An audiophile and petrolhead's musings: in the hi-fidelity, first class, traveling set - Page 74

Real world is quite different than gaming, you start drifting too much on a real track in a real race and you'll be dead. The advantages to a car like the Ferrari is neutral handing and torque... metric ****-tons of torque. You come out of a flat curve at 80 and wind out to 170-190, and you're pulling 3-4Gs the whole way. Then you're hard on the brakes, and your body goes from being smashed into the seat to being pulled towards the windshield, with only your harness keeping you from getting there. While all that time you have to keep heat in the tires so they'll stay sticky enough to allow you to maneuver, heat in the brakes so they'll stop you properly, and air over the wings and spoilers to maintain enough downforce to keep you on the track. It's all very similar to this:

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On the other end of the scale, I drove the Isetta home tonight. That little sucker is as fun as a sack full of kittens. I had it up to 50mph, which seemed a lot faster than that, but it just cruised right along. Safety issues aside, that thing could be a serious commuter car. It has plenty of pep from its 25hp 2 cylinder, 4-cycle engine and it handles surprisingly well for what it is. Plus, there's the uniqueness of it. I stopped to fill it up, which took no time at all, and everyone was checking it out. Cute little sucker.

Oh she's nuts over the Isetta. I slapped a temp tag on it and she practiced with the funky left side gear shift, then we took off. We didn't go too far, just the roads around the house, but she had a ball. Seriously, 45mph in that thing feels like 100 in a regular car. I had it up to 65 on a straight and there was still a decent amount of pedal left, but it was pretty damned scary. I did order some shoulder belts for it, even though it's exempt due to age, because it really is too fast to not have them. The new rules, for both of us, are; no further than 5 miles from home, no interstate, and no faster than the speed limit.
Edited by Magick Man - 11/25/12 at 12:22pm

The older gentleman that sold me the HE-60s, which I like very much, is selling me his EC Balancing Act and balanced Grado HP-2s. He's getting out of head-fi all-together because his hearing has deteriorated so much, which is sad (he's pushing 75 now).



It's not so bad for me, better than I would have thought, but it is tight with both of us in it. She looks normal in it, though, and it fits her perfectly. Right now she's going crazy with washing and waxing it.
Edited by Magick Man - 11/25/12 at 1:56pm

Fun, fun, ever seen a car with two high-capacity fuel pumps?



For a big monolith of classic muscle the Barracuda handles pretty well, it isn't a modern sports car, but it isn't supposed to be. It's a great cruiser, or even a high-powered tourer. Power steering, AC, cruise control, nice stereo, comfortable seats, and a smooth ride. Now here, here's the money shot:



Look at that slope. The torque numbers were dead-on accurate, but the HP was underrated, to the tune of about 67hp. It's a monster. My mechanic and I took it out and we happened to pull up to a guy in a newer Mustang GT500 (things are everywhere), he gave a signal, and I toasted him by a good 30ft to the next light. We stop and he pulled up with his window down, "WTF is in that?!" "740hp Hemi." "Is it blown?" "Nope, naturally aspirated." "Holy ****." LOL! It actually feels like it's pulling up the front a little. It sounds civilized and idles very smoothly, you really have no idea what could be in there until you give it the beans and the butterfly valves open, then there's a roar like the devil himself is trying to escape. The mechanic thinks he can coax another 50 or more hp out of it, but with larger cams and reworking the heads. It would make it louder at idle and could be too much for the Dana rearend which is only rated at 650lbs of torque. So I'm just going to leave it as is.

Anyway, we get it back to the shop and then take out the Cobra, or we try to take out the Cobra but it's rough and won't idle properly. So we fiddle with the carbs, and after 20 minutes or so he gets it running and we leave. After another quick stop he gets it dialed in correctly and the craziness began. Think the cuda is fast? Pfftt. It's touchy because the Cobra weighs just a little more than a ton, but once you get used to it, it isn't hard to manage. But at all times you have to be aware of the throttle, so you don't spin it around or simply leave all of your rubber on the highway. The ride is a little stiff, but it should be, this is the essence of "sports car". No power steering, no AC, no cruise control, no stereo, it does have a heater, but since there's no top it's almost pointless. However, none of that matters, it's pure driving; easy clutch, short throw shifter, awesome throaty sound (it has mufflers, more or less, but no catalytic converters). The handling is fantastic, with a very direct and connected feel. From the way it drove it's just about bang-on 50-50 weight distribution, no excessive amounts of understeer or oversteer. I expected it would be cramped, but it isn't. The seats are nice, and even better they fully adjust, so I was able to push it all the way back and it was perfect, just right for heel-toe shifting. I didn't get to drive it too long though, it started raining a little and I didn't feel 100% comfortable in it yet (and didn't want to get us or the interior soaked) so I took it back. They did get the EZ-EFI system ordered, and that should be in tomorrow because the distributor had it in stock, so we'll soon see how "easy" it really is.
Edited by Magick Man - 11/27/12 at 12:04am