Here’s an example evaluation of one of my own cars, the Teko Diplomat Special. A V12 luxury car from the 50s. You can read about it here: Empire Motors (subsidiary of Teko Maskinteknik) - #3 by falukorven
Lap attempt #1 (crashed)
Like I sometimes like to do at red lights in the city with my own car, I floor it and damn that wheelspin is intense. It spins its wheels through entire first gear and at this point, I’m just waiting for the car to kill me since the traction on this thing is more non existent then my social life. This thing feels heavy around the corners. Loads of understeer and the brakes are worse then a hangover after cheap whiskey. Now those brakes…they suddnely lock up under a certain speed and this caused this barge of a car to spin out and crash.
Lap #1
After a shot of vodka and getting a new car delivered by the manufacturer, I try this again. I stomp the accelerator and release it a bit to get the wheel spin to go away and the retarded slushbox automatic shifts into second, depriving me of those sweet horsies. I’m a bit more ready for the brakes but still scared of them so I brake early since it takes this thing a decade to stop. Don’t want to spin out because of the brakes. I manage without crashing and finish 03:01.109.
Lap #2
Feeling a bit more familiar with the handling characteristics and the slushbox of a gearbox. And I found the car doesn’t want to corner above 35-40ish mp/h. You really need to be gentle with the throttle on this thing. Treat it like a princess or the car will get revenge on you. Just before the finish line, the unpredictable shitheaps of brakes suddenly lock up and the the car spins out. That’s why I only got 03:01.095 this lap. Zero improvement really.
Lap #3
Cornering feels safer now that I know the limits of the car but the brakes…Spin out at the exact same location #%!#¤!!! So this lap goes worse, at 03:02.006
Positives:
- No need to shift gears.
- Throttle easy to master.
- Handling somewhat easy to get the hang of
Negatives:
- Unpredictable brakes that rape the handling & performance.
- Kind of scary to drive fast. My insurance premium has gone up after driving this thing…
- Too much wheelspin makes full throttle impossible.
- Awful brake performance. Only thing worse then this is having no brakes.
Final verdict: If it had better brakes, it would be a slightly driveable car. Now, it’s an unpredictable mess because of the brakes.