Running staggered tires...

[sperry]

Originally Posted by nKoan

That wouldn't. perchance, be Adelaide? would it? Australian GP of looks like Mid '90s? Benetton Renault, so I'm going to guess thats Schumacher winning the race and maybe even a championship.

Nick's on point. That race was just on F1 Decade recently... cool street course, sadly not in use any longer, this was the final F1 race there. Which is retarded since this race had 210,000 spectators, the largest F1 crowd ever.

The race is of course the 1995 Australian GP, the final race of the 1995 season. Mika Hakkinen wrecked during friday practice, hit his head badly on the steering wheel, and had to have a tracheotomy on course to save his life! He fully recovered and went on to win the championship in later years of course.

Schumacher retired in the race, the picture is him before he collided with Jean Alesi.

Damon Hill won the race by 2 laps! D Hill was the man... I always drove his Williams in video games if it was an option.

[Nick Koan]

Completely guessing from the somewhat fragmented knowledge I have of mid-90's F1.

I have to say, the big ass Adelaide banner helped quite a bit.

[cody]

Originally Posted by sperry

AMG's suck unless your looking for a luxury sled, and the "cool" Porsches are AWD.

I'm not saying AMG's are a good value, but I'd rather drive a C32 AMG at the track any day.

I'll get back to you later with a porsche I'd rather drive.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by cody

I'm not saying AMG's are a good value, but I'd rather drive a C32 AMG at the track any day.

I'll get back to you later with a porsche I'd rather drive.

You'd rather drive a slower, poorer handling, uninspired looking, senses dulling Benz than a a WRX at a track day? You might convince me the Benz is a better commuter car, but I'd rather drive circles around that car in an STi at the track.

IMO there is only one cool Mercedes in production right now, but 'cause of the price, there are a ton of cars I'd rather have.



And I still think it's ugly, as well as heavier and more luxurious than it should be.

[cody]

You think that's ugly? :drool:

[sperry]

Originally Posted by cody

You think that's ugly? :drool:

It looks unbalanced and it's too busy with all the little vents and crap everywhere.

Here's what good looking cars look like:











And the best looking car of all time, the original GT40, yes that's a road going version:



(and this thread needs to be split... I'll do it later unless another mod gets to it before me)

[Kevin M]

cool factoid about the "cool" porsches... the newer AWD models run different size tires and a non-1:1 center diff. Hence the madness with not being able to use most AWD dynos. Makes sense, given the Porsche penchant for taking a dumb idea and running with it far enough to build a car that goes like hell.

[cody]

I was wondering if Porsche did that. Wouldn't it work fine on any AWD dyno that doesn't attach directly to the hubs?

[sybir]

It'll work fine on any AWD dyno that has the rollers physically linked, like a Mustang. The problem comes with Dynapacks, Dynojets, etc, that use 2 rollers that aren't matched mechanically.

[cody]

Yah, I've heard that. It's a bit of a hot topic.

[Nick Koan]

Mercedes Benz makes sexy cars for sure, but why spend the money on an MBZ when a better BMW or Porsche can be had for the same price?

And the BMW or Porsche won't suffer from the same build quality that MBZ is famous for.

[cody]

True, true. I only brought it up because Aaron C, founder of WRXF has a tricked out C32 AMG with bigger tires in back, and it looks cool. Obiously tracking a MB is for the filthy rich.

Doesn't it make sense to use bigger tires in the rear of a rear engine car like a Porsche? Kevin, why do you think that's a dumb idea?

[Nick Koan]

Bigger tires in the rear induces understeer, plain and simple. No matter the drivetrain layout. Which may be helpful in an ass-heavy car like a rear-engined Porsche, but there are better ways to acomplish that goal then bigger consumable components.

[cody]

Like what?

[Nick Koan]

Suspension mainly. Stiffer anti-sway bar up front. Slightly softer springs in the rear (or would you want harder? I can't remember).

And at design time: move some of the weight up front, for as close to 50/50 distribuition as you can get.

Mismatched tire sizes are more or less for old school drag racing muscle cars. On anything else makes the driver look kinda foolish (no offense to the founder of WRXF or anyone who's cars came that way).

[cody]

Originally Posted by nKoan

On anything else makes the driver look kinda foolish (no offense to the founder of WRXF or anyone who's cars came that way).

[Nick Koan]

Originally Posted by cody

LOL

care to share with the rest of the class?

[cody]

Sorry let me fix it.

[JC]

Originally Posted by nKoan

Mismatched tire sizes are more or less for old school drag racing muscle cars. On anything else makes the driver look kinda foolish (no offense to the founder of WRXF or anyone who's cars came that way).

I dunno, if you have a RWD car that can't put it's power down around turns (ala a Viper) it makes perfect sense. It would be stupid to run 335s all around, but you need the rubber out back.

[Nick Koan]

Originally Posted by JC

I dunno, if you have a RWD car that can't put it's power down around turns (ala a Viper) it makes perfect sense. It would be stupid to run 335s all around, but you need the rubber out back.

Yeah, I was thinking more normal street cars. When you start talking about muscle cars or 10cyl+ RWD exotics (the drag racing part should probably be stricken from my qualifer), I agree.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by nKoan

And at design time: move some of the weight up front, for as close to 50/50 distribuition as you can get.

For a car like the 911 this isn't really an option though; it would require changing the layout of the entire car, and then it wouldn't be a 911 anymore.

(Random tidbit: an ideal performance weight distribution is usually something more like 40F/60R to 45F/55R, instead of 50/50)