Stratos makes Evo's scary list

[tryphon]

Scary meaning requiring exceptional skill to drive....

http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/209974/this_months_evo.html

[mudhut]

Nice to see they haven't forgotten an older model like this and the Cobra. :)

[chris.richard]

Anybody know who's car it is? Hideous non-standard mirrors, and why a huge Ferrari sticker? :o

[strat6v]

Looks like positive camber on the rears :confused: Now that would be scary

[tryphon]

Stradale camber is 1° positive front and rear.

[rutthenut]

I see the article includes the usual claim of the curved windscreen distorting vision.

I've not found that to be the case - what do others think?

[John]

Stradale camber is 1° positive front and rear.

Maybe thats why it has made the scary list!
In my view camber should be set at what feels right -not what the book says!

[catswhiskers]

I see the article includes the usual claim of the curved windscreen distorting vision.

I've not found that to be the case - what do others think?


I've never found a problem with it either. In fact I'm suprised how good it actually is.

Mick

[chris.richard]

I've never found a problem with it either. In fact I'm suprised how good it actually is.

Mick

Ditto! :)

[JohnB_SPY8808053]

As I recall, the windshield shape was made a conic section specifically so there would be little or no distortion.

John B.

[tryphon]

As I recall, the windshield shape was made a conic section specifically so there would be little or no distortion.

John B.

You mean cylindrical section of course.

[rutthenut]

You mean cylindrical section of course.

No, I believe it is an angled section off a large cone - the curve at the top of the screen is at a tighter radius than that at the bottom of the screen.

All the same, I've not noticed any distortion, but wonder where these original 'quotes' or assumptions/impressions come from - just an expectation, I suppose, not borne out by actual experience of being in the cars.

[strat6v]

This was something i was checking for while co-driving in wales and trying Micks car for size. No distortion to write about. If you look closely in any vehicle glass, you'll find some.

Regarding the exact shape, my screen is sat in the lounge at the moment. To answer everyones question, tonight i'll cut a cardboard template to shape (90 degree from glass face) and offer it up to the top and bottom. :)

[tryphon]

The windshield is a pure cylindrical section, that makes its peculiarity and the fact that it presents no distortion.

[rutthenut]

There are other discussions about the screen section shape elsewhere in this forum. Think someone put a CAD-style drawing together too.

If not conical, it is still cut 'at an angle' from a cylinder.

I still feel it is from a cone, but it any case it only has curvature in one plane and not two, and the curve(s) are consistent from side to side.

Screens with changing curvature are more likely to distort.

Having mentiond planes - I guess they've thought about all this stuff on jet fighter canopies though - don't want distortion looking out from one of those :-o

[Martin K]

but wonder where these original 'quotes' or assumptions/impressions come from - just an expectation, I suppose, not borne out by actual experience of being in the cars.

Before I sold my collection of Stratos books I read in one that included a lot of press articles how awful/dangerous the handling of the Stratos was. It mentioned that the car handled differently in left and right hand corners and other similar nasties. It turned out that the car being driven was (one of?) the ex Chequered Flag cars - which as a rally car had a pretty hard life.

When I had my Transformer (Hawk) I found none of the handling problems suggested, so I am sure that the car being driven did not have the suspension correctly aligned and/or setup.

Yes, they change direction quickly, but that is a good thing; equally I found that the tail could be 'hung out' without spinning. In fact I achieved some very satisfying sideways driving and I never spun the car on an event EXCEPT once when I was driving on wet/icy mud on cut slicks! But that was asking for trouble.............

Maybe it is because I have experience of driving Porsches and Davrians, which both have the weight of the engine behind the rear axle line, but I think that the Stratos can be setup to have very predictable and safe handing - at least for my driving style.

So lots of bad comments have been made about the 'scary' handling of the Stratos, but I think they are either distortions of the truth, or written by poor drivers or 'bad' examples of the car were being tested.

As for the screen, I too never noticed any problem with distortion; in fact sometimes the rapidly approaching scenery can seem just too clear!

Martin

[chris.richard]

Tryphon has pointed out before that the suspension of the Stradale was never developed by the factory, as it was the Gp IV that was the "proper" car. The Stradale suspension geometry of 1 degree positive camber at the rear appears to bear this out, so perhaps it's not surprising that many of the cars driven by hacks had sub-optimal handling.