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Racing, Weight Is The Enemy
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Automotive technology has always interested me. Let me start with a bit of personal automotive technology history. My first new car right out of engineering school was a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am. It was a black on black “Smokey and the Bandit” replica right down to the chicken on the hood and the glass T-tops. My wife, Linda, and I hav e fond memories of all the trips we took in that car, including one to Florida. Although we loved that car, we have no regrets having sold it, because I used the money to buy her engagement ring! But there was that time about fifteen years ago when a friend of a friend had an all original, low mileage, exact copy for sale. He let me drive it home to show Linda. Both he and I were sure I would be buying it! By the time I got the car from Peabody to Rockport, I couldn’t believe what a “bucket of bolts” it was. Even the seat hurt my butt! This car only had about 35,000 original miles on it. So my only way out after Linda saw the Trans Am pull into the driveway was to explain that the seats, suspension and safety were now inferior. I further explained that compared to cars of the current era, the Trans Am would not be safe for her and our small children. I apologized to the cars owner and told him that the ride just wasn’t as I remembered it. The Trans Am’s good looks and the fond memories just couldn’t get me past the now antiquated technology. A great example of technology saving the day was when Doug Sanders and I were on our way skiing in my 1992 Mercedes 400E. We were on Route 89N on our way to Stowe, Vermont. It was an overcast day with the temperature in the low 20’s. We were driving at approximately 60 mph and about to go around a large sweeping turn, when the traction control light began flashing erratically. Even though the car felt solid, I gently eased off the accelerator. By the time we could see around the corner, we had slowed to about 40 mph. There were about a dozen cars and SUV’s off the road in snow banks, the victims of black ice. Thanks to the new technology warning us, we were spared! One example of technology failing me, took place just last week. Two friends and I were on our way to their log cabin in Rangley, Maine to do some snowmobiling. We were driving my 2004 Yukon XL Denali complete with four new snow tires, all-wheel drive and traction/stability control. Behind us was my enclosed snowmobile trailer with two sleds in it. Also, it had begun to rain lightly as we approached Rangley. As we got within a mile of the cabin with one last hill to climb, the traction control light began to flash. The rain had turned the usual permafrost covered dirt road to a sheet of clear ice. It was so slippery that when we stopped making forward progress, the truck and trailer started sliding backwards down the hill. With more than 9000 pounds sliding backwards out of control and the trailer jack-knifed, I turned the wheel to jamb the front right tire into the snow bank. This friction brought us to a stop with the trailer half off the road in a snow bank. As I desperately tried to power the trailer back onto the road my friend noticed that the front wheels were not spinning, therefore not pulling. That’s when it dawned on me to shut off the traction/stability control. With the new-fangled technology turned off, the Denali, with all four snows spinning, pulled the trailer out of the snow bank and up the hill. Not easily, but we made it! We probably took a year off the life of the new snow tires, but we were just happy not to have to call and wait for a tow truck. That brings me to my latest technology upgrade. Last fall I sold my 1993 911 RS America (964 platform) and bought a 2005 911 Carrera S (997 platform). Although I will always miss the raw and visceral driving experience of the 964 platform, the twelve year technology improvement is nothing short of amazing. The Porsche Active Suspension Management allows the car to ride like a Cadillac even with 19” wheels and tires. And yet with a push of the sport suspension button on the dash, the car transform into a road-carving machine that can rattle your filings loose. The torque that the new 3.8-liter, flat six engine makes is also amazing. It throws you back like a big block chevy from the early 70’s. In a recent popular car magazine, the testers managed a 3.9 second zero to 60, with a properly broken-in engine. That compared to the best the 400 HP, V-8 powered Corvette has achieved in any of the popular magazines of 4.1 seconds. Considering these cars weigh within fifty pounds of each other, and we are comparing a six cylinder to an eight, that’s technology at it’s BEST! There is a limit to my automotive technology cravings. I will not own a car with a navigation system or a do-everything knob like the one BMW calls “i-drive”. When I want to turn on the heated seats, I prefer a switch and not having to search through menus. But I do love my cup holders! |
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