whether a driver is in the seat or it is driven by remote control. You still need upper body strength, es-
pecially in the arms but you don’t exert yourself as intensely when strapped tightly into a racing seat by a five-point harness. Mark Martin is still competitive in NASCAR and he’s 51. Motorcycles are known to be quick
and agile because they can easily weigh one-sixth as much a car. They also have a much higher power-to-weight (p/w) ratio. The S1000RR, with 193 hp and a claimed wet weight of 206 kg, has a p/w ratio of 0.93hp/kg. The Genesis Coupe GT, with 306 hp carrying 1,543 kg, has a p/w ratio of 0.2hp/kg. That means that while the S1000RR
has almost one horsepower for each kilo it carries, the Genesis makes do with just one-fifth of a horsepower. The Genesis would need a massive 1,440 hp to match the S1000RR’s p/w ratio. Of course, a car counters its weight
disadvantage by possessing much more grip than a motorcycle. Just one of the Genesis’ contact patches has more area than both of the S1000RR’s contact patches combined. And how much grip you’ve got determines how hard you can get on the throttle coming out of a turn. However, regardless of the amount of
grip, a ham-fisted approach on the accel- erator will either get you in a spin on four wheels or catapult you skyward on two. You don’t stomp on the gas like you’re putting out a fire; you don’t wring the throttle like you’re drying a pair of wet socks. “Step on the gas and release it as if
you’re squeezing a sponge,” was the sage 40 HOLIDAY BUYER’S GUIDE 2010
advice offered by AISA instructor Tania Bourbonnais, who can write volumes on throttle control; she drives a modified 540-horsepower Pontiac GTO in DMCC drift competitions. The S1000RR’s high output working
on contact patches the size of flattened tennis balls meant that turning the throt- tle required the finesse of a surgeon. The BMW’s traction control eased the opera- tion, kicking in subtly and keeping the rear wheel in check. Traction control was beneficial on the
high-power motorcycle, a contradiction to my experience with this technology in the car. The Genesis Coupe GT’s stability con-
trol uses a combination of engine man- agement and brake application to correct for a loss of traction and it reacted abruptly when things got exciting. To go very fast in a car, some “give” is
permissible – even necessary – and the Genesis performed better on the track with the stability control turned off. Controlling the GT without electronic
intervention was a breeze however, as it had very good throttle feedback and very smooth power delivery. And unlike most cars that have gas pedals hanging from a pivot on the firewall, the Genesis’ pedal pivots on the floor, providing a very intuitive foothold. Despite flawless gearbox performance
on the Genesis, manual gear changes in a car can only be described as clumsy com- pared to a motorcycle. You’ve got to re- lease your grip on the wheel to reach for a gearshift knob while your feet scurry about between three pedals. On a motorcycle, a slight throttle
chop and a nudge with your toe at the shifter gets the job done, up or down. It was even easier on the S1000RR, which has an electronic shift assist that per- mits clutch-less, full-throttle gear changes.
THE RESULTS Reaching the limit of control was eas-
ier in a car, mostly because it was much easier to recover if that limit were ex- ceeded, and the consequences of losing control were less … painful. This raised my confidence level be-
hind the wheel of the Genesis quicker than when at the handlebar of the S1000RR, and this despite many years of riding experience. Motorcycle racers, have a very keen
sense of feel. A rider will use their hands, feet and butt to feel what the tires are doing. There is an almost direct link, through the forks, between a rider’s hands and the front tire’s contact patch. Chassis vibrations transfer through the foot-pegs. Rear-wheel grip is sensed through the seat. There are several layers of isolation be-
tween a driver and a car’s contact patches. Assisted steering that works through a network of linkages dimin- ishes feel at the hands. A driver’s feet do not support body weight so they don’t sense what the chassis is doing. A plush seat designed for hours of comfort damps chassis vibrations. Despite these barriers, I learned that
with the proper instruction a driver could be as intricately connected to a car’s nervous system as a rider is to a motorcycle. It just takes some practice.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48