Driver aids in racing

Well, I can tell you that NASCAR is all very manual, with real clutches and floor shifters, no traction control, no ABS, etc. That's why I love to see those cars on the road courses.

 

I don't need no stinkin brakes. (Spitting a wad) All you gotta do is stomp da muther, turn left, and hang on!

Dr "Jimbob Jumpback" Who

 

The only NASCAR races that I see (if at all) are the road course ones.

But the cars look totally out of place on road courses .... like a fat aunt asked to do a J-Lo dance sequence.

When the cars take a turn there is so much body roll it is incredible.

It is no coincidence that the guys who do well here all have extensive open wheel and road course experience - Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon, etc.

 

Gearboxes:
F1 - was semi-automatic but changed to manual in 2004. All gearboxes are sequential. Gear shifts enabled thru paddles
CART and IRL - only allow manual sequential gearboxes. Shifting done by means of gear stick only
WRC - Manual sequential gearboxes. Shifting done by either by steering wheel mounted rings or gear stick.

Steering
F1 - power assist
CART/ IRL - power assist
WRC - power assist

Launch Control
F1 - Yes
CART/ IRL - No
WRC - no

TRaction Control
F1 - Yes - primarilyfor exit of corners
CART/ IRL - No
WRC - Sort of - advanced set of differentials move torque around to get best grip

 

I need to research ASR and other stuff for the other sports.

But this circa-2003 article from www.f1technical.net (an excellent site for tech details) was pretty interesting as it deals with the electronics at play in F1. I have marked in bold the sections pertaining to driver aids

 

Sam, there's no more LC systems in F1, that was banned before the start of the 2004 season.

 

I'm sorry, where did you get the info that WRC disallows launch control ? AFAIK and from what I've read, launch control is allowed and used by the rally teams at the start of every stage.

 

What do you mean "semi-automatic"? I thought F1 was fully automatic (not now, but previously for the 2003 season).

 

Poor use of terms. There really is no such thing as a "semi-automatic" gearbox. The correct term for what is used in Formula 1 is an electrohydraulic gearbox. This is still based on a manual gearbox design using a clutch (in this case controlled by a computer and hydraulics vs a foot pedal), and has nothing to to do with automatic transmissions, which use a torque converter.

The F1 gearbox shifts sequentially (vs an H-pattern shifter gate), via wheel-mounted paddles. A few years ago, the cars upshifted automatically, but the driver still had to downshift using a paddle. Now all upshifts and downshifts must be controlled manually via paddle operation by the driver.

In the early 90's I believe some teams used electronically mapped shifts for certain corners. I remember watching a video of Schumacher driving a Benetton, and when it came to brake and downshift for a turn, he just pressed a button on the left of the steering wheel and the shifting, pre-set for that turn, was done automatically for him.

 

Ok, that's what I was thinking.

 

that's what the '67 bug i've been driving for the last 4 years has.

you lightly touch the gearstick and the clutch engages automatically, pretty freaky at first. not sure why other cars never had them, it's a really nifty design, gear changes are as quick or quicker than a regular box, and there's no need to bother with a third pedal.

not sure how it werks come to think of it, coz you can come to a full stop and take off in any gear, so it feels like an automatic, that you have to change gears in manually, however "forward" gear is flexible enough for off-the-line half-decent take-offs and cruising up to 40mph. (there's a "fast forward" low ratio, only good to 20mph, but really LAUNCHES from the lights to embarrass commodore bogans and an "overdrive" for 40-60mph cruising)

any idea why such a system never caught on?

strange little bug.

 

Sounds like an ancient version of an auto transmission. Although, I don't know much about old Beetles so this is only a guess.

 

Yep! Forgot about that!