kerryfalk

I'm rebuilding my S2000 right now turning it into a 2.4L stroker for 300+ hp. :D

FC > e30 BMW > AP1 S2000 > W204 C63 P31

I had a girlfriend with a similar device attached to her (an LVAD). At first it was a little unnerving seeing her unplug the batteries that were keeping her alive and charge them every night. It quickly became normal for me. Life with it seemed relatively normal except she had to have a purse with her at all times (it carried the batteries).

The interesting part was when she received a transplant and went cordless. After being attached to it for two years and not having a heartbeat the sound of her heat beating kept her up at night for a couple of weeks. I hadn't even considered the beating of a heart to be relevant to our daily lives until she had mentioned it once she heard hers beating again (an LVAD is just a constant velocity pump. The blood is always flowing).

Not sure how much it really adds to the conversation other than an interesting anecdote.

I read this story thinking about how difficult it would be to go from not feeling it, to feeling it. I've spent decades learning and adapting, he had no time. That would certainly be very overwhelming.

I didn't take them, I taught them.

We call the driver aids "nannies" in motorsports because they fix some driver errors. They limit control and input. They don't react for the driver. Interesting fact: A driver can out-brake ABS. The vast majority of motorsports competitors do regularly.

I'm not sure why I'm engaging in this, I should probably have more coffee... :)

In that hypothetical situation I might wish that they had taken some high performance driving courses from me or my colleagues/friends. And spent time behind the wheel of cars at the limit, as I have, so that they had better skills to potentially avoid the accident they caused (with or without ESC).

ESC doesn't save people from bad driving, it masks some of their errors.

There is nothing wrong with disabling traction control. Please don't use the ESC in your car as a crutch. It won't save you.

I will not be changing my behavior. ;)

Variable vein enables turbos to match engine speeds more quickly. Greatly reducing turbo lag.

The M4 is basically an M3 - they've been around that price range for quite a while. What else can you obtain with similar performance numbers and fit and finish for "way less money spent"?

I never drive with traction control or in comfort mode - not even in winter. It's a completely different car with them off - if you get another chance to drive one I'd suggest turning it all off. Unfortunately the throttle isn't linear but any more than 20% will spin the tires.

I also have an S2000. It has half the horsepower and weights 1,000lbs less but it's a blast.

How so? I would perceive no difference between a turbo'd engine and a Naturally Aspirated one while driving on the highway at a constant speed. Engine responsiveness as per the parent poster would be the same within the city vs. on the highway.

There is no way to "solve" turbo lag.

I'd suggest researching variable vein turbos. BMW has done it very successfully in their e92 335s. Even resulting in a flat torque curve at very low RPM. It's impressive engineering.

Glib solution: Buy an AMG and smile when you put your right foot down, but cry when you go to the bank...

Source: I own a C63 and my startup procedure includes completely turning off traction control and putting the transmission into S+ every time I get in the car.

The parent's lack of throttle response is most likely due to turbo lag. Modern cars are getting better with variable vein turbos.

If your Mom's Mercedes suffers from poor throttle response I'd guess it's because she purchased one with a small engine relative to the size of the vehicle. A C230, for example, isn't the sportiest of cars. A C63, however, does not suffer from poor throttle response.

With that said, I personally chose to spend more for a very boisterous German muscle car...

In modern cars Active Stability Control (ASC) is effective in eliminating oversteer, no matter what the drivetrain setup is. Traction at stop lights would favor RWD when a car has near 50/50 weight distribution (I don't know what the Model 3 is but would guess it's close).

RWD makes the car simpler and with modern ASC is no less safe for the average driver than FWD. I'd guess that traction in a Model 3 would slightly favor RWD but tires matter more.

I setup my cars with a heafty amount of rear toe-in (1/4"). When the weight transfers left/right or one of the rear wheels hits a bump/hole it will push the car in one direction similar to torquing one side of a shopping cart with your hand.

A RWD setup allows the car to be more efficient with its tires (using one set for turning and one for power vs. one for both). FWD is just seen as safer because most people panic when a car oversteers. As the saying goes among driving enthusiasts: "Oversteer scares passengers, Understeer scares drivers"

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Model 3 with something like a P65D besting M3/C63 performance numbers.

...it doesn't seem far of a stretch to make the leap to using your statement here to indicate that you may in fact be racist.

There was no reason to indicate their race, so why do it? Did they have blue eyes, too? What can I infer from shady blue-eyed people on street corners selling me drugs?