Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Big Mike
The Corvair - "unsafe at any speed" was garbage anyway - simply because it was revolutionary and had the engine in the rear meant it handled differently to the way obese people expect their cars to handle - as I understand it wasn't an unsafe car at all, just not driven properly, and Nadar wasn't paid enough to shut up that time. Am I on the right path here?
|
Yes handling is quite different with a rear engine on the limit due to the pendulum effect.
The issue was the Corvair had swing-axle rear suspension the same as a Beetle, which has huge camber change and on the limit is susceptible to 'tucking under', ie the tyre digs in rather than slides, the car's body lifts, tyre tilts under on a large angle. Then only the tyre shoulder is contacting the ground, so all of a sudden 90% of grip is lost and little hope of recovering control. The Beetle has the exact same problem.