How DragGap estimates acceleration
A transparent explanation of DragGap’s 120 Hz vehicle model, timing gates, source hierarchy, calibration and limitations.
What the simulator calculates
DragGap numerically integrates each vehicle at 120 steps per second. At every step it calculates available wheel power, the lower of power-limited and traction-limited drive force, aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, transmission state and distance travelled. Timing gates are interpolated between steps rather than rounded to a rendered frame.
Inputs and source hierarchy
- Official: EPA configuration and fuel-economy records plus NHTSA vPIC identity.
- Supplemental: power, torque, mass, dimensions and published reference performance from the ODbL Open Vehicle Specs project when a generation and engine match is available.
- Modelled: missing drag coefficient, frontal area, gear ratios, traction and shift behaviour use body- and drivetrain-specific engineering defaults.
What the results mean
Results are reproducible engineering estimates for comparing vehicles under identical dry, level conditions. They are not certified measurements and cannot represent production variation, tyre condition, launch control, driver technique, elevation, temperature, wind or surface preparation. The interface exposes which fields are exact and which are estimated.
Accuracy validation
The included deterministic audit spans nine FWD, RWD and AWD cars with manual, torque-converter automatic and dual-clutch transmissions. Against published instrumented 0–60 mph and quarter-mile references, the current model records a 2.5% mean absolute percentage error, with a 2.8% untouched validation subset. These figures describe that audit set, not guaranteed error for every vehicle.