I refuse to have a vehicle with a computer screen in it, or one that talks to me, and even expects me to answer.....that rules out a lot of what's made today. They are not cheap.....that makes the list even shorter.
As far as computer traction and braking management, I'm OK with it as long as I can turn it off when needed, and it doesn't intrude into my driving. Some high powered cars like the newer Corvettes will actually accelerate faster with the system on than with it off unless a VERY SKILLED driver is at the wheel.
A friend who was an ex cop with years of experience in snow and ice had a Z06 Corvette with a three position switch, Normal, Expert, and OFF. On a dry road in Expert, you just planted your foot on the throttle and it ripped off consistent low 12 second 1/4 mile runs with just a hint of tire spin through first gear. In OFF it was nearly impossible to drive without smoking tires, and high 12 second times were the norm. it was scary that you could launch the car with minimum tire spin, then halfway through first they would break loose without warning. After a year or two, he traded it for a 6 series BMW.
I drove a 2008 Honda Element for the last 10 years. It had just enough power to spin one of the front wheels when hammered hard especially from a stop into a turn. The traction control system would try to correct that with a few pulses to the brakes on the offending wheel. That's acceptable.
If it couldn't correct in that manner, it cut all engine power, with a hysteresis effect that could produce a delay of a second or more if a wheel slipped bad enough to let the engine rev into the thousands. That's NOT acceptable and dangerous. This delay made it impossible to pull out of our dirt road onto the main road on a snowy or icy morning without turning the system off, as there is a blind corner about 500 ft away and often a speeding truck is coming around it. A one second delay would let that truck slam into my motionless vehicle. I imagine that newer "drive by wire" systems are better, but I have not driven any.
The van I bought is a used 2015 Ford Transit Connect, made in Spain. It's a basic cargo van, doesn't even have a CD player. It's probably drive by wire, but it's not intrusive.
It is a thing that have to be tested more on the new generation IMO because it seems to me that they've worked a lot on the subject, the abusive exponential throttle curve gives the impression that you are driving a dragster since around 80% of the power is delivered at the half way of the pedal stroke moreover it is impossible to smoke the wheels even if one of the tyre is on a slipery surface.
Habitually when you are perparing a rapid "stop" start you keep the revs over 3000 and manage the traction with the clutch keeping the motor contantly around the torque peak in order to control the wheel spin without loosing the motor torque high enough, i've done that with a new car and it don't seems to have any effect... the feeling is not there and i don't know how to recover it.
Silverprout:
You say numbers mean nothing which isn’t true IMHO. You just can’t use just one number!
Hp plus weight give you some idea of the car’s accceleration.
You mention a motorcycle engine in a heavy car would be slow. That’s exactly my point. Today’s cars are heavier, therefore 200hp in a small car isn’t excessive. It fact far from it.
Plus that cheap little Fiesta had very few “computer assisted functions” so maybe that’s one of the reasons it was so fun. You seem to contradict yourself a lot in your arguments
You say numbers mean nothing which isn’t true IMHO. You just can’t use just one number!
Hp plus weight give you some idea of the car’s accceleration.
You mention a motorcycle engine in a heavy car would be slow. That’s exactly my point. Today’s cars are heavier, therefore 200hp in a small car isn’t excessive. It fact far from it.
Plus that cheap little Fiesta had very few “computer assisted functions” so maybe that’s one of the reasons it was so fun. You seem to contradict yourself a lot in your arguments
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If that's the case, the answer is still no, not professionally. There were several of us who worked together at Motorola who raced our cars in sanctioned autocross events in the amateur classes, which were slower and safer. There was no wheel to wheel racing on the road courses, just you against the clock. Cars were spaced out on the track such that they would not be near each other, and if one did encounter another car, you were to slow and not pass.
I had never attended any of the schools and on track sessions needed for a racing license, but some of our group did have racing licenses and raced in the open classes, and at "real tracks" like Sebring, Daytona, and what is now PBIR. All cars in these events needed a full cage, fire suppression system, a 5 point seat harness, and other safety tech.
Some of us had memberships in NHRA or SCCA. I think I had both cards for a couple years in the 80's, just because it worked out that was the cheapest way to race, and some of the good events were open to members only.
Is the "café racer" a myth ?
One upon a time in the end of the 90' in the heart of the city there was a place that was called "le quartier des banques" with a big pub in the center where everyone was coming at the "pause"... strange noises were harangued by the mob.
The car bos was a Dodge viper and the mororbike boss was an old 1100 gsxr because the road was too bumpy for the intense torque of the yamaha yzf-r1.
One upon a time in the end of the 90' in the heart of the city there was a place that was called "le quartier des banques" with a big pub in the center where everyone was coming at the "pause"... strange noises were harangued by the mob.
The car bos was a Dodge viper and the mororbike boss was an old 1100 gsxr because the road was too bumpy for the intense torque of the yamaha yzf-r1.
The most beautiful cafe racer I ever laid eyes on was a 250 BSA at a bike show in Battersea Park London in 1976. It was georgeous.
Cafe racer - Wikipedia
Cafe racer - Wikipedia
The most beautiful cafe racer I ever laid eyes on was a 250 BSA at a bike show in Battersea Park London in 1976. It was georgeous.
I don’t know about beautiful, this more of a rat bike, but i converted a Yamaha Exciter 250 into a café bike. Stripped everthing i could off, put the front end from an RD400 on it moving the tubes up further into the triple clamps to improve the rake, clip-ons, the rear wheel from an XS650, and the fattest Avon Venoms i could fit. Well under 300 lbs. Didn’t go all that fast, but it handled incredibly and with the relatively big disk up front and the fat sticky tires braked really well. Once when i had to do an emergency stop to avoid the bumper of the car in front of me, the guy behind me said my back tire lifted off the ground at least a foot.
Before that i had an SR500 (4 of them actually). No centre stand, lighter pipe with SuperTrap, Laverda Bars (can’t see having a bike without something similar), twin disks up front, new fork springs, minimal fiberglass fender, rear shocks, better swingarm bearings, nylon rear sprocket, bored out to 585cc, lighter front fender, loose the rear one (licence plate acted as rain guard), big fat Avons as close to slicks as i could get, as much stuff removed as possible (<300 lbs), signal lights removed, bar end mirrors proved useless, so no mirrors. More.
It handled raelly well, and having driven my road typically twice a day, i could handily smoke I4s twice the displacement when challenged on “my” road which was all twistys. I drive much more conservatively now.
Started out like this:
dave
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The most beautiful cafe racer I ever laid eyes on was a 250 BSA at a bike show in Battersea Park London in 1976. It was georgeous.
Cafe racer - Wikipedia
Really cool, you have remarked that the guy of the photo of your link is wearing an anti theft big chain on his thick leather jacket, it was common for bad losers to point out their disappointment by a sympathetic steel whiplash whip.
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If we're going with not beautiful, I was inspired by a lovely cafe racer style Honda CB 250K4 in Awol bike mag (sadly missed, but coincidentally I am wearing the T-shirt as I type!), but it ended up slightly different. I was slightly involved it the classic racer scene, so I built one. The engine still holds the 250 record at a track (I forget which) that is no longer used, and there are parts from 32 different bikes in there. I laced the wheels myself, welded the exhaust and lugs to the chassis, sprayed it a couple of different ways (this is not the final look), and bent up a rack for commuting. I sold it to a neighbour after a year or so.
It should have looked something like this. But didn't!
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