race cars

I am leading a book club tonight at work on The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.  In The Art of Racing in the Rain, the main character, Denny, is a racecar driver and I believe he races in a sort of F1 kind of style (It is my understanding that is the more popular style in Europe.) Denny’s specialty is racing in the rain and that attracts the attention of some of the racecar sponsors because Denny is at the start of our book still training and trying to make it. Some of the book focuses on how Denny has to have a day job and Denny has money troubles.  I wanted to read more about racecars (I was sort of thinking about what I was going to do if someone who was a real racecar fan came to my book club and started to tell me how the book was wrong on some of the technical details and I have no idea).   

I read an article about racing electric cars in the September 2011 issue of New Scientist. Presently I live in Austin, TX and there was a big hubbub when Austin built an F1 track about the damage it would do to the environment and weighing the environmental costs vs. income for the city. They were building on land a ways out of town, but complaints were that it was dirty and noisy. I work for the library for the blind and I’ve heard commentary about electric cars being more dangerous for blind people who walk places and use their ears to tell what the traffic is doing, so those were issues that interested me. Another fact that caught my attention was that innovation happens on the racetrack that makes its way to general commercial cars. Some of the aerodynamics issues were interesting because things that typically make a commercially produced car heavier also make it safer (material it is made of, heavier doors, airbags, etc.) and racecar manufacturers have to balance that with safety and your general car owner wants a safe, affordable car and doesn’t care as much about how fast it goes.

There is an international governing body of motoracing based in Paris and they care about road relevance. With greater interest in electric cars from the general public that has produced greater interest in electric cars for racers too. There is some talk of creating major races that include electric cars (racing each other not your standard gas cars). In an article in Environmental Engineering from February 2013, I learned that many changes in cars over the years started on the racetrack like some of the more advanced braking systems and changes in aerodynamics. The article in Environmental Engineering mentioned that while car manufacturers for the general public and motor racing companies sometimes work together one thing to acknowledge is their different goals. The general public want cars that are not as risky technology wise and that can be easily mass produced. Cars for racers are often more individualized for a person or performance.  

I also read an article by Paul Marks called "Dawn of Motorsport’s Electric Dream". This article seemed to indicate that for some racing fans the loud noise is a plus and will be missed if auto racing moves to a quieter car. As a parent, I’m wondering if it might make it even more of a family event because you can take kids to it without the added trouble of making sure the kiddos are wearing their ear protection. In the meantime, Marks states that some car makers are researching sound panels and futuristic hums to come up with new sorts of car noises.

I drive a safe, affordable car and as long as I have enough "umph" to keep up on the highway I don't care about how fast it goes. In my lifetime I would like to own a hybrid or electric car last I checked the prices were still a little high for those vehicles, so I hope smart people are looking at these issues and coming up with new ideas on the subject.

Articles read: Dawn of motorsport’s electric dream. By: Marks, Paul, New Scientist, 02624079, 9.24.2011, Vol. 211, Issue 2831

Pullin, John. “Leading the Charge.” Environmental Engineering 26.1 (2013): 33 – 35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 May 2013.