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Comment by joshu | Hacker News Reader

what’s the target audience? people shouldn’t be using this on public roads.

(i own a former formula D car. it never goes on the street)

It works as a regular electronic handbrake for those people who only use it on public roads. It only works as a drift brake in "track mode". Thanks to that drift thing though we get a normal-ish handbrake interface instead of a button, so that's great.

you... drive your car to a sanctioned drift event and use it.(?)

So you're going to wreck your good street tires? The stuff you want to drive around on is not the stuff you want to drift on.

as someone who used to drive their street-car NB miata to the track , packed with track-wheels ready to swap when I got there, I don't really understand your point.

Switching wheels at the event is extraordinarily common in SoCal -- so much so that many drift/circuit events have a place to check your street wheels at so that they're not stolen in the pits. This service used to be offered routinely at Willow Springs, my local stomping grounds.

The vast majority of people buying this cars are not going to be using it for drift events. So for the 99% of people who are buying it without intentions of tracking it, why is this there? At least on the RS it was something that could be added (albeit a bit silly.)

I'm well aware of how track cars and race cars work. I thought that would be somewhat apparent from my initial comment.

> The vast majority of people buying this cars are not going to be using it for drift events. So for the 99% of people who are buying it without intentions of tracking it, why is this there?

This applies to 90% of pickup truck drivers also - most of them will never really "need" the bed. People sometimes buy cars with certain features for bragging rights or to present a certain image. This is not new or noteworthy.

You have multiple vehicles and/or multiple sets of tires.

I personally have a dedicated track car with technically street legal tires that only drives to the track and back. It is not something you’d want to drive daily. All creature comforts have been removed and it is noisy and uncomfortable.

You can go all out with not being street legal if you have a truck and trailer but I don’t quite have that much space.

They are selling a street car, though. The vast majority of people who have this will not be tracking it. So why does it need a drift bar?

I'm very aware of how track and race cars work, thanks for explaining that.

Almost all track cars are currently (or started as) street cars. Amateur track days are really pretty popular these days.

Sports cars are made for motorsports. Always have been.

Yes, some people drive sports cars to the mall, and never race. Some people drive trucks in the mall and never tow anything. I wear running shoes to the mall and walk the whole time. Just because a handbrake lever is there doesn’t mean you have to pull it while you’re driving. I’m sure even your car will break the speed limit.

The vast, vast majority of people that own sports cars do not take their cars to the track.

So what? The world would be a sad place if bare minimum utilitarianism was required for all aspects of our life.

Nice things should be allowed to exist for the people who are responsible enough to enjoy them. If people break the law, then they should be punished. If they don’t, they shouldn’t.

In Denver, it seems the people doing this typically just steal a car.

It's ridiculous the same license in the US that allows you to drive a Corolla allows you to drive a race car on the street. With Biden fawning all over sports cars at the Detroit auto show I doubt anything with regards to car regulation will change in the US.

It doesn’t really matter what Biden thinks. He has almost zero power over vehicle licensing. The US government doesn’t even license drivers or set traffic laws.

He has control of vehicle regulations though. No one should have race car on street. Race cars should not be able to be driven on the street.

The federal government can really only regulate vehicles as far as they can regulate interstate commerce. They can tell automakers what they should make and fine them if they don’t follow those rules (and they sometimes just choose to pay the fines)

There are numerous vehicles on dealers lots today that are made in violation of federal requirements. Some are sold as “off road” vehicles. Some luxury and sports cars just flaunt fuel economy requirements and their automakers wrap the fine into the price of the car.

What actually is legal to drive on the street is almost 100% up to the states. Many states will allow you to register off road vehicles that don’t meet any federal standards as long as they meet the state’s requirements for roadworthiness. The states can and do put a license plate on whatever they want.

I agree, but I also think human-driven cars shouldn't go over 85mph, so I don't pretend to speak for any majority.

Plenty of places around the US where the population density is so low you could go 100mph all day on the highways with no problems.

Though I will say, it's wild that even what were once considered budget cars like the Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla can go 85mph uphill these days. There's probably a market for a cheaper car that can barely make it to highway speeds. Maybe in three years, when oil is $200 a barrel...

The Mirage is still for sale. All 78 horsepower of it.

The Mirage's top speed is supposedly 107mph, though I personally would not drive a car more miles per hour than it has horsepower.

Shit rolls down hill, I’ve heard.

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