How FOS is R&T?
 

I have a R&T mag, April 2002, yellow Mazda on the cover. Road test results appear to be provided on pages 128 and 129. They show the $1,000,000 Porsche GT-1 with 1.07 lateral Gs, able to stop from 80 mph in 154 ft. They also show a $420,000 Corvette C5-R that stops almost as well as the GT-1 (172 ft), but CORNERS AT 1.44 LATERAL Gs!

What's up with that? Is anyone suspicious of a claim like this? Can't stop as fast, but corners WAY harder than the most serious Porsche? Huh? Have the laws of physics changed recently?

What kind of tires are on the two cars? I'm sure the C5-R has full race tires on it.

The laws of physics don't change per se', but skid pads, tire compounds, and weather conditions most certainly do!

You can make a Ford pick-up corner at 1.0 G's with wide enough race-rubber!

Yeah, but......What did they do, use Cooper tires to test the $1,000,000 GT-1? That would surprize me a bit.

And what kind of tire gets you 1.44 Gs!!!? I mean, this figure suggests that there is almost fifty percent more sideways pressure than down pressure, and these tires still grip. Okay, I am not going to deny this possibility but here is my denial:

How can a tire and car corner WAY, WAY WAY better than the most serious Porsche, but not brake as well? Both braking and cornering are a simple matter of overcoming inertia with friction.

So, if I am to accept these figures, then I guess Porsche is a mediocre race car producer, not nearly as effective as Chevrolet. Huh? Perhaps the sun will start rising in the west, too.

Haven't read the article, but ....

Lateral G''s around a circle is but one measure of how a car handles. The stopping distance from speed is also interesting. How is it after 10 consecutive stops? I hope the article doesn't imply the two cars are comparable or, worst yet, the Corvette is a "better" racecar. I suspect the "comparisons" would interest us Porsche and them Corvette owners and sell more magazines; nothing more, nothing less. How about Trabant vs. Citroen 2V for their next article, or anything else vs Carrera RS? ;)

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars
www.seinesystems.com

Super,

Haven't read it, either ...

The sun DID 'set' in the East in one 1967 John Wayne movie ...

But, most likely ... the two cars were probably tested at two different skid pads, perhaps, even, of different diameters ... and certainly not under identical conditions at the same time ... overcast or hot & sunny conditions can affect skid pad performance, just like qualifying times at Indy! The large skid pad at Weissach was later nicknamed the 'Can-Am' skidpad for obvious reasons, which allowed cornering speeds in the 80-90 mph range, instead of the usual 40 mph vicinity ... and is one of the largest in the world. Doesn't hold a candle, though, to GM Engineering's 'Black Lake' vacility of hundreds and hundreds of acres of asphalt!

Oh yeah, GM engineers have been known to put some 'specially selected' components on cars slated to be tested by national publications! Does anybody remember the '64 GTO 'ringer' that Pontiac sent to <b><i>Car and Driver?</b></i> The test numbers were something NEVER achieved by cars off the showroom floor at drag racing tracks accross the country, and Brock Yates continues to laugh to this very day about that little 'shenanigan,' which they knew about ... all along! Took him over twenty years to admit it, though!

Three words:

Super Poly Grip.

maybe this will help. i use this for reference.

Planter, don't you have to correct for the density of silicone? The example you presented obviously has a high percent content, and that could skew the coefficient of friction. It could lead to a delicious mistake though...

I believe the GT1 was in street trim, and the C5-R was completely race-ready (there is no street trim for that, right?).

If you really wanna be upset, look not at the C5-R but at the $50K Z06.

So, let me get this straight. First, sunrises and sunsets are controlled by Hollywood, not planetary motion. Second, the highly scientific and accurate car magazine folks are occaasionally duped by unscruulous car makers and skid pad chicanery. Third, good skid pad results do not a race car make. Fourth, Civil Engineering Reference Wallpaper can not only be fascinating, but also can be assumed reliable and studied at great length and in fine detail.

Did I get that right?

Just a thought but, magazines do sometimes have April Fools jokes in them.

Sure did...