Jay,
It's a nice theory, but if you work out this example
for a 'regulation' 45' radius corner (I just did), the
Elan can cut exactly 0.2" closer to the cone than the
Miata. I'd call that a "second order effect"... :)
Craig Blome
--- Jay Mitchell <jemitchell@compuserve.com> wrote:
>
> Shorter, IMHO. Two cars that autox much better than
> their specs
> on paper would seem to indicate are the Miata and
> the Lotus Elan.
> The Miata's wheelbase is 89", the Elan's is 84". One
> advantage of
> a shorter wheelbase is you can drive a tighter path
> around cones
> that define transitions or apexes. If you envision
> the car's body
> forming a chord of the arc along which you're
> travelling, the
> advantage is intuitively evident. Shorter chord =>
> smaller arc
> required to clear the cone.
>
|