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Re: Tire reliabilty, and traction control

To: ddahlgren@snet.net
Subject: Re: Tire reliabilty, and traction control
From: Higginbotham Land Speed Racing <saltrat@pro-blend.com>
Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 07:01:03 -0600
Well, I certainly wasn't addressing it in those terms! Something to think
about.
Thanks,
Skip


At 09:35 AM 12/6/01 -0500, Dave Dahlgren wrote:
>i think what everone seems to miss is that the driver can still anticipate a
>slippery section and back out a bit to keep the car hooked up and the only
time
>something like this would activate would be if the driver missed the slippery
>spot. I never claimed that with something like this you can just use a toggle
>switch for a throttle and let the car figure it out. The ideal situation is 
>when
>the driver is good enough that the car is at the edge of traction but it never
>activates anything..
>Dave
>
>Skip Higginbotham wrote:
>> 
>> Dave,
>> My thoughts/concerns: Reaction vs anticipation
>> One disadvantage to electronically controlled traction is that the 
>electronics
>> respond to an existing condition of slippage (no anticipation) and the
driver
>> can/might see a "soft" spot in the salt anticipating slippage. A slight
>> reduction in power at that point may prevent slippage? Can the
electronics be
>> made to anticipate (not react to) course conditions that cause slippage? For
>> instance: wet vs dry salt? I agree that using brakes is dangerous and using
>> throttle reduction would be hard to control gracefully. Subtile power
changes
>> should be the ticket! and safer.
>> Power adjustments can be accomplished by the driver alone as soon as the 
>driver
>> knows what to "expect". A signal system might be OK but I worry about lag
>> (driver response to lights, gages and such) and the potential of too much
>> dependency on the warning system. Driver ability resulting from
experience on
>> the salt with the tires slipping is paramount to all this. We can unload the
>> driver of all the unimportant tasks and have him/her concentrate on
traction?
>> That's real traction control in my view.
>> Skip (I still volunteer the car for testing but I prefer no automatic TC.)
>> 
>> At 05:11 AM 12/6/01 -0500, Dave Dahlgren wrote:
>> >The brain being a wonderful computer is poetic and a nice thought, but
>> >unfortunately pretty optimistic in the bigger picture of things. The brain
>> >cannot
>> >process what it is not aware of. If you think you can feel the onset of
>> >wheel spin
>> >in the 5% or 10% range I think you are kidding yourself, especially while
>> >driving
>> >250 mph on the salt with everything else going on.. Go ask a pilot that is
>> >flying
>> >a difficult aircraft and things start going bad about pilot overload.
>> >Dave Dahlgren
>> >
>> >john backus wrote:
>> >
>> >> As I view it, traction control is handled in two ways; the application of
>> >> braking to the spinning tire/s and /or closing of the throttle 
>momentarily.
>> >> Either would be detrimental to increasing speed and handling somewhat.
>> >> Offshore boats have a similar problem where they have a throttle man 
>onboard
>> >> that controls the rpms when the props are out of the water. I always
>> wondered
>> >> why this guy couldn't be replaced with an rpm controller. The answer to
>> >all of
>> >> the above must be that the human brain is a fantastic computer that when
>> >it is
>> >> in tune with the total feel of the vehicle can control the engine speed
>> >> infinitely with the feel of the car and the sound of the engine to
get the
>> >> most out of the entire car under the current conditions. Traction 
>control is
>> >> great for snow and ice but I'd prefer to go by the overall feel of the 
>car.
>> >>
>> >> John Backus

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