"Push to Pass" - Gimmick or ????

[cegerer]

What do you think of the new "Push to Pass" button installed in the CART cars this year?

http://speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/10164/

[greglepore]

I think they should reduce the downforce and make 'em drive. That, and ditch the street tracks where passing is an impossibility. The "button" is an ok idea, but its a bandaid.

[widebody911]

Sounds like something out of a video game!

Maybe they should have 'boost packs' laying at random places around the track; run over them to get more boost credits. Maybe a special section of the track, where when you run over it, it turns the Ferrari team into ghosts and you can pass them...

[turbo6bar]

I agree with greglapore. Change the cars and tracks to put the race into the hands of the drivers. Less HP? Harder tires? The push to pass button sounds like something from a Nintendo game.

I used to love Indycar racing, but it is more like F1 now... so boring to watch on TV. I imagine being at the race would be more fun.
jurgen

[turbo6bar]

Hehe, widebody posted it as I was typing mine. Great minds do think alike.

[cegerer]

I guess it could make for good TV. Apparently, we - the viewing public - will know how much of the 60 seconds of boost is left. So, there's a duel at the end and one guy has used up his boost and the other guy's still got 10 seconds left ..... ahhhh, actually I like Thom's idea better ....

[trj911]

I thought that's what they did in NASCAR. No, wait, theirs is bump to pass!

[Eric Coffey]

I thought the CART cars have always had the PTP button? I know they had it a while back.

[cegerer]

I think you're right Eric. I seem to recall that. But I'm sure there was never a 60 second time limit. That's what will make it interesting.

[widebody911]

• Equip the cars with NAAWWWSSS; give the fans the excitement of blown motors when the driver hits the happy button @ 11k RPM
• Equip the cars with NOS and have it turned on at random
• Plant Tuscan raiders at strategic points along the course to pick off cars at random.
• Chinese fire drills any time the course goes yellow
• Cat fights between the driver's wife and girlfriends; maybe even catfights between the wife/girfriend of driver A vs those of driver B.
• Require engine management systems to be based on Microsoft Windows.

[Owain]

Originally posted by Eric Coffey
I thought the CART cars have always had the PTP button? I know they had it a while back.

I think this is true, as Curt said. Ususally they have an overboost button that's good for a few seconds at a time (so that the engines don't get too stressed) but I think this is the first time there has been a cap on the total use. Back in the turbo days in F1 they had an overboost button, also. Same rules, though, only for short bursts but no cap on total useage.

Some fighter planes in WWII had this, too. I'm not sure if it was a little extra RPM or possibly a change in the mixture, but also just for short bursts. Often they (I'm thinking specifically of the Spitfire, not sure of others) would put some tape at the end of the travel of the throttle for 'full military power' as you might call it today. To get the extra boost you would have to break the tape so that the crew would know to check certain things when the plane returned.

Disclaimer: all facts dredged from my foggy memory.

[cegerer]

"Equip the cars with NOS and have it turned on at random"

I think we could pretty much just go with that one rule and we'd have a whole new sport!

[Roundel Guy]

The passing problem lies in the definition of these cars - OPEN wheel.
Who wants to make a tight pass when if you touch, you get lauched 30 feet into the air at 220mph?