Bryan on Corvairs and such

I think this will be a little stream - maybe more like a creek - of conciousness.

Friday, August 06, 2010

If you can't drive a Corvair, you can't drive.

A recent post in reply to some of the usual Corvair comments on a blog about the Corvair entry in the 24 hours of LeMons:

Good read, and he makes a really good point about Corvair enthusiasts being a little too defensive about the cars sometimes, so I've decided to take a different tack, and basically be a curmudgeon (I'm old enough now :-). I posted this in the comments:

For anyone taking Corvair handling comments in the article seriously, let's point out that all the cars here are worn out, used up examples one turn of the tire away from a junkyard. Comparing the BMW to the Corvair in this context is pretty silly, no matter which side you take. However, the early Corvair handling - on an example in good repair - is merely different than most nose heavy examples from Detroit in the 60's. The reality is that the rear end breaks away quite smoothly, which of course *terrifies* the typical driver who equates this with what happens on the NASCAR highlights on their local TV sports cast (you know, the one that never shows racing unless it's a crash). I've autocrossed all three varieties, people who can't manage a car that wants to corner a little sideways suck as drivers. Kudos to Blake for not sucking.

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