Unsafe at any speed

[P F Tinmore]

Sorry Ralph.

 

[Pogo]

?

 

[blastoff]

Yeah, Ralph, stick it.

Like to know what's powering that thing and what class he's racing in. Missed an apex or two but overall pretty decent driving. Not his first rodeo for sure.

 

[P F Tinmore]

Yeah, Ralph, stick it.

Like to know what's powering that thing and what class he's racing in. Missed an apex or two but overall pretty decent driving. Not his first rodeo for sure.

I'm not sure but there is a lot of knowledge and technology that was not available 50 years ago when the car was new.

Those old Corvairs usually run D Production.

 

[Pogo]

Yeah, Ralph, stick it.

Like to know what's powering that thing and what class he's racing in. Missed an apex or two but overall pretty decent driving. Not his first rodeo for sure.

I'm not sure what the point of this was supposed to be --- I kept waiting for the crash, didn't find it --- but that car is either grossly unstable or I'm drunk. And it's not the latter.

 

[blastoff]

Yeah, Ralph, stick it.

Like to know what's powering that thing and what class he's racing in. Missed an apex or two but overall pretty decent driving. Not his first rodeo for sure.

I'm not sure what the point of this was supposed to be --- I kept waiting for the crash, didn't find it --- but that car is either grossly unstable or I'm drunk. And it's not the latter.

I take it you've never driven a car at speed on a road race course full of cars of your class and several others. It's great fun that takes a good degree of skill and experience to do as well as this guy's exhibiting in an iconic car. Try it, you'll like it.

 

[Pogo]

Yeah, Ralph, stick it.

Like to know what's powering that thing and what class he's racing in. Missed an apex or two but overall pretty decent driving. Not his first rodeo for sure.

I'm not sure what the point of this was supposed to be --- I kept waiting for the crash, didn't find it --- but that car is either grossly unstable or I'm drunk. And it's not the latter.

I take it you've never driven a car at speed on a road race course full of cars of your class and several others. It's great fun that takes a good degree of skill and experience to do as well as this guy's exhibiting in an iconic car. Try it, you'll like it.

Look, I agree the guy is skilled to keep this car on the road. But look at what the car is doing that he has to overcome and correct. This car's a design disaster.

What I appreciate is a car that does exactly what I tell it, no matter how outrageous the order. That's why I drive a MINI on these hairpin Appalachian switchbacks --- I don't want a car that behaves as erratically as this one.

 

[Moonglow]

It's a Corvair what do you expect..Even in the 1970's they made for good yard ornaments..

 

[blastoff]

Yeah, Ralph, stick it.

Like to know what's powering that thing and what class he's racing in. Missed an apex or two but overall pretty decent driving. Not his first rodeo for sure.

I'm not sure what the point of this was supposed to be --- I kept waiting for the crash, didn't find it --- but that car is either grossly unstable or I'm drunk. And it's not the latter.

I take it you've never driven a car at speed on a road race course full of cars of your class and several others. It's great fun that takes a good degree of skill and experience to do as well as this guy's exhibiting in an iconic car. Try it, you'll like it.

Look, I agree the guy is skilled to keep this car on the road. But look at what the car is doing that he has to overcome and correct. This car's a design disaster.

What I appreciate is a car that does exactly what I tell it, no matter how outrageous the order. That's why I drive a MINI on these hairpin Appalachian switchbacks --- I don't want a car that behaves as erratically as this one.

If you were driving your MINI at much higher speeds while attempting to negotiate those switchbacks it would react more erratically too. That's the difference. On a road course, or ovals or tri-ovals for that matter, you gotta be aggressive speed-wise. If you're not willing or don't know how to hang it out there on the edge you're not going to win, let along finish well. It's not all just raw speed though. It's a combination of it and how well you handle the turns/corners. You have to know how to set yourself up entering one in order to get through it cleanly and back on the gas so you bleed off as little speed as possible. Screwing up various aspects of that can also contribute to looking "erratic" out there, but really that's the driver's fault not the car's.

