Wheels Car of the Year 2023 by the numbers: Acceleration and braking

Here’s a question: how many metres do you think it takes a Ford Ranger Raptor to come to a complete stop from 100km/h?

And are electric cars really as fast against the stopwatch as their manufacturers claim? Oh sure, their instant torque means they feel fast, but how do they actually go against the clock?

Okay, technically that’s two questions – but the answers, as you can see from the below data tables, are enlightening.

Empirical data has long been a core component of the Wheels Car of the Year judging process. It doesn’t only provide some hard data to factor into our decision making process as we look to assess performance, handling and fuel efficiency, but it can occasionally produce some eye-opening results. The Ranger Raptor’s 51.7m dry braking distance from 100km/h being just one example.

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As the 2023 COTY story evolves, the list of stories below will grow. Keep an eye on this page for more, or find it all at our COTY page.

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For context, the best dry braking result from this year’s field of 26 cars was 34.6 metres by the Tesla Model Y RWD – meaning a Raptor needs a full 17.1 metres more space to stop from the same speed.

See what I mean about eye-opening?

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As for whether EVs are as quick as they claim to be? The answer is a definitive yes.

The Audi RS E-tron GT, for example, was the quickest car in the field, and actually beat its claim to hit 0-100km/h in 3.2 seconds. And in reassuring news, Audi’s new electric flagship was also one of the best in the braking discipline and only needed 36.0m to come to a complete stop.

We won’t spoil the fun of diving into the data tables and drawing your own conclusions, but here are a few other notable results:

While the Ranger Raptor performed dismally in the braking exercise, it actually beat its 0-100m/h claim by a significant margin with a figure of 6.1 seconds. That’s hot-hatch fast from a 2.5-tonne dual-cab ute. Not bad.

The Range Rover P530 was another strong contender in the 0-100km/h discipline that struggled, hard, in the braking exercise with a stopping distance of 47.6m. Seems there’s a theme developing there: big power + big weight = mixed results. (Who'd have guessed...)

It’s also worth noting that all of the Fords we had on test (Rangers + Everests) were on all-terrain tyres, which helps, in part, to explain their finishing spots. Had we conducted the same tests on dirt, it’s likely they’d finish at the pointy end.

Finally, a couple of housekeeping notes.

For consistency, all of the below numbers were collected on the same day, in the same location and by the same pair of drivers. Each car was also tested multiple times with the figures below being the best figure achieved, excluding any outliers. A freak 0-100km/h number that couldn’t be repeated, for example, wasn’t included.

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Acceleration: 0-100km/h

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Dry braking: 100-0km/h

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