SARASELKI, Finland—If you’re expecting it, the feeling in your stomach when the back of your car starts to slide apart is quite a pleasant one. It’s the same joy we get from roller coasters, but when you’re in the driver’s seat, you’re in charge of the ride.
However, when you are not expecting it, there is anxiety instead of excitement and, if the fall ends with a blow, there are also a lot of negative emotions.
Thankfully, with the proliferation and sophistication of modern electronic stability and traction control systems, fewer and fewer drivers have to experience that kind of fear. Over more than 30 years, these electronic safety nets have grown in capability and became mandatory in the early 2010s, saving countless accidents in the process.
Through a combination of cutting engine power and braking each wheel individually, computers that keep a watchful eye on things like lateral acceleration and wheel spin put it all together with the idea that the car goes where the driver wants instead of going sideways or backwards into any solid objects along the new path of motion.
Obviously, the quickest way to find out if it all works is to turn it off. And then find a slippery road, or just drive like oops. Yet even when automakers let journalists loose on the racetrack, they still essentially require us to keep some electronic safety nets running. Even on the track, you can hit things that could crush the car – or worse – and with modern tire technology, the speed when cars go is quite high, especially if it’s dry.
The Artura is probably my favorite McLaren, because it’s smaller and more versatile than the more expensive, more powerful machines in this range.
Credit: Jonathan Gitlin
The Artura is probably my favorite McLaren, because it’s smaller and more versatile than the more expensive, more powerful machines in this range.
Credit: Jonathan Gitlin
There are few environments more conducive to exploring the limits and capabilities of electronic chassis controls. Ideally, you want plenty of open space and a smooth, low-grip surface free of wildlife and people. A huge sand mound will do. Or a frozen lake. That’s why you can sometimes see automotive engineers traveling to these remote, often extreme locations, braving the heat of the desert or the cold of the Arctic as they work on a prototype or fine-tune the next model.
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