Suzuki Samurai was Re: [geeks] SPARC proprietary (waaaay

[wa2egp at att.net]

> Well, that's because dragracing doesn't really involve any skills that
> are of significant use in everyday driving. 

Yeah, I can see that.  Just have to be in the correct gear.

> This is NOT true of F1
> roadracing.  Up to a certain point, any idiot with a heavy right foot
> can accelerate hard in a straight line, and I've heard it said even by
> professional racing drivers that all an oval-track racer needs is a
> heavy right foot and a heavy left hand, but it takes real-world skills
> to circumnavigate a track like, say, Laguna Seca at even moderate speed.
> Those skills are likely to stand you in very good stead if it all goes
> pear-shaped on the street one day.  You will be more aware of how hard
> you can brake and maintain control, and of how much speed you need to
> shed before you CAN swerve around that jack-knifed semi without spinning
> out, and so on.


> Please don't tell me at this point that antilock brakes will solve
> everything.  A good driver can stop in a shorter distance in a car
> without antilock brakes than in one so equipped, because antilock brakes
> may let the unskilled mash the brake pedal to the floor without locking
> the wheels, but they actually keep the skilled driver from reaching the
> limits of braking effectiveness.  ABS hits the ragged edge and releases,
> hits the ragged edge and releases, over and over; but a skilled driver
> can hit the ragged edge and *hold* it there.
> 
I am so glad I don't have ABS.  I took "professional" driving instruction
and one lesson was on ice during the winter.  I was well taught how to 
pump brakes.

> Contests of raw acceleration will not make you a better driver on the
> street, and oval-track racing probably won't contribute much either.
> F1 road-course racing does.

Sometimes I think the street is a combination of all the different kinds of
racing with some Mad Max driving thrown in. (heh, heh)