Nice choice on your MINI. Do you like it? I've been eyeballing them for a while now and might just take the leap one of these days. BMW's really done a lot for the brand and they're doing well and gaining in popularity with the SCCA crowd.

 

[Flanders]

Sorry Ralph.

To P F Tinmore: Just a reminder:

. . . blackmail was media’s business model long before television. The same form of blackmail was done to every industry relying on consumer trust: “Advertise or we crucify your product.” Ralph Nader upset the applecart when he attacked the auto industry with his book. The auto industry spent a fortune every year in product advertising. Nader’s exposé came along and did exactly what Detroit paid blackmail to prevent.​

Corvair: Unsafe at Any Speed​

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...bIEeiqwp13pmhhdRoQ426ye0rZcq8TCauBa8a_l9112It

Untrue At Any Time

 

[Pogo]

If you were driving your MINI at much higher speeds while attempting to negotiate those switchbacks it would react more erratically too. That's the difference.

At some point, any vehicle will lose it of course. But no, the MINI is never "erratic". It corners as if it's on rails, which is what I like most about it. I could count on one hand the times it started to understeer and I had to correct, and they were both unfamiliar turns (one was a sudden ramp on a wet roadway while carrying a piano). But nothing like the fishtailing this Corvair is doing. That thing isn't driving so much as oozing.

On a road course, or ovals or tri-ovals for that matter, you gotta be aggressive speed-wise. If you're not willing or don't know how to hang it out there on the edge you're not going to win, let along finish well. It's not all just raw speed though. It's a combination of it and how well you handle the turns/corners. You have to know how to set yourself up entering one in order to get through it cleanly and back on the gas so you bleed off as little speed as possible. Screwing up various aspects of that can also contribute to looking "erratic" out there, but really that's the driver's fault not the car's.

I live in Appalachia. Take your index finger and bend it all the way down to the palm of your hand-- now look at your knuckle. That's what the switchbacks look like on the highway I at the end of this road. So I know from cornering.

Nice choice on your MINI. Do you like it? I've been eyeballing them for a while now and might just take the leap one of these days. BMW's really done a lot for the brand and they're doing well and gaining in popularity with the SCCA crowd.

I like it and It's also annoying. I like that it rides on rails. It's also bulky and heavy, and has gotten progressively bulkier and heavier the longer BMW owns it. They can't seem to leave well enough alone. Then there s the maintenance --- it gets a little old having the dealer say, "well your right rear taillight's out, we'll have to replace the whole quarter panel for 3600 bucks".

It's for sale actually... Pepper white.

 

[P F Tinmore]

A car's reason for being is to get you where you are going. Living in northern Ohio that can get difficult.

 

[blastoff]

A car's reason for being is to get you where you are going. Living in northern Ohio that can get difficult.

Like my '62 VW Beetle, with the engine weight over the rear drive it probably does well in snow if someone's not hot rodding it around.

 

[P F Tinmore]

Yeah, Ralph, stick it.

Like to know what's powering that thing and what class he's racing in. Missed an apex or two but overall pretty decent driving. Not his first rodeo for sure.

I'm not sure what the point of this was supposed to be --- I kept waiting for the crash, didn't find it --- but that car is either grossly unstable or I'm drunk. And it's not the latter.

I never experienced any bad behavior from any of mine. (I had four all early models) Under normal driving you could not tell you were driving a rear engine car. However, the car was so much fun to drive it was easy to drive one hard. So I can see why some people could get into trouble. I had mine in a four wheel drift regularly but it never spun around.

 

[blastoff]

Never had any problems with snow with any of my VWs as long as I wasn't doing something stupid. Know a guy older than me who told me back in the day he'd put oversized STUDDED snow tires on his VW and says it was invincible, go through any amount of snow even when he was looking for mischief with it.