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Thread: What about a separate brake pedal for handbrake turns?

  1. #16
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    go watch a Ken Block video. You see that level next to his shifter that he yoinks when he drifts. yes that's his handbrake. yes its a lot stronger, yes it helps drifting. any proper drift car will have one.

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  2. #17
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    I could not quite work out how handbrake turns would be easier with a footbrake than a handbrake, either.

    Also, I dispute that supercars are about irrationality or silliness. That is more likely to be projected on them by some of the people who want to drive them. Based on my understanding, supercars are designed to go very, very fast. How many slow cars have been labelled "supercars", based on their silliness? The Reliant Robin?

    Supercar manufacturers depend upon their technical competence to market their cars. The people who actually buy an MP4-12C will do so because it has carbon ceramic brakes, a carbon fibre monocoque, and because it can challenge the performance of a 458 Italia, without catching fire (as yet). While I like Top Gear, I realise that Clarkson's approach is that of someone who is reviewing cars as objects of a fantasy, but is not actually putting his own money into it, nor having to translate that fantasy into an every-day reality. For the real buyers, who the manufacturers serve, there is a line between a car being the most extreme performance car that it can be, and a car that is impractical, undriveable, unsafe, or otherwise silly. For the amount of money that a supercar costs, I cannot imagine too many buyers making a deliberate choice of an irrational car. These companies still sell cars based on their perceived competence. They value their reputations.

  3. #18
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    Clarkson has had a Ferrari 355, a Lambo Gallardo Spyder, a Ford GT and currently has a Merc CLK Black amoungst others, so I wouldn't say his POV is out of alignment with supercar buyers. Also, if the news segments are anything to go by (grain of salt and all that) he does actually drive his cars around.

    The average supercar buyer already has a practical car or two, so the idea that their choice of supercar might be something irrational or silly isn't too far fetched. Many do go for absolute [on paper] performance, true.. but in truth, that in itself is somewhat irrational unless you actually go to racetracks and drive it properly.
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  4. #19
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    With the release of 'daily drivable' cars like the DB9 and the AMV8 Aston says they have moved from being a 3rd car to a 2nd.
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  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyco View Post
    With the release of 'daily drivable' cars like the DB9 and the AMV8 Aston says they have moved from being a 3rd car to a 2nd.
    Not in Toronto.

  6. #21
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    Interesting question and best advice I can give for your understanding is to seek out footage of the footwell of a rally car while the driver is doing a handbrake turn.

    Both feet are already busy
    You can steer with only one hand thus letting the other one operate gear and handbrake !

    Equally a footbrake of two sides where say left side oeprated rear and right side operated front will make finesse difficult and if required heel-and-toe impossible. Left/right split braking would be a better choice if you wanted to do that anyway

    As already said, best solution if required is to have bias shift by button or a seperate button to trigger and lock the rears. But suggest unecessary as with a lock-on handbrake it's easy to handle brake, clutch, gear, throttle and handbrake mid corner with the current pedals and appendages
    "A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'

  7. #22
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    I know that Clarkson is a supercar buyer as well, but my point was rather that the way that he drives on television, in a car that is not his, is probably quite different from the way that he would drive the same cars, after buying them for himself. I know that he speeds, but if he drove his own supercars the way that he does on television, he would need to replace the tyres every time he drives them, and would have lost his licence many times over.

    In any case, most of his cars are from manufacturers with reputations for taking themselves seriously. Even Lamborghini have made their reputation around building competent alternatives to a Ferrari, albeit with more emphasis on style than outright performance, in some cases. The CLK Black is from the most serious manufacturer there is. His only relatively irrational choice, from a manufacturer without a reputation for serious performance, is the Ford GT. He subsequently returned it for a refund, within months, because he was so disappointed with its unreliability. It demonstrates that even Clarkson does not want to spend money on the fantasy that he sells on TV, if the reality is that bad. Even if you are buying a car for a reason that is not strictly practical, and can afford a high cost, you will still not be happy to find that it cannot do the impractical things for which you bought it.

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