<VV> PG - Further opinions

[Jim Houston]

I thought Jim Hall used PGs in his Chaparral race cars??  Seemed to work 
okay for him . . .

Jim Houston

On 6/5/2010 11:55 PM, Sethracer at aol.com wrote:
> Maybe I better elaborate on why dissed the PG for performance driving.  PG
> cars are fine for everyday driving, with no special requirements. That is
> the  reason Automatics are so commonplace in every car line these days. If
> there are  NO special requirements, the low-tech automatic is fine. And for
> some very  special requirements, the Automatic can be fine as well. In Drag
> racing, the  only thing that matters is launch off the line and pulling power.
> Throttle  response, strangely, doesn't matter much, you are almost always at
> full  throttle. In some autocross classes, where the car has an abundance
> of power and  great brakes, a driver can learn left-foot braking and overcome
> the inherent  drawbacks of an automatic, poor throttle response from off
> throttle and limited  - or no - engine braking. But in true performance
> driving, where the throttle is  used to position the car and load or unload the
> suspension, the  low-tech automatic fails. Only the stick/clutch systems
> provide the driver  with the instant feedback and response needed to perform,
> consistently, right at  the limit. If you try to use the throttle on a PG
> equipped car to help position  the car in the middle of a corner, you will be
> sorely disappointed. Even  the most learned automatics, ones that hold off
> upshifts if in a corner,  match RPMs on downshifts, cannot match the lap times
> of the properly driven  stick - over the long haul. Now, I must admit, there
> is a new breed of  automatic, these twin disc clutch systems which can shift
> as fast and as  sure as a clutch (I am still excluding F1 technology and
> other upper echelon  racing here -that is a whole other world). But those
> systems are  not available to us low-tech Corvair  folks. We can barely get the
> PG  to shift smoothly and not shed E-clips behind our backs. Some of the
> drag-racing  tricks, such as high stall converters and extra clutch packs for
> high load, have  been adapted to the Corvair PG, but those put the trans in
> an even more  specialized, highly strung position. That same equivalent is
> there for the  sticks, close- ratio transmissions and lightened clutches and
> flywheels will  make that car a pain to drive - except in a very specialized
> activity. I  actually agree with Mark, that the best use for the automatic
> will be to assure  that he will still be able to drive his Corvair, even when
> his clutch  actuation days are over. And if you want to drag-race
> consistently, check with  Ken Arnold and Billy Bruce, their PG equipped Vairs can run
> fast all day.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Seth Emerson
>   _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by the VirtualVairs mailing list, all copyrights are the property
> of the writer, please attribute properly. For help, mailto:vv-help at corvair.org
> This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, http://www.corvair.org/
> Post messages to: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
> Change your options: http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs
>   _______________________________________________
>
>