Using cats to set up your car.

[2point5RS_Dan]

On another board I'm on there is a rally dude from Australia, recently he's been trying to figure out why his rally STi handles like DONKEY while his stock wrx handles fantastic. He also has lots of cats. Here we go:

It becomes quite easy to think about car handling if you look at cats. No seriously, hear me out and I'll explain why the humble feline is in fact the perfect analogue for how a car is supposed to work

Maddie

Maddie, being a young mum bringing up a family of kittens is conservative and wants safety first for her runs for food. She is careful and wants to arrive so she understeers - she lacks front grip but that's okay that keeps her speed down. Her front paws wash out on tight corners so she reacts naturally and backs off, weight shifting to the front paws and hence more grip and tightening the line. Misses the apex but hey, she still took the corner. Rear paws don't do a lot of work

See MAZDA 6 - http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&biw=1366&bih=601&tbs=isch:1&aq=f&aqi=g10&oq=&q=MAZDA%206

Rally Ed

Ed is light, fast, highly maneuverable and clearly has about as much oversteer as a Mk II Rothmans Escort

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLZquGJuQ5U

A lack of rear grip is his problem, not having big enough paws for the amount of power he wants to put down. The front has good initial bite and he handbrakes like a champion. Much like Ari Vatenen, the speeds he tries to carry does get him unstuck and frequent crashes occur. However he is very throttle sensitive and reacts well to sudden changes of direction.

Gelignite Jack

A most curious puzzle I thought observing. He had a very different set of handling characteristics reminisent of Maddie, is a younger but quite a deal bit larger kitten than Ed, but suffers none of the understeer issues, as well as holding a far higher cornering speed and ability to accelerate. So as I was studying his handling while he was pulling max g in the kitchen that he reminded me of...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDydS2ag4_s&feature=related

Even sounds like one too.

And in all sadness that's how I worked out a handling issue on the WRX and came to the conclusion I had a blown strut. Since then I've also worked out that cat handling is indeed completely relevant to cars - and set up a mini skid pan in the kitchen to see how each cat reacts to a slippery surface. 1/3rd of a cup of water over the entraceway, a note pad and a few neat treats for cats to come running to. And indeed, Ed screams in at 10,000 rpm and slides out like a mad drifter, Maddie is relaxed and has a mild slide, while GJ keeps it flat and does a long AWD drift with the weight shift noticeable as he adjusts traction front to rear.

I've also been able to work out how to make the turn tighter so I can experiment with different setups, like if GJ has more castor.

Sadly no pictures as I really didnt expect this to work.

But then again this is Cat Handling by Stig

Very Big, very heavy, takes a long time to wind up, cant stop in a hurry.....

 

[boxer3main]

clever...

comparing to an animal may have brought independent suspension and all its trials with cv joints in the first place.

one thing not mentioned...stiffness of a cat does not keep its feet, it is the freaky dynamics, that not only keep us glued to watching the stunts, the little bugger keeps on going, appearing to defy logic, anyway but upside down.

I suppose this is a maine subaru with large wheels on.(coon cat or norwegian forest cat)

 

[0025rs]

Neat I think you could do the same for horses but im not going to lol

 

[abenson100]

ive got two cats and a laser pointer...

 

[RallyGirl]

I think that guy might just be my hero. I've kind of noticed something like that with my cat Ninja, but not to as much of an extreme as this guy! I just kinda thought it was funny how she seems to dig her front claws in and slide out with her back feet when she takes a corner quickly. Funny stuff! Silly rally cats...