PH meets: Mike Cross
The science of flow, discussed with Jaguar's Mike Cross
The invitation to spend some time with Mike followed a blog on flow last year. It got a great response but the one that stood out was from Mike, inviting me over for a drive some time to discuss the subject in more depth.
The 'I've been out with Mike Cross' story is a rite of passage for many a car hack, yours truly included. It usually involves breathless descriptions of heroic amounts of tyre smoke and oversteer, all delivered with trademark calmness and precison. But our drive today rarely sees us above 50mph and, bar one cheeky dab of oppo for the camera, is conducted at a languid and relaxed pace, the better to chat about how you actually engineer flow into a car.
Sideways glances
Mike's formal training as an engineer came at Coventry Poly and then a period as a student apprentice at Land Rover. The informal bit from the cars he owned at the time. He muses on a back catalogue that'd have any PHer green with envy. "I had an Escort Mexico, RS2000, Sunbeam Lotus, Chevette HS, a couple of Capris..." he muses. "You must have had a taste for-" I begin. "Oversteer?" he grins.
So, a background in sideways-friendly cars and mechanical engineering, which brings us to the role he's held since 2000 - Chief Engineer, Vehicle Integrity at Jaguar Land Rover. In short his role is to turn those wishy-washy adjectives into objective data.
Surely though, the days of seat of the pants chassis engineering are long gone? Mike disagrees. "Ultimately that's how customers judge their cars," he points out. "We look at what you guys write and we look at customer satisfaction data so we have those feedback loops." Gawd. So all that florid dab of oppo nonsense actually gets listened to?
And I spanked it
"I suppose we'd use words like immediate, connected, linear," replies Mike thoughtfully. "Probably pretty dull language really but initially it's a verbal statement of intent." Competitor comparisons and objective analysis - specific, repeatable test track exercises in other words - follow before a list of quantifiable benchmarks underpinned by the brand DNA. If the car meets these Mike's got something to work with. Which basically involves driving. Lots and lots of driving.
The classic British B-road remains at the heart of it too, which brings us back to flow. Mike's local shakedown roads have it all, often in the space of a couple of miles. Even in a 500hp-plus Jaguar XFR Speed Pack Mike has a very light touch, all finger tip steering, minimal inputs and classic, drama-free 'making progress'.
So how do you engineer flow into a car? "The immediacy of the steering is a really key communicator," he says, decisively. "Richard Parry-Jones said you could always make your mind up about a car in the first 50 metres and I think he was right about that."
Feelsome
Nice to know we're not the only ones obsessed with steering feel then. "Linearity of response, especially when you're going back and forth across centre like on this bit of road, is important," he says as we weave along one favourite snaking section of local back road.
And electric steering? "I actually think the electric steering in the new Range Rover feels better than the hydraulic system in the old car," he says decisively. In short there's more to it than how the assistance is delivered. "A surprising amount of steering feel, a larger amount than you might think, comes from the rear suspension," he says.
But how do you make a near-two tonne car with over 500hp and capable of nearly 200mph flow on a road where 50-60mph might be all you'd sensibly carry? "It's about how the car works with the road," he says. "It's perhaps easier with a lighter car but I like to think even with the XFR we've achieved that too. You need to be able to interact with a car at all speeds. If a car is only really capable when you're flat out it's unsatisfying."
Too much of a good thing
Going back to cars like the Sunbeam Lotus he reflects that, by the standards of the day, 150hp and 150lb ft made it a quick car. "It was twitchy though," he recalls. "Probably quite a lot slower ultimately but approaching the limit of a car is the satisfying bit and in some ways the level of that limit is irrelevant." Has he driven a GT86? No, but he'd like to.
And he's right, of course. Making fast cars fun to drive slowly too is a real art and why his brand of subjective analysis remains a vital skill. And one involving some unexpected new developments. "NVH is an interesting one," he says. "There's unwanted NVH but there's actually an increasing emphasis now on making a car sound good so there's a positive sound quality too." Going by the recent F-Type teaser vid something Jaguar has been working hard on. Engine noise through the speakers then, Mike? A polite smile from a man who spends a lot of time on PH and is aware of the collective view on such fakery.
One could spend all day discussing this stuff but we've already taken up half of Mike's, and he has to disappear back into the heart of the JLR machine. This flow thing might sound like an abstract notion but among the neverending tech onslaught new cars throw at us it's nice to know it matters to those building them, as well as those driving them.
A life on opposite lock - Mike Cross's press photo greatest hits...
I'm priveledged enough to have worked with them both.
I don't think there can be any doubt that the JLR product range has benefittted hugely as a result of this, and I hope the powers that be currently at the top of the JLR tree, realise and appreciate this.
All good in my book!
Enjoy...
Oh, and while I'm here a hat tip to all the folk Mike works with too. It's a team effort of course.
Dan
Fantastic cars, obviously developed by people who care and know their stuff, let's hope it stays that way.
Welsh Road/Southam and a streaming wet journey in that Green XKR. Mike Cross <salutes>.
It's also heartening to know there are still people in the industry that care how a far feels to the driver and know that there's a section of buyers who aren't blinded to a car's shortcomings by a nice interior.
Welsh Road/Southam and a streaming wet journey in that Green XKR. Mike Cross <salutes>.
Ive come across Mike and his crew in various JLR products around the area a few times over the yrs. You can usually spot the development cars as various bits n bobs are out of place to your eye and if you see into the interior they are randomly different, stripped out, ripped apart or stuffed with stuff. Sometimes you come across a Jag that looks normal but it going at a pace across country that is just...different. Its not hooning, but its progress is invariably very very swift and so utterly smooth. The smoothness always catches the eye. You can bet the house that such a time its Cross or one of his chaps. Quite uncanny, lovely to watch and all with a far defter hand than I can manage.
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