Timing takeoff: The zero-to-60 measurement is a mysterious status symbol

The Bugatti Veyron is a zero-to-60 archetype -- hitting the mark in just 2.4 seconds. (Bugatti)

One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Miss -- boom! Congratulations, you've just hit 60 miles an hour. Or would have if you were piloting a Bugatti Veyron.

Instead, you're behind the wheel of an economy car, giving you time to recite the name of the state nine or 10 times before reaching that speed, with lingering pauses to take in the scenery.

Few car statistics are as time-honored -- or hoary -- as the zero-to-60-mph test. Car lovers are obsessed by it. It's a verdict that can end (or start) an argument.

Like all of my auto-writing brethren, I dutifully recount the zero-to-60 times for every vehicle I drive. With no racetrack or high-tech equipment at my disposal, I most often rely on the honesty of the carmaker's data. (Companies never fib, right?)

One of the fastest last year was the Ferrari Italia at a nausea-inducing 3.2 seconds. The slowest was the languorous Nissan Cube at about 10.

I absolutely adore speed and agree that we need a yardstick. But I'm not sure that the tenths of a second are as important as we pretend they are.

The matrix seems a bit random, somehow. The speed limit, after all, is often 35, 55 or 65. And while I suspect that 60 was outrageous in 1921, any econobox can scamper down the freeway at 85 today.

"Frankly, I don't know where the hell it started," says Csaba Csere, a former editor-in-chief of Car and Driver for 15 years. "I started at the magazine in 1980 and it was certainly well-established by then."

"It's older than the hills," agrees David Caldwell, Chevrolet's communications manager for two fast cars, the Corvette and Camaro. "It's like baseball's batting average. It might not be the single best measurement, but it is the first thing you see on the back of a baseball card."

After years of testing cars, I have a pretty good "butt meter," giving an idea of how quick a car is off the line. But even those who test performance data for a living admit they can't tell the difference between tenths of a second.

It sells cars, though. A Mississippi-slaughtering Lambo Superleggera is several tenths faster than the base Gallardo model. It's also some $35,000 extra.

Autos that do well in the rating have plenty of torque, a good power-to-weight ratio and the ability to gain traction right away.

The Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 goes from zero-to-60 in 2.9 seconds. (Lamborghini)

Publications such as Car and Driver go through considerable trouble testing zero-to-60 times. "It's still a pretty good measure of a car's everyday performance," Csere says. "After all, we all accelerate onto freeway ramps. Sixty straddles the national speed limit, so it is genuinely useful."

Still, your base 911 might not get anywhere near Porsche's posted time (4.7 seconds). Variance includes type of tires and tire pressure, exterior temperature and, of course, driver ability.

Caldwell says Chevy analyzes its cars in a way that is realistic and repeatable. But testing methods can be contentious. "Put a bunch of car geeks in a room to discuss methodology and it can come to blows," he says.

Case in point: The one-foot rollout. Many car companies and publications replicate the process of racing on a drag strip, where cars have about a foot to begin rolling forward from a standstill before the clock actually starts.

"With a rollout, in truth, you get maybe a 3-to-60 time," Csere says. Some consider it the industry's dirty little secret, but it is a longstanding legacy.