

As for me, usually, I’m not even stressing about pulling off a perfect launch, because there are way too many factors at play. From the surface to the tires, to whether or not I’ve got the car in “Sport” mode. I'd rather focus on other things.