It's really all going to boil down to this: It is more fun to drive a slow
car fast than a fast car slow. It is also more challenging, and more
rewarding. To get the same feeling of speed that I get in the Midget at 70
MPH from my wife's Accord, I have to be driving the Accord at 100 MPH with
the windows down, and the sunroof open.
David Riker
74 Midget
63 Falcon
70 Torino
http://personalweb.sunset.net/~davidr
----- Original Message -----
From "Trevor Boicey" <tboicey at brit.ca>
To: <DLancer7676@cs.com>
Cc: <kgb@clipper.net>; <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2000 12:07 AM
Subject: Midget versus E, and autox (was Oh Sh^!)
> DLancer7676@cs.com wrote:
> > << While were making
> > useless comparisons, I think your 1275 would be BEHIND my
> > 69 e-type! ;> >>
> >
> > Trevor: Not on an autocross course, the type of turns where these cars
are
> > meant to run. Methinks the E would be smoked.
>
> If the autocross course was EXTREMELY tight, possibly. However
> in any of the autox courses that are competed in this area,
> no chance. Not even the same league. I own both cars, call
> this an unbiased opinion, no chance for the spridget.
>
> Let's face it, the E-type isn't a lumbering giant, it's
> only a couple of feet longer than a spridget, and still
> a fairly light car. With over 4 times the power of a
> spridget, limited slip differential as stock, four
> wheel discs as stock, inboard rears as stock, etc
> etc etc. It gets the job done!
>
> Maybe the spridget might be able to take the TIGHTEST
> corners a little faster, but I can brake later and power
> out harder in the E, I'll get through it faster. (unless the
> course was designed by spreading three dozen pylons
> around a basketball court!)
>
> If I conducted a series with myself where I raced my
> Spridget versus my E on every type of commonly contested
> course, the only course the spridget would have a chance
> is on an INSANELY tight autox course.
>
> At anything normal autox or above (road course, Le
> Mans route, superspeedway, farmer's field with rocks for
> apexes) it's not even worth rolling the spridget up to the
> gate.
>
> I'm feeling the realism slip away again.
>
> Only a few spridget owners really beleive their cars
> are fast 0-60. Maybe a lot did when they bought the car,
> but after getting left for dead by a dozen minivans with
> cellphone soccer moms, the point was driven home.
>
> The more common self-delusion is that "well, ok,
> those cars are faster on straights, but I'll sure
> catch them in the twisties!".
>
> From my experience, very few of the people saying
> the above have actually autoxed, and of those a
> lot of them have not autoxed in mixed environments
> with modern cars.
>
> Some have, and if that's you I'd love to hear
> results, there are some fast spridgets out there
> competing. But realistically, not many, and for
> most people reading this message: not yours.
>
> To insist the a spridget is the master of all
> roads with corners is basically to deny that any
> advances have been made in automotive handling
> since the 1960s, and that the handling of the
> spridget is so magically perfect that it can
> happily give away 3:1 in horsepower against
> most cars and still somehow win.
>
> In the modern day grocery getter, you can't hear
> the engine, and the suspension is comfy, so maybe
> the sensation of speed isn't there. However, the
> clock doesn't lie and it's a sad fact that most
> of the new cars on the road that even PRETEND to
> have sporting pretensions could lick our spridgets
> on the autox course as well as the drag strip.
>
> Again, as much as I love the E-type and my spridget,
> if it came down to one autox race for my life, there's
> a good chance I'd take my daily driver 1992 Celica
> GT with 160,000km.
>
> It doesn't FEEL as fast because of the sound
> proof interior, the idiot-proof clutch, the CD
> changer, and so on... but the clock doesn't lie, and
> frankly that car handles incredibly well. (although
> it's a little underpowered for it's weight. Sound
> familiar?)
>
> I'd be very interested to hear from people who compete
> in open autox events using spridgets against modern
> machinery.
>
> --
> Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
> Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
> ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
> "What am I, Julie from the Love Boat?" - Julie, from the Love Boat
>
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