[Wichita-SCCA] Bugatti Veyron at speed

Thu Apr 12 16:27:57 EDT 2007

Interesting idea, everyone using OEM tires. Make them 4 wheel drive Evo's 
and Subbies run on all season tires and they may slow a bit. Perhaps making 
everyone run on the same tire, like NASCAR  would be the answer. There 
really isn't a fair answer in my opinion, just know if I have to run 
F70-15's on an 8 inch rim I'll get out my Golf Clubs.

I think you also might have a problem selling the "fun car" idea to the CP 
crowd.

>From: "Greg Laws" <GLaws at cox.net>
>Reply-To: "Wichita Region SCCA." <wichita-scca at wichitascca.org>
>To: "Wichita Region SCCA." <wichita-scca at wichitascca.org>
>Subject: Re: [Wichita-SCCA] Bugatti Veyron at speed
>Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:04:38 -0500
>
>Wow.  The speed achieved in a "street car" simply staggers the imagination
>... and also demonstrates the folly involved in ownership of any street
>vehicle that can dramatically exceed reasonable limits.  For the purpose of
>this discussion I will define reasonable limits as being 140 mph, or twice
>the top legal speed on US highways.
>
>Among the 40-50 personal cars that I've owned over the years there were 
>four
>that stood out in terms of top speed.  Those four were a hot-rodded 1966
>Nova SS 2dr hardtop, a stock 1968 440 Magnum Charger, an upgraded 1989
>Porsche 944 Turbo S, and a brand-new 1978 Pontiac 6.6 HO TransAm.  All four
>would exceed 140mph, with the Porsche being the fastest at about 170mph.  I
>never had any incident of significance at speed on public roads but whether
>that was due to skill or dumb luck I remain uncertain.   I pushed the
>envelope in each of these cars to the point that I remain surprised that I
>didn't die or at least end up in jail.  I only wrecked one, the brand-new
>1978 Pontiac (flipped onto its roof with only 445 miles on the odometer),
>but I'm not sure that the incident counts since it happened during
>competition at the Detweiller Park hillclimb at Peoria, Il.
>
>Yes, fans of obscure urban legends, there was indeed a fellow who wrecked a
>brand-new TransAm at the Peoria hillclimb and that fellow was me.
>
>The most recent of these four (the 944 Turbo-S) was sold last year shortly
>after I smoked a C5 from Arkansas City in an impromptu top-end duel
>eastbound on US 160 going into Winfield late at night.  At the end of the
>run I found myself feeling stupid and depressed rather than exhilarated.
>Realizing that I had no ability to resist temptation I was faced with the
>choice of either keeping the car and eventually having to face a seriously
>negative situation or else the car had to be sold to avoid temptation
>altogether.  I chose the latter, perhaps the first mature automotive
>decision of my life.
>
>The point is that any modern high-performance car is, at the end of the 
>day,
>not really about performance.  Not one of the modern day seriously
>high-performance cars can be driven at anywhere near their design limits as
>a daily driver on public roads in safety let alone legality, but there's
>more to it than that.
>
>During the first 80 years or so of the last century, each generation's car
>guys were pushing the technological envelope, excited with the creativity 
>of
>making it faster, quicker, or just making it work more efficiently.  The
>cars were so primitive that anything they did, even if it was wrong, made
>the car better!  It was great fun, that feeling of accomplishment, and I 
>was
>fortunate enough to experience and to be part of the tail end of that
>period.  Now technology has moved beyond anything that a shade tree 
>mechanic
>can improve upon with personal invention or modification.  Professional
>engineers have created ultimate expressions of automotive excellence in
>every aspect with the inevitable consequence being that automotive
>technology will be forever beyond the ability of any individual enthusiast
>to exceed.  We can only purchase what we can afford with the knowledge that
>someone else with a larger budget will be able to do better.  Witness the
>Bugatti Veyron at speed.
>
>So where does that leave us?  One option lies with racing (to include Solo)
>as the only legitimate and safe venue available to unleash these awesome
>machines for the few owners who wish to actually experience the incredibly
>high limits that these machines are capable of.  Racing allows these owners
>to test themselves against the machine itself and their peers.  Another
>option is for the high performance car owner to drive at the same limits as
>everyone else does but with the knowledge that his car would be faster than
>everyone else's if he chose to let it loose.  The car then achieves value 
>in
>the image it projects about the owner and how it makes the owner feel when
>he drives it.  Ownership of the car becomes an ego trip for the owner.  It
>says something about the truly high-end cars that most are seldom actually
>driven and certainly not in the rain.
>
>The final option is the small "fun" car.  Perhaps the first of this line 
>was
>the MG-TC but in modern times we would think of the Miata or any number of
>small sedans & hatchbacks.  Now we get back to the fun that cars can
>provide.  Little cars are the future of automotive sporting enjoyment for
>the masses.  I include my wife's current car, a 2006 Pontiac Vibe Sport in
>that mix.  Quick and nimble but not overwhelmingly fast, these cars are
>affordable and fun to drive while not becoming anti-social or dangerous.  I
>suggest that the SCCA would do well to promote rules that would tend to
>emphasize competition for such cars wherein the cars are completely-stock
>right down to their OEM tires.  No modifications allowed, period.  In fact,
>class the OEM tire rather than the car.  Think about it.  Put the cars into
>classes based upon the brand, size, and exact model(s) of OEM tire that 
>came
>with the car.  The solo rule book would shrink dramatically!  <grin>
>
>Enjoy,
>Greg Laws
>
>
>--- Original Message -----
>From: "Robert" <dsp83gti at gmail.com>
>To: "Wichita Region SCCA" <wichita-scca at wichitascca.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 1:06 PM
>Subject: [Wichita-SCCA] Bugatti Veyron at speed
>
>
> > http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x157l2_bugatti-veyron-at-top-speed
> >
> > --
> > Robert Foster / '89 BMW 325i
> > http://motorpride.com/dsp83gti/
> > Wichita Region SCCA - http://wichitascca.org/
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wichita-SCCA mailing list
> > Wichita-SCCA at wichitascca.org
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> >
>
>
>
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