#HOVER CAR 2020 DRIVERS#
Now drivers in the Netherlands are one step closer to making this vision a reality, as a commercial flying car has just been approved for use on roads there. The result, a quicker lap time.We’ve all had the experience of sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic with nothing but miles of red taillights ahead, wishing we could somehow break away from the pack and zoom off to our destination traffic-free. The rear wheels will inevitably follow, but the traction control is told to ignore it and keep sending power when they start spinning, because it knows all four wheels will be on the ground again momentarily. That’s why, in performance traction mode, the front shocks communicate that they’ve got no weight on them - meaning they’re in the air. That’s a handy feature in normal driving, but slowing the powered wheels costs you time on the race track. Why? Because when a car goes airborne at very high speeds, normal traction control senses the rear wheels spinning and responds as if they were on ice or another slippery surface: It slows them. The optional adaptive Magnetic Ride Control shock absorbers talk to the Corvette’s traction control system, a feature that comes in handy at high speeds on the track, vehicle performance manager Alex MacDonald said. To ensure every member of the C8 team understood the legacy they had the opportunity to complete, they wore bright yellow - the color of Corvette race cars that have won many Le Mans races - and “What Would Zora Do?” wristbands, making that the standard for decision making. Buzzing Yuma was verboten, its air space restricted because of nearby U.S. In addition to staking out GM’s proving grounds and areas automakers develop vehicles - Death Valley in the summer, Finland in winter - some photographers hired helicopters to fly over the Milford proving grounds. Confirmation that a mid-engine ‘Vette was coming, and good photos of the fabled project, could make somebody’s career, not to mention a stack of dough higher than the car.
It immediately became the top target for spy photographers, who specialize in getting pictures of vehicles automakers are developing. Hide the ‘Vette!’ĭespite GM’s secrecy, rumors leaked out that a mid-engine ‘Vette was again under consideration. In addition to Blackjack, the C8 team considered mules that looked like station wagons and vans, two other body styles that would allow them to hide the fact that the engine compartment was behind, not in front of, the passengers. Those bones, incidentally, were milled from 7,000 pounds of aluminum ingots, work done secretly at other GM facilities. Its body panels were handmade fiberglass, carefully shaped to look like a Ute while covering the C8’s bones. The interior came from the C7 Corvette that was in production. The one-of-a-kind “mule,” as development vehicles are sometimes called, served for two years of development drives - frequently at night, so not even other GM engineers would see it - at GM’s proving grounds in Milford and Yuma, Arizona.īuilding Blackjack - by hand, of course - took eight months. The only actual Holden parts on Blackjack are the brand’s chrome badge, headlights, outside mirrors and taillights, but the ruse worked.
0 kommentar(er)
