Re: Odysseys and performance

["Paul Misencik" <paul@domain.elided>]

> many average modern cars can post acceleration and handling numbers that
> better even the hottest performance cars of earlier days, and they can
> probably do it with the A/C on and get better gas mileage.  Knowing this
> doesn't reduce my joy one bit on back-road kamikaze runs in the GTV.

Ahhhh... now that IS the point, isn't it?  No matter what the cold,
impersonal numbers say, they never tell the real story do they?  There is
simply no comparison when it comes to which vehicle you'd rather own, or
which vehicle you'd rather drive on a winding road, or even which vehicle
you'd rather autocross, is there?

I was talking to someone about my Spider the other day, and he asked me: "Is
it fast?"  I said: "Nope.  But it FEELS fast, and personally that's all I
care about.  In fact, for charging around on a winding North Carolina road,
I'd rather have a slow car that feels fast than a fast car that feels slow."

I don't think he understood, but it's true.  I can go out and have a BALL in
my Spider.  If it slides around a little, it's happening at slow enough
speeds that I'm not being totally anti-social or irresponsbile, and I can
truly enjoy the entire process of DRIVING.  To me, this is the purest
definition of the term "sportscar".

After a lot of years working for AutoThority and RENNtech, I've spent a lot
of time in a lot of extremely fast modern cars, and somewhere along the
line, I think performance became a little too good for my taste.  There is
too much grip, too much refinement, too many electronic systems keep
traction high and stability high.  When I drive a new Porsche Turbo, it's
incredible, but the process is somewhat too distilled.  Too sterile.  The
cornering speeds are so high, I keep thinking to myself: "This car doesn't
feel like it's going to get away from me, but if it does, I'm TOAST."  Plus,
while I'm thinking this, I'm whipping past cars with speed differentials of
50, 60 even 120 mph.  It's sorta crazy.

But when I get in the Spider, all is right with the world.  It's quick
enough, and it's so tactile and dynamic and the whole experience is so...
sensory.  That, to me, is a sportscar.  I couldn't care less how fast I'm
going, and in a way, I'd almost RATHER be going slower, as long as it
doesn't feel like it.  Does any of this make any sense?

So the Odessey loses, even if it wins.

Cheers,

Paul Misencik
P. Roman Media
Huntersville, NC  28078
email: paul@domain.elided
www.paoloroman.com
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided