Hawaiirider
New member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2006
- Location
- Honolulu
- Moto(s)
- HawkGt, Wee-Strom, FJR 1300, others (gone) K75s, ST 4, F2, RST 1000, M900, GS650E, GT380,
- Name
- Dan
All I can add to this discussion is that Most regular STREET cars are designed to be so docile in their handling that they bear very little semblance to the manner in which a real-live racecar handles ( did you know that spelled backwards, RACECAR is still racecar ? but I digress. )
The manner of quick-steering of a car set up for the track is so abruptly different from the cars that we all "know" that real CARE has to be taken in getting used to it - like riding a sidecar outfit - which ain't like just riding a motorcycle - problem is, every dingbat that ever twisted an ignition key figures: "A car is a car. I got this. " - and that, my friends, has wadded more Porsches than happy hour drink specials.
Sorta like riding a REAL racebike after you've been on a softly-set up, lardy streetbike - I nearly ran a borrowed tricked-out GSXR off the INSIDE of a corner once - it turned in so much faster than the bike I was used to, - only much more severe and harder to recover from loss-of-control.
I honestly think that young drivers should be required to drive some trackdays in performance Go-Karts - show them where to get their Ya-Yas out and how much fun - and physical WORK that REAL motorsport is. An hour behind the wheel of a 125cc Kart and you are WORKED !
There was a story in one of the Car magazines years back about the vintage-racing guys finding out how much fun old V-6 Busch-Cup cars were ( the under card NASCAR class of a generation ago ) - seems that aside from very expensive crashes of the collectable cars they were coming around to the fact that the old Alfas and Jags and such that were perfectly capable of killing the best professional drivers of their day really were a bit much for the present dentist and dot-com owners. While beautiful, old sportscars aren't very survivable, but you can slap a wall with an old Stock-car and laugh about it later.
And that is on a track.
Most drivers never leave public roads and the vast majority of them don't have the least of a clue.
The manner of quick-steering of a car set up for the track is so abruptly different from the cars that we all "know" that real CARE has to be taken in getting used to it - like riding a sidecar outfit - which ain't like just riding a motorcycle - problem is, every dingbat that ever twisted an ignition key figures: "A car is a car. I got this. " - and that, my friends, has wadded more Porsches than happy hour drink specials.
Sorta like riding a REAL racebike after you've been on a softly-set up, lardy streetbike - I nearly ran a borrowed tricked-out GSXR off the INSIDE of a corner once - it turned in so much faster than the bike I was used to, - only much more severe and harder to recover from loss-of-control.
I honestly think that young drivers should be required to drive some trackdays in performance Go-Karts - show them where to get their Ya-Yas out and how much fun - and physical WORK that REAL motorsport is. An hour behind the wheel of a 125cc Kart and you are WORKED !
There was a story in one of the Car magazines years back about the vintage-racing guys finding out how much fun old V-6 Busch-Cup cars were ( the under card NASCAR class of a generation ago ) - seems that aside from very expensive crashes of the collectable cars they were coming around to the fact that the old Alfas and Jags and such that were perfectly capable of killing the best professional drivers of their day really were a bit much for the present dentist and dot-com owners. While beautiful, old sportscars aren't very survivable, but you can slap a wall with an old Stock-car and laugh about it later.
And that is on a track.
Most drivers never leave public roads and the vast majority of them don't have the least of a clue.
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Uh huh...
