Quote:
Originally Posted by dem00n
1st Gen or 2nd Gen?
The problem with the Corvair was the suspension geometry, since rear independent suspension at a time was a very new thing, Chevy simply didn't know how it would react in oversteer situations.
Simply you had a problem where the car would display snap oversteer when pushed to the limit, sort of like a certain model of the Toyata MR2 displayed (whole other reason on that car though)
So in the end, tons of 1 st Gen Corvairs were wrapped around trees, all over the country. 
But they gladly fixed it with the 2nd Gen model with a whole new suspension geometry (new front sway bar and some other things if i'm correct), and the car is fairly important because it broke the mold for many future sport cars. (Independent suspension, back engine which influenced some mid engine sport car designs, Porsche stole a few things as well, well rumored too)
Read Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile
Oh and there was also the fact that the tires would have different PSI ratings then most cars did, i believe the front tires had higher PSI then the back tires, so when gas stations attendants checked your tire pressure (Good ol' days!), they always put it to a certain PSI (35 to every car?) so it really fucked up the geometry since the PSI's were both the same when they weren't post to be.
That sounds about right. |
While your points may be valid idk... What I can say is that if Ralph Nader were to drive the above Vette, he would be able to write a new book titled "
More Unsafe at Any Speed: The Costcutting Dangers of the Discusting Modern American Automobile" The book would go on to sell trillions of copies. I could even see it raising such a stir that the government would put a ban on the creation of another Corvette.
I mean these things are such death traps that studies have shown more fatalities per year from them than from that of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms combined.