|
bar10dah, I agree that I would rather fly with my family in a modern aircraft - but that is hardly the point. In that case, I and my family are passengers; my concerns about the new technology are purely from the perspective of driving enjoyment and the trend towards making new Porsches dummy-proof. Although I must admit, that as we progress towards auto-pilot technology, we will likely all become nothing much more than passengers!
It seems that even if the rarefied world of Formula 1 there are some who share my opinions. As you may recall. several years ago the cars had traction control - something which made effective starts (or effective exits from corners) much easier. Regardless of driver skill, the best car then became the fastest to the first turn and the best at accelerating out of turns. Formula one has now dropped this and the result is that driver skill has once again been placed at a premium. Watch the start to a number of grand prix and it will become apparent that a driver such as Fernando Alonso is generally able to pass one or more cars into the first turn - not because his car is faster or has a better program for traction control, but because he is able to maximize acceleration and avoid tire spin. Indeed, I believe that yesterday's Canadian Grand Prix was the first race this season in which he did not gain positioins (albeit he did not lose any either). Tire wear is also a huge factor this year in Formula 1 and it requires drivers who have the skill to run a fine line between being fast, and not overheating the tires through wide slip angles or wheel spin out of corners.
PDK and modern traction control (and Vector technology) do make for a faster car that is also easier to drive. And while I know that you can't stop progress, I for one think that it is beginning to turn sports cars into something other than 'driver's' cars.
Brad
|