Faster with VCD off?

wstar · 04-17-2009, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by semtex

But watch out, dude. People are going to accuse you of being a Luddite! (I've made similar remarks and people have gotten bent out of shape, accusing me of being resistant to technological progress. lol.)

Well, car technology is now at a point where, given enough money and desire, you can make a car "drive itself" (you operating the gas/brake/steering wheel, but it taking care of gearing, dynamic suspension, abs, traction control, etc) better than any human could hope to. However, consumer-level technology that's made on a budget, such as VDC in our cars, (a) is the cheap version and doesn't do all that stellar a job compared to what's possible, and (b) is designed and programmed towards saving novice drivers from accidents, not improving on the lap times of a pro driver.

Assuming we had a badass system capable of really controlling the car in an aggressive drive, then you get to the question of whether you'd rather learn to drive for real, or rather have the car take care of it for you. Someday, knowing how to drive a car with a real manual gearbox and no ABS is going to be purely the realm of historic sport, and everyday driving won't involve those skills anymore. It will be like practicing the sport of fencing in the era of assault rifles: rewarding, but not necessary. However, we're not there yet in general, and our Z's VDC isn't even close, so that's not even the question we face today. You can't push this car to its limits with VDC on, plain and simple. If you want the most out of your car, you're gonna have to learn to drive with it off.

k.alexander · 04-17-2009, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstar

well, car technology is now at a point where, given enough money and desire, you can make a car "drive itself" (you operating the gas/brake/steering wheel, but it taking care of gearing, dynamic suspension, abs, traction control, etc) better than any human could hope to. However, consumer-level technology that's made on a budget, such as vdc in our cars, (a) is the cheap version and doesn't do all that stellar a job compared to what's possible, and (b) is designed and programmed towards saving novice drivers from accidents, not improving on the lap times of a pro driver.

Assuming we had a badass system capable of really controlling the car in an aggressive drive, then you get to the question of whether you'd rather learn to drive for real, or rather have the car take care of it for you. Someday, knowing how to drive a car with a real manual gearbox and no abs is going to be purely the realm of historic sport, and everyday driving won't involve those skills anymore. It will be like practicing the sport of fencing in the era of assault rifles: Rewarding, but not necessary. However, we're not there yet in general, and our z's vdc isn't even close, so that's not even the question we face today. You can't push this car to its limits with vdc on, plain and simple. If you want the most out of your car, you're gonna have to learn to drive with it off.

well said!

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