To be precise, in SC our ships can reach warp factor 7.3 (2001c) (and yes, it is a reference)The way I think of space flight in Elite if I were explaining it to a fellow Trekkie nerd is like:
1) Normal speed = Impulse engines
2) Supercruise = Warp 1 inter-system travel (First Contact)
3) Hyperspace = Warp 10 (Voyager episode I forget the name of)
Hyperspace is more like a wormhole jump from Stargate or Event Horizon - almost instant traversal of any distance (limit being our FSD and how far ahead it can "target" a star)