"A. Sta. Maria" <atocha@globe.com.ph> wrote on
Date: 10/4/97 10:37 PM:
>Rod,
>
>I had wanted to say that history would not support Steve's point on =
>mid-engine placement "as ACBC intended," but as usual was too
>indirect.
Andres, please don't misunderstand. I wasn't countering your point as
much as adding to it.... trying to introduce perspective.
>Your point on Chapman's philosophy was stated very clearly though, and =
>it was good you took time to put your thoughts on the list. I suppose =
>the conclusion might be that Chapman's approach and genius were such =
>that it would be inaccurate to link him to the mid-engine camp or any =
>other school of thought on engine placement.
The way I see him, that's right. Of course, whenever any of us tries to
guess about what his thoughts would have been on a particular subject,
we're only doing just that! From various references to which I've been
exposed, I would say that he did whatever he felt was necessary to reach
a particular goal (which could involve deception as well as engineering
genius). I've heard lots of romantic delusions about his "feelings"
about certain cars and designs but I take most of it with a grain of
salt.
Engine placement ahead of the rear axle is certainly established race car
practice for a reason. If Chapman felt that he'd come up with a better
choice, he'd have been the first to put it into practice. So what if
Cooper (and certainly others... such as Jim Hall) have beaten him to the
punch sometimes. He wasn't infallible, just brilliant.
>Given time, and if it = worked, he might even have tried FWD! (But
>perhaps this is unlikely)
"If it worked" is the key. He'd have done what he thought would give him
an advantage. Fwd does have an competitive advantage in certain
situations, and if those circumstances became the standard for F1,
Chapman would have done it without any romantic notions about where the
drive "ought" to be IMO.
Of course, *we* enthusiasts *do* have romantic notions because sports
cars, even though they can exist in ABSed, traction controlled, 2-ton
(and fwd) variations which seriously stretch the definition, are still
about emotions. That is a word not heard much in serious competition
environments. Road cars, for Chapman it seems, from much of what I've
read, have always been little more than a means to make money. Whether
he'd have gone as far as fwd is debatable.
>Lest Steve misunderstand, I have no bias against mid-engined cars. I =
>have a 1976 Lancia Stratos, which as you know has a Ferrari V6 mounted =
>amidships. It is an exciting car to drive, but is very much a =
>specialist car, requiring, as Motorcar pointed out in this September's =
>issue, a "specialist driver." Very nervous, like a race horse, and not
>= as immediately confidence building as my Type 45 Elan.
Notice the parallel between your characterization of the Stratos and
Chapman's realization that cars have to be just that to win.
Qualification: These days, technology plays a much bigger role wrt the
driver than it used to. It's probably possible to build a completely
computer controlled winning car which is as stable as a rock (or
conversely, a car so unstable that *no* driver could extract it's
performance better than a computer). Such cars IMO would be interesting
to a good driver more like a video game than as a visceral experience.
When you say that your Elan is confidence building, you're comparing it
to the Stratos which is SET UP, basically, a race car. But most, or
maybe all, M100 drivers would probably consider a stock Elan twitchy and
nervous. Indeed, most of the world would! They're used to fwd Hondas
and such. It's a matter of taste and experience (maybe other things
too).
>On the other hand, I drove a Lotus 23 for the first time last August, =
>at Willow Springs, a new track for me. That car did wonders for =
>confidence, and I felt I could go faster and faster each lap. User =
>friendly.
See above. A typical 23 (I've only driven one in anger once) is less
stable than the Elan but more stable than the Stratos, right? I dare say
that the Stratos would become comfortable to you if you drove it a lot on
a track.
Interesting discussion... boy you have quite a collection of machinery!
Rod
|