Automotive

I may be a radical example...

 

and I have never driven any of the cars in your list of quick looks, but from my probably very unusual perspective:

Outside of the usual "means of transport" that I have to drive from time to time, the only cars I have driven recently are the Lotus Elise and the Maserati Quattroporte.  You need to know that I don't need a car in any way, I have it only for fun and convenience.  You know that the Elise is my "daily drive" (daily means maybe 2 or 3 times a week).

The Executive Summary:
Elise - the driver is not only in control, but does the controlling in detail.
Maserati - the driver directs, but lets the automation in the vehicle do the work of controlling the car.

Of course Elise is more work to drive (and I know that I have built muscles in my arms and shoulders curving through the mountains) but there is satisfaction in having direct contact and being able to directly influence the world.  Feel that little steering wheel squirm in your hands when you are pushing things, grab it hard and make it do your bidding.  I can use those measly 136hp to the full, make the motor sing at full volume, feel the car get more and more anxious to run as the average rpm keeps going up, the last 3 gears are only about saving gasoline, I can speed on the highway in 3rd.   Jump on the brakes and the car just stops.  No quivering, body movement, no nothing - just waiting to be asked to run some more.  When it rains I turn on the wipers, when it is dark I turn on the lights, when I am cold I turn up the heat.

Compare that the the Maserati (I know this really isn't fair, but still)  In both my directions to the car and the cars response to me there is a layer of automation between me and the "real world".  I can hardly do anything myself.  I have no control.  It shifts for me when it wants.  The car lurches when braking hard.  It wallows over expansion joints.  The wipers and lights are turned on and off by unseen gremlins.  The car is more than 2 seconds faster to 100kmh, but I would never have guessed it.  Anxiously wanting to run? No way, despite all the horses under the hood.  Despite the wonderful sound the motor makes, fun is something else.

As for comfort, Elise does have a disadvantage when getting in and out, but once inside, at least for me, it is one of the most comfortable cars I have ever driven (I think they used a clone of me when designing the seats).  I get back aches on the couch in front of the TV and in the Maserati too.  But I don't think that is what you are talking about when you talk of "feel".

The way I see it is that the direct contact with and response from the real world makes the difference.  It may be a problem of our time, the insurance salesman's dream for always more protection, always more distance from reality.  Kids watch other kids playing on television instead of going out and playing themselves (in reality they might fall and take a scrape).

It is certainly true that with the weight and power of the super cars we do need to be protected from ourselves.  We are not professional drivers.  But that protection will always be reducing our direct contact with the world and the satisfaction that that gives.

The question then being what we want for the same level of safety:
- Big power and high weight, but little real world contact.
- Small power, low weight and lots of real world contact.

I am worried. My wife keeps talking about getting a dog, soon.  Elise is then too small.  But is an Evora not too heavy and overpowered?

Don


This message has been edited by DonCorson on 2012-11-23 14:07:21