Cost savings. A lever connected to a computer is cheaper to make than a normal shifter. Probably also “looks” better. But yeah mostly for the cost.

*6 months later* I’m bored hell. Oh hey I have a whole season of Top Gear to watch. *Top Gear already cancelled and Chris Evans has been sacrificed to the god by being tied to the bumpers of his F40, 288GTO, 250GT California, and Daytona, and torn limb from limb.*

Give it a chance man. They’re building momentum and it’s getting better as it goes. There are some genuinely good moments in it, but they’re still stripping out the boring and bad.

I don’t think people are turning off because of THIS episode, but more because episodes 1 and 2 weren’t all that hot. There is definitely a delay in when an episode sucks and when people stop tuning in.

This is why you should always use your parking brake, even in an automatic. Double redundancy just to be sure.

It would have been very interesting if they had made the switch. It certainly would have changed racing as we know it today.

Actually in those days that’s where the floors ended in CART. They heavily limited the use of ground effects in 1987 after a number of nasty crashes in the preceding years. I think this car was much more advanced than what you suggest, but I don’t think it was as race ready as Ferrari wanted the FIA to believe. It…

I would argue the opposite. A lot of crash parts use thinner stampings, cheaper alloys, and are made with lower stamping quality controls. They tend to fit poorly compared to OEM quality parts. This very much depends on the quality of the supplier in question of course, but that’s generally the case.

I believe this is the story you’re referring to (from 8W):

Please show me the quote where I said the car was fake. I said it was a bluff. As in, the car and engine were built, but never intended to actually compete on a race track. Nobody is denying the car isn’t real: the question is whether or not the car was actually meant to compete in CART and suddenly dropped when F1's…

1st Gear: Brat taco! I’m not in the market for a 3-Series, but I now know what I’m making for dinner tonight.

It’s wonderful until you learn that the ACO absolutely screwed the Corvettes just before qualifying. They forced the Vettes to use smaller intake restrictors between practice and qualifying to “fix” the BoP. The Vettes went from leading the GTE class in practice to qualifying dead last. As awesome as the GT is,…

I would maintain the line this car was a bluff all along: but one that gave Ferrari a B-plan. A few things to remember: this car and engine never turned a lap (or if they did, they were installation laps and not at speed). Building what amounts to a show car is not as much work as one would believe. Running at idle…

I would disagree. If anything F1 was more important in the 80s than it is today. There were more engine makers and teams and the technology push was huge with a fairly open rulebook (or at least one that is much less restrictive than it is today). While F1 may make more money today, its relevance to road cars was much…

As per usual these days it’s the comedians who are the best reporters on this subject:

Yes, it’s called a turbocharger. Turbochargers absorb a lot of noise because of how they work. But even the old turbo motors sounded gnarly and evil. However what F1 is missing is that the volume isn’t the problem, it’s the pitch. The high RPM scream pierces the air because of its frequency. That’s what F1 is missing.

Better solution is better. Koenigsegg is always the answer.

Yup. Your ungodly, high pitched screaming engines all come from the high revs. Because of durability and fuel flow requirements today, the engines are only hitting 11K or so. Adding a megaphone to the turbo outlet isn’t going to fix that.Giving the teams 4,0000 more revs to play with sure will.

All about dem revs. When F1 keeps talking trumpets, I keep talking Revs. Want those screamy demon sounds back? Raise the fuel flow limit so the teams can raise the redline. And then all will be right with the world.

I don’t think Evans himself is the problem: how he’s portrayed and how he interacts with the team and audience is. He comes off as way too phony and scripted, unlike LeBlanc, or Harris, or Reid. When those three speak it feels more genuine (either they’re better actors or they have more experience at at. Not sure…