Have we reached the pinnacle of performance?

TTV8 and KERS.

 

They can go quicker but roads and drivers will have to get better.

 

Makes me want to ask the more fundamental question....."what is performance?"

There is much talk about the mystical, magical, and psychological aspects of the melding of man and machine. Ferrari road cars, from all the things I've read here, seem to capture that "lively" interaction better than most.

My Fiats, particularly the X1/9, just seem to be machines that elevate the driving experience beyond say, a truck. But this is not because of speed or power, it's because of the gestalt. An X is way underpowered by anyone's standards, but why is it that I love driving it better than any other car I've ever driven?

As for sheerly mechanical considerations, current F1 cars would be the place to look to the mechanical limits of automotive performance.

I see the future car as something like this....A high powered yet small magnetically controlled motion system that triangulates position based on computer monitoring and GPS coordinates combined with complex terrain monitoring and computation to make an "air car" as Rush called it in "Red Barchetta." The whole "hover craft" concept is not going to cut it because you can't stop it, there has to be some magnetism involved if an object is floating in space. Think about the high speed trains in Europe. They can already do this in the lab with super-cold objects under high powered magnetic fields. Human input and interface will, as always, be the limitation, just as it is now. Just as drone planes today can get along quite well without humans, so will the transportaiton of the future. Humans, though, need to be involved in the picture somewhere in order to get some enjoyment out of it, unless we just plug into brain level simulation experience machines. I'd rather drive.

 

Even more lightweight yet stronger materials.

 

I say let them continue to rip the asphalt, one day they'll run out of oil or the green-heads would have stopped the hp/performance race.

We need crazy fast cars. The world is more interesting with them.

 

Veyron?

 

I think the new greener cars will be allowed to be very high performance and fast for a while,(at least comparable if not faster than current gas cars) to hook people into the new technology. Then, the government will step in and put the brakes on that. Most people will be over their heads with the performance even with all the new nannies, no different than now.

 

We've got the "power" thing licked.. just witness insane 4 door Benz for where this gets you as one dimensional thing..

So..

Less weight, more strength & safety all the while less cost.. plenty to strive for there!

Then more refined electronic (both in-car AND 3rd party) and mechanical integration with long term maintenance and less cost.. plenty to strive for there!

Reduced emissions and wide torque spread and minimal consumption.. plenty to strive for there!

AND THEN make it desirable and affordable to buy!

Plenty of challenges yet methinks..

 

We already have those cars, they are just modified with aftermarket parts. It's not that the car companies can't create the cars, they just haven't decided to engineer them.

Within 12 months the new SSC Ultimate Aero will probably come in at <2.5 0-60 and 275 on the top end.

 

By all means the automotive manufactuers have not reached the pinnacle of performance. The question is, "How much is good enough for you, the individual?"

 

Exotic marques no longer "own" the supercar performance niche. The major manufacturers have demonstrated conclusively that they can, and do, build vehicles that equal or surpass the performance of all but the absolutely most extreme vehicles. Factoring in price and reliability, one can argue that the major manufacturers produce BETTER vehicles than the exotic manufacturers.

Performance has reached a point of diminishing returns. In real world driving, a Nissan GT-R provides more useable performance than any sane person is capable of harnessing. There simply is no discernible difference between a car that can launch from 0-60MPH in 2.8 seconds versus 3.0 or a car that can reach a top speed of 210MPH versus one that can reach 195MPH. In practical terms, these performance levels are the same.

In this environment, exotic marques like Ferrari will have to continue to differentiate their brands by something other than pure performance. Performance will, of course, continue to be a big part of the Ferrari brand, but it will not define the brand. Lamborghini is a good example of an exotic manufacturer that has defined itself by something other than pure performance. In Lambo's case, the brand's unique style is every bit as important as its substance. Lambo has also demonstrated that it is not necessary for a brand to participate in the insanely expensive world of F1 racing to establish performance credibility.

 

I would say lightweight materials, KERS like systems and electric in general.
Jaguar now has developed a car with a KERS like system (C-X16) that provides a 'turbo boost' on the steering wheel. allowing 80-120kph times of 2.1 seconds!

Infidel, bonuspoints on the diminishing returns. You can have these days more fun in a lightweight 200hp car than in a heavy 500hp example. But chances are you won't be home quicker than your neighbour driving a small Fiat.

 

I think it all comes down to "Traction".....can you get the power to road surface...."Wheel Spin" is not "Forward Motion".....Mark

 

+1

It's da rubber, dude.

Dale

 

I agree.

I see F1 safety, weight efficiencies and real-time performance monitoring and calibration and I'm underwhelmed by what carmakers are producing in 2011. They're still riffing off the Model T.

 

Imagine a F458 that has a curb weight of only 2000 pounds!

 

Its not so much what can be done to increase today's incredible performance, it is when will the GOV, Greenies and Insurance companies wake up and stop it or make it so expensive like was done to end the muscle car era in the 70's.

 

I believe it could.

Last weekend we watched Schumacher walk away from a wall crash in Singapore that probably would have killed the drivers of many (most?) modern road cars. The issue is production costs. Stamped steel, with an iron block bolted in, is still the cheapest way to build a car.

The government, green movement and F1 are probably the top three drivers of innovation in cars today. Muscle cars were garbage compared to basically any car you can buy today, and carmakers didn't think much about making crashworthy cars until governments stepped in to stop the carnage. (Lap belts were an extra cost option in Porsches in the mid-'60s, and you couldn't get shoulder belts until the early '70s.)

Both F1 and the green movement are pushing the efficiency standards higher -- more power from less fuel, burnt more cleanly.

The scary part would be when cars like the old school two-ton Ferrari 599, Jag XKR, etc., are slower than the average high tech production car available to the public. How much performance can the general public handle?

 

While I agree with your thoughts, but what is not being said is the folly of building thinly disguised race cars for the street. Take a Challenge Stradale, for example. Fantastic car, but with capabilities exceeding the abilities of almost every potential buyer. For most drivers, the best case scenario is you lose your license. The worst case is they kill somebody else.

What's worse is a Challenge Stradale makes for a lousy race car. After you spend tens of thousands getting it ready for the track, you still have a street car.

I'd rather see sports car companies like Ferrari build real-world sports cars. At some point, the horsepower game has to end.

Dale

 

The 458 is a real world sports car and a very nice one at that.

The 430 Scuderia is a great real world sports car.

The next Ferrari Supercar will be a great sports/supercar.

I think Ferrari is doing fine.