<VV> Spyder/Corsa turbo -- fast?

[Eric S. Eberhard]

The problem with us old people is the definition of fast has changed 
a lot.  The latest Bugatti iteration goes 0-60 in 2.6 seconds and 
zero to 200 and back to zero in less time than by 62 PG sedan makes 
to 60 ... that is a little sobering.  Contemporary magazines put 
Spyders and Corsas in the 10.5 +/- range for 0-60.  If you pick up 
any car magazine with their annual road test summaries you will find 
that there are between zero and 2-3 cars made now that are slower 
than that (depending on the magazine).  Mini vans are faster.  Pickup 
trucks are faster (my Powerstroke is good for a little under 8 
seconds -- a 8,000 lbs diesel 1 ton 4x4 that can tow 14,000lbs behind 
it).  Hybrids are faster.  Smart cars are faster.  Fast today is 0-60 
under 4 seconds.  And I don't care what you do to a Corvair, if it 
retains any resemblance to an original Corvair, even dual Webers or 
FI, VW jugs, etc -- you cannot make a car that is even remotely fast 
by todays standards.  All of my Corvairs have achieved 120+ mph and 
they are mostly stock.  I do this once for fun.  Of course, they were 
on the flatbed trailer behind the Powerstroke :-)

Add to that modern stability control and you have stunning 
handling.  We have a newer Land Cruiser and I just had to test 
it.  On a graded dirt road on a 90 degree turn I was already coming 
in to too fast I floored it.  The computers took over and it simply 
went around the curve at an ungodly speed.  Something I could never 
match in an older car without all the computer assist.  With all the 
skill in the world one cannot compete with torque transfer between 
front and rear drive, individual wheel braking, and engine management 
-- all at 100s of times per second (which is faster than my reflexes 
ever were).  The Corvettes and Porches and so forth of the modern era 
with the addition of these electronics are insane.  I have driven a 
Tesla Roadster and my grandmother could do 0-60 in under 4 
seconds.  Just floor it and hold on.  The computers keep the wheels 
from spinning.  There is no gear shift required.  It just goes like a 
bat out of Hades.  I can buy a Mustang or Vette or Caddy off the 
showroom with more than 500 hp and for fairly modest (compared to 
foreign stuff) prices.

Not as fun as our Corvairs, requires way less skill to drive at speed 
that are stupid on modern roads (in fact opening up a new Vette 
should be grounds for going to jail), but that is what is fast in 
today's world.

Eric



Corvairs are fun because they are old and funky and cool.


At 10:00 AM 12/21/2010, virtualvairs-request at corvair.org wrote:
>Message: 4
>Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:27:06 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
>From: shortle <shortle556 at earthlink.net>
>Subject: Re: <VV> Spyder/Corsa turbo
>To: Clark Hartzel <chartzel at comcast.net>,       Virtual Vairs
>         <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>Message-ID:
> 
><10448974.1292884027111.JavaMail.root at mswamui-backed.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
>A friend of mine in Calif. uses the Crown exhaust housing, a Weber 
>DCOE 40, all on 140 HP heads. WOW!
>That car is fast.
>Timothy Shortle in Durango Colorado


Eric S. Eberhard
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