Discussion
Interesting article...
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/porsche-calls-end-hor...
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/porsche-calls-end-hor...
wired said:
PORSCHE’S 2015 911 GT3 is a pared-down, track-derived homage to what the German brand does best. It makes 475 hp and enough grip to liquify your kidneys. It redlines at a monster 9,000 rpm. It’s faster than any GT3 before it.
And it’s … fine. Very good, even. But not great. An astonishing piece of engineering, yes, but in the pantheon of hot Porsches, kind of a dead fish. Steering feel that isn’t a patch on a 10-year-old 911’s. A huge, uninviting cockpit. No manual transmission.
As a rule, new cars get faster, but not always better. This is partly because the automotive industry is a game of metrics. Cars are built by engineers, and engineering runs on numbers. Couple this with the needs of marketing, where bigger is always better, and you have a business driven to continually top itself. Each new car must be safer, quieter, more comfortable, and more capable than those before it.
[...]
Ask a motorcyclist or any hot-rodder: Nutso power is nice to have, but you get used to it quickly. If raw power is a car’s main talent, it feels the same on any road, which means you get bored. The rest of the experience—steering feedback, driveline noises, chassis response, the feeling of control—has to be satisfying.
And it’s … fine. Very good, even. But not great. An astonishing piece of engineering, yes, but in the pantheon of hot Porsches, kind of a dead fish. Steering feel that isn’t a patch on a 10-year-old 911’s. A huge, uninviting cockpit. No manual transmission.
As a rule, new cars get faster, but not always better. This is partly because the automotive industry is a game of metrics. Cars are built by engineers, and engineering runs on numbers. Couple this with the needs of marketing, where bigger is always better, and you have a business driven to continually top itself. Each new car must be safer, quieter, more comfortable, and more capable than those before it.
[...]
Ask a motorcyclist or any hot-rodder: Nutso power is nice to have, but you get used to it quickly. If raw power is a car’s main talent, it feels the same on any road, which means you get bored. The rest of the experience—steering feedback, driveline noises, chassis response, the feeling of control—has to be satisfying.
I can really relate to this. I used to be a biker but gave it up in the mid '90s. I was acutely aware that my 73hp Ducati Superlight was miles more capable than I was, but I was always bemused by the trend for ever more powerful and faster machines. I can only imagine how much the latest and greatest sports bikes have moved on in the last 20-odd years in the numbers game but I'll bet that the riding enjoyment factor and overall ownership experience hasn't improved. Actually, I'd bet that the increase in traffic and speed cameras has actually diluted the riding pleasure by widening the gap between the machine's potential and the driver/rider/environment limits.
I remain convinced that the performance car/bike market is principally driven by specifications/egos/one-upmanship/shiny new toy feel-good factor than the fundamentals of driving pleasure.
I remain convinced that the performance car/bike market is principally driven by specifications/egos/one-upmanship/shiny new toy feel-good factor than the fundamentals of driving pleasure.
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