<VV> Corvair gets slammed again -response to author

[Stephen Upham]

VV'ers   Please check my facts in this response to the article "GM's  
junk heap" by  Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com senior writer
In early versions, though, the Corvair's rear suspension design  
seemed unsuited to the job. The car had dangerously dicey handling in  
turns.

Peter,
As a reporter, you really need to do your homework.  The Corvair is  
actually, except for the Corvette which actually shared the same rear  
suspension geometry as the '65-69 Corvair from '63 to '84, was the  
best handling car of the 60's.  The factors that created this fine  
handling were the location of the major weight of the car over the  
drive wheels, the unibody construction for rigidity, and due to the  
engine location, it had four wheel independent suspension. What  
caused some people to experience steering problems was not reading  
their owners manuals and attending to the correct tire pressures.   
Most people just assumed that all of the tires would receive the same  
tire pressures.  This is almost never the case on any vehicle and was  
certainly true of the Corvair which had a ten pound difference  
between the front and rear recommended.  Also, drivers of the era,  
and of course today are accustomed to experiencing understeer (front  
wheels losing traction before the rear wheels in a hard turn) whereas  
the Corvair, because of the weight distribution, experienced  
oversteer.  All cars, when pushed to their physical limits to go  
where you point them will experience this phenomena.  Although the  
early Corvairs (60-63) did experience a pronounced negative camber in  
a hard turn (usually outside of anything other than autocrossing) the  
cars did not flip over as is the urban legend.  In fact, Corvairs  
were far less likely to flip than other cars of the era, and  
certainly the modern SUV.  With the introduction of the articulated  
link suspension in the '65-69, the car became one that outperformed  
the era's best cars in handling.  Just as an addendum, the Corvair  
was also the fastest stopping car of the 60's and 70's.

Stephen Upham