Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Weight of Modern Sports Cars

[LarryT (l02turner]

 It appears we have created a couple of generations of people who have no 
idea what makes a car behave the way it does.  I know the cars of the 50s & 
60s were more maintenence intensive compared to todays cars but people also 
had a better understanding of the things going on under the hood and at each 
of the 4 corners.  IMHO of course.

Now, as you say, people get in, crank it up and "drive" away with a 
Blueberry in one hand, a latte in one hand and breakfast in the other (the 
3rd)   All the while the cars have become incredibly appliance-like.  Turn 
it on and go!   Without any understanding of the physics at work when they 
enter a corner too fast and hit the brakes.

Now, we have cars that call the police if we're in an accident.  Some day 
soon we'll have highways like the old slotcar tracks - perhaps the slots 
will be invisible electronic tracks a car can follow - eliminating the need 
for a driver completely.

Remember "I, Robot"?  Will Smith is in his fancy Audi being driven 
somewhere - he decides he can do a better job himself and takes over driving 
duties - and is promptly chastised by a female voice from the bowels of his 
car - "Warning, unauthorized driver" or something to that effect.

Someday it will be reality - more of the electronic cushion we all reside in 
all in an effort to shield us from any possible danger - and litigation.

Sorry about the rant - I feel like many of you I believe - the 60s were the 
golden age of automobiles - until the FedCo got involved - although there 
are many shining examples of amazing cars made in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 
beyond - just look at a 328GTSi , 997 Carrera 4S or 360Modena - amazing cars 
that meet the letter of the law - although the cost is beyond most of us..

Have a nice week -

Sincerely,
Larry T  (74 911, 91 300D 2.5T)
www.youroil.net Oil Analysis Kits &
Porsche Posters/Weber parts
Test Results - http://members.rennlist.com/oil/



.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fellippe Galletta" <fellippe.galletta [at] gmail.com>
To: "Larry Turner" <l02turner [at] comcast.net>
Cc: "The FerrariList" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 12:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Weight of Modern Sports Cars


> On 11/30/08, rolindsay [at] yahoo.com <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I've stayed out of this thread until now because I have strong feelings
> > about this topic, and here they are;
> >
> > + We are safety crazy and that stems from the refusal to take 
> > responsibility
> > for our own actions.  We want the security of public transportation 
> > without
> > actually having to use public transportation.
> >
> > + Any car that you either have to know ANYTHING about or that you can't
> > drive while talking on the phone, sipping latte and sending txt messages, 
> > is
> > called "dangerous".
> >
> > + Besides, if we were responsible for our own actions OR could actually 
> > pay
> > enough attention to the job at hand, we wouldn't get to sue everyone we
> > didn't like!
> >
> > This all goes back to a quote I heard more than a decade ago, "In a 
> > modern
> > car you can safely fly into a turn at 90mph, sipping a latte while 
> > talking
> > on the phone and digging around in the glove box for a pen. Sit down in a
> > 308GTB and it says to you, 'I'm going to kill you!  Now try to stop me.'"
> >  Keeping it from doing so is called "driving".  Anything less is just
> > "riding."
> >
> > Two cents please. PayPal accepted.
> >
> > Rick
> > A couple of Ferraris
> > A couple of Mercedes
> > A BMW and a Land Rover
> >
> > Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
>
> I agree, it really is about the driver(s) not so much the cars themselves.
>
> In an ideal world, all this safety progress would be there to save you
> from accidents beyond your control. However, most of such accidents
> are impossible to survive anyways (e.g. drunk driver through a red
> light, a tree falling on your car, etc).
>
> Not saying I'm against it all, but all the safety standards from a mid
> '90s Volvo onwards would probably be good enough.
>
> FG
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