"The Infinite Improbability Drive is a wonderful new method of crossing interstellar distances in a few seconds, without all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace. As the Improbability Drive reaches infinite improbability, it passes through every conceivable point in every conceivable universe almost simultaneously. So you're never sure where you'll end up or even what species you'll be when you get there. It's therefore important to dress accordingly. The Drive was invented following research into finite improbability often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molecules in the hostess's undergarments leap one foot to the left in accordance with the theory of indeterminacy. Many physicists said they wouldn't stand for that sort of thing, partly because it debased science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of parties." Hitchhiker's Guide
It depends on your frame of reference.
From inside the ship, light speed is faster. You travel arbitrary distance in an instant.
Outside the ship, everyone else sees you moving 1 light year per year, but for passengers, the voyage is essentially a forward-only time machine.From outside the ship, warp speed is faster. Observers will see the warp bubble with a ship inside it moving >1 light year per year, and because it will arrive at its destination before light from the ships own past will arrive there, it acts like a view-only backwards time machine.
To be clear, even if you're moving at 1000x the speed of light, and have figured out a way around relativity so that you don't have time dilation (and so you can, y'know, go faster than the speed of light), galactic distances are still so vast that interstellar traffic is largely not feasible. Our galaxy--one of billions, trillions, or more--is about 2M light years across. Going all the way across the galaxy at 1000x the speed of light would still take 2000 years.
"She'll make .5 past lightspeed."
Lightspeed seems to be a catch-all layterm that means the speed of light and everything faster. Hyperspace is a better description of what's happening. And different ships traverse hyperspace at different speeds depending on their engine.
"I've outrun Imperial starships. I don't mean the local bulk cruisers, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now."
Which is faster? I guess it would depend on which ships you're comparing to each other.
The Star Wars universe doesn't make much sense spatially anyway. Locations are as close or as far apart as the plot requires, sometimes ridiculously so, and never more or less.
I assumed that the SciFi show would adhere to the laws of Physics
