On Transmissions, Hairpins and The Feeling
This conversation is ongoing. But it's a fun post, nonetheless...
On 12/28/06, Laura K wrote:
> Hey, wanted to get your opinion on this concept car from Toyota:
>
> http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=118933#2
>
> What do you think?
>
> yitb
> Laura
open-ended answer.'>
First, I have to completely agree with the observation of a halo-car-shaped hole in Toyota's lineup. Search car blogs for sentiments related to Toyota's lack of soul, and you'll find plenty of whining (and counter-whining by owners of Supras and MR2s). A plausible response? Lexus' lineup of sport-ish IS series. They're pretty, in a gaudy wannabe-Merc kinda way. But, short of diluting the Lexus brandname, Toyota still lacks oomph.
But they do have one hell of an arrow in their quiver: the hybrid drivetrain, perfected like no other. Whether it's worth the extra trouble or not, or even whether it saves gas or not, hardly matters: it does provide a lot of unnatural, low-end torque, and that's nice.
So, what's the downside? Why would I not scramble to buy the new Supra, as presented on Edmunds? The answer is so simple to me that it can only be the result of personal prejudice. Here, I'll try to explain.
To me, hybrid drivetrains scream one thing: automatic, semi-automatic (paddle-shifter/triptronic) or continuously variable transmission.
What does that imply for me, the driver? Two pedals instead of three. No stick to throw around.
Why should this matter? Because it does. A piano player who you point at a keyboard, even one with pedals, will tell you that it will never replace a real piano, regardless of accuracy of reproduction. It's a similar issue here. No transmission, regardless of how efficient or cool or speed-oriented (viz., IS350's transmission, or even the Veyron's transmission) will ever, and I do mean ever, be able to replace The Feeling.
The Feeling, you ask? Ah.
Fly into a hairpin. Down-shift at the last second, rev-match perfectly, and slam the throttle as you touch the apex. The wail that you hear, that scream that sends Banshees running, the piston-churning bellow that flushes every pore in your body with adrenaline, the primal, menacing growl that focuses your mind like a laser and liquidates what little tread was left on the tires... that's where The Feeling comes in.
When you look in your rear-view and see twin black streaks that now define the perfect line in the turn, you can't help grinning like an idiot. It's so perfect, so unnecessary, and, above all, so much fun.
You know that first bit there, where you rev-matched and down-shifted and... everything clicked? That makes you feel so perfectly connected to everything around you, so perfectly comfortable and at the same time so alive, that frankly, I doubt that any over-engineered performance-oriented electrical monster could replace it.
Sure, the 0 - 60 on said electronic monster would be silly. Sure, all the numbers would look great. But you know what? Even now, Porsches are far from the most powerful cars in the world. BMWs are praised more for their handling and their communication than their absurd engines. In the words of a proud Sprite driver, "It's not about horsepower or even [whether it has] brakes. A sports car just has to make you smile."
And until Toyota figures out how to make a car feel like a second skin, like a friend and companion with an adrenaline hypo, and with only two pedals, I'm sticking to what I love :)
One final note: I know a very large (and growing) number of people, all of whom are equal to or greater than thirty-five years in age, that grin when I go on one of these rants. "You'll learn," they say, nodding knowingly, sometimes telling me about their own hair-raising idiocies involving four wheels and an engine. Oddly enough, most of them drive a Lexus, an Acura, or a BMW, with an automatic transmission. Maybe they're right. Maybe I'll change my mind next year, or two years later, or when I hit thirty. Who knows? I can only tell you where I stand currently.
There. Open-ended question, open-ended answer.
On 12/28/06, Laura K wrote:
> Hey, wanted to get your opinion on this concept car from Toyota:
>
> http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=118933#2
>
> What do you think?
>
> yitb
> Laura
open-ended answer.'>
First, I have to completely agree with the observation of a halo-car-shaped hole in Toyota's lineup. Search car blogs for sentiments related to Toyota's lack of soul, and you'll find plenty of whining (and counter-whining by owners of Supras and MR2s). A plausible response? Lexus' lineup of sport-ish IS series. They're pretty, in a gaudy wannabe-Merc kinda way. But, short of diluting the Lexus brandname, Toyota still lacks oomph.
But they do have one hell of an arrow in their quiver: the hybrid drivetrain, perfected like no other. Whether it's worth the extra trouble or not, or even whether it saves gas or not, hardly matters: it does provide a lot of unnatural, low-end torque, and that's nice.
So, what's the downside? Why would I not scramble to buy the new Supra, as presented on Edmunds? The answer is so simple to me that it can only be the result of personal prejudice. Here, I'll try to explain.
To me, hybrid drivetrains scream one thing: automatic, semi-automatic (paddle-shifter/triptronic) or continuously variable transmission.
What does that imply for me, the driver? Two pedals instead of three. No stick to throw around.
Why should this matter? Because it does. A piano player who you point at a keyboard, even one with pedals, will tell you that it will never replace a real piano, regardless of accuracy of reproduction. It's a similar issue here. No transmission, regardless of how efficient or cool or speed-oriented (viz., IS350's transmission, or even the Veyron's transmission) will ever, and I do mean ever, be able to replace The Feeling.
The Feeling, you ask? Ah.
Fly into a hairpin. Down-shift at the last second, rev-match perfectly, and slam the throttle as you touch the apex. The wail that you hear, that scream that sends Banshees running, the piston-churning bellow that flushes every pore in your body with adrenaline, the primal, menacing growl that focuses your mind like a laser and liquidates what little tread was left on the tires... that's where The Feeling comes in.
When you look in your rear-view and see twin black streaks that now define the perfect line in the turn, you can't help grinning like an idiot. It's so perfect, so unnecessary, and, above all, so much fun.
You know that first bit there, where you rev-matched and down-shifted and... everything clicked? That makes you feel so perfectly connected to everything around you, so perfectly comfortable and at the same time so alive, that frankly, I doubt that any over-engineered performance-oriented electrical monster could replace it.
Sure, the 0 - 60 on said electronic monster would be silly. Sure, all the numbers would look great. But you know what? Even now, Porsches are far from the most powerful cars in the world. BMWs are praised more for their handling and their communication than their absurd engines. In the words of a proud Sprite driver, "It's not about horsepower or even [whether it has] brakes. A sports car just has to make you smile."
And until Toyota figures out how to make a car feel like a second skin, like a friend and companion with an adrenaline hypo, and with only two pedals, I'm sticking to what I love :)
One final note: I know a very large (and growing) number of people, all of whom are equal to or greater than thirty-five years in age, that grin when I go on one of these rants. "You'll learn," they say, nodding knowingly, sometimes telling me about their own hair-raising idiocies involving four wheels and an engine. Oddly enough, most of them drive a Lexus, an Acura, or a BMW, with an automatic transmission. Maybe they're right. Maybe I'll change my mind next year, or two years later, or when I hit thirty. Who knows? I can only tell you where I stand currently.
There. Open-ended question, open-ended answer.