It sounds bizarre but I want to try it.
When you drive an automatic transmission ICE car, do you also use the shift handle to force the automatic transmission to use lower gears until you’re up to speed? Do you exclusively use paddle shifters in automatic transmission cars (where available)?
No, because it’s not performance driving.
My daily is a very boring, early 2000s automatic suv. It really doesn’t matter if something like that is an EV. I’ll probably replace it in the next 10 years with some base model EV to do my commute to work. It’s boring, but it works.
In any kind of performance driving car, which this is clearly trying to be, the ice and the shifting is integral to the experience.
To someone who only drives because they have to, it’s not going to make a difference. But there’s a lot of enthusiasts who want an ICE because of how the driving experience is. It’s not as refined or easy as an EV, but it’s more fun.
But there’s a lot of enthusiasts who want an ICE because of how the driving experience is.
Lets examine this idea for a moment. Things like traction control, ABS brakes, and even to an extend air bags change the nature of what the driving experience is. Each of these technologies removes human control from a system and replaces it with something automated. Yet few drivers disable these things to retain the original “driving experience”. Why are these things, which bring improvements to the car’s performance, accepted, but the idea of having to mess with a less efficient gearbox isn’t?
I’d say counter to that. When driving a performance vehicle hard, ABS and TC are something you absolutely want to turn off. Road car ABS sucks to drive with, as it deadens the feel from the brakes. They’re important for the road for safety, but as soon as all you can let the real performance out on track those are the first things to disable, as they actually make it harder to go fast.
Air bags change nothing about a driving experience.
Not everyone wants or needs improvements. People who drive because they have to will want the easiest, most efficient, most sanitized inputs. People who like cars tend to want the most raw feeling they can get. That includes driving assists off, generally only leaving power steering.
