Traction Control & Racing

[Todd....!!]

Great Info and advice Fred!

I concur...

Sincerely,

Todd....!!

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Frederic Breitwieser wrote:
> 
> > feedback driven.  Are these even possibilities, or have I been wasting
> > so many free brainwaves on this?
> 
> Hey Scott!
> 
> I read your post several times, and I didn't quite see what your
> traction control idea was... but maybe I need new glasses.  I saw a lot
> about "ideal street car" and some bits about NO2, but that's okay, we
> can discuss this anyway, but I warn you (and others), I'm highly
> opinionated in this particular subject, and more so now that I've had
> some experience with it.  Anyhoo -
> 
> Traction control by the OEMs (Caddy, Lexus, BMW, Nissan) etc are all
> designed to resolve two issues - bad drivers screwing up, and good
> drivers screwing up :)  And the common factor is... yes, you got it!
> "Screwing up".  This "safety device" gets the OEM's kudo's, marketing
> "brag rights", and more profit.  And, it makes the government happy, and
> lowers our car insurance 12 bucks a month, so its a win, win, win
> situation, right?  :)
> 
> What traction control is all about is reducing the power to the wheels,
> or specific wheel, when the tire's adhesion ability is exceeded.  There
> is a lot of potential ways to achieve this, the most common by the OEMs
> is to chop ignition to one or more cylinders in a logical fashion,
> reducing flywheel power.  This is good because while hard on the engine,
> it won't destroy it the same way as cutting fuel to an injector, and
> leaning the hell out of the engine.  BOOM!  There are some who believe
> applying brakes is a good form of traction control - bad - because it
> would be very difficult for a vehicle to determine if its sliding
> forward or sideways, and much to complex to make reliable and cheap,
> which is the OEM goal.  Therefore, applying brakes automatically by an
> ECM could result in a slight slide (driver fuckup) turning into a slide
> off the road over a cliff, into the ocean (worse case).
> 
> The best form of traction control, is driver experience.  Personally I
> think parallel parking should be removed from drivers ed courses, and
> all potential drivers should be forced to slalom a camaro through cones
> sitting in 3" deep of water for 20 laps.  Nothing ever beats
> experience.  This is why Andrette wins more often than other guys.  THis
> is why John Force has a collossal career in the NHRA, as do other guys
> in different types of racing leagues.  Practice, practice, practice.
> 
> The problem with racing vehicles, like any car for that matter, its a
> massive set of compromises.  If you want to drag race, the vehicle would
> be totally different than a 200 MPH slolam racer.  Drag cars need the
> front/rear weight balance different than a midengine rally car, and the
> tires are of course different.  Its very difficult to achieve both.
> I've seen a few radical street machines over the years that did
> accelerate extremely well, and cornered extremely well, but still, its a
> compromise.
> 
> The most common form of traction enhancement in racing is two things -
> more tire - and more downforce.  The problem for a street car, is the
> DOT limits the tires we can use from optimum, roads are not flat, and
> under 100 MPH, there is not enough downforce to make a 1800lb 600HP race
> car make 315/35R17's stick to the road effectively, experienced driver
> or not.
> 
> Anyway, instead of ranting on and on, I think my thoughts are clear -
> driver experience is the best traction control there is.  Join the SCCA
> and do weekend slolams every saturday for a year, and take the same car
> to a 1/4 mile on Sunday, and practice, practice, practice.  The better
> you know your car and its limitations as its configured, the better off
> you will be, every time.
> 
> --
> 
> Frederic Breitwieser
> Xephic Technology
> 769 Sylvan Ave #9
> Bridgeport CT 06606
> 
> Tele: (203) 372-2707
>  Fax: (603) 372-1147
> Web: http://xephic.dynip.com/