Quote:
Originally Posted by bruce.augenstein@comcast.
Wow. You should know better.
The second car always has an easier time than the first car. Always. Back in my track days, I always tried to find a "race buddy" with similar lap times. We'd quickly sort out who had the quicker lap time, then play follow the leader. With similar lap times, there's almost always a section where the slower guy is actually quicker, but that soon sorts itself out as the quicker car gets some more distance with each lap. The advantage for the slower guy is that he gets to go to school on the faster guy - as they point out in the video.
The bimmer is following because it's slower than the Audi (as both drivers attest). As far as the actual filming goes, they did a ton of filming, and spliced various pieces together so the viewer wouldn't be bored. Meaning as the lap progressed the M3 would fall further and further behind, and who wants to watch an Audi pass by the camera, and then sometime later, the bimmer.
There was one section (the uphill) where the M3 appeared to have an advantage, but everywhere else the Audi was quicker. They close the video by reiterating that the Audi is quicker. You think they're lying?
As a by the by, don't you think the guy following would've pulled up next to (or close) to the Audi on the uphill if he could have?
Sheesh. I can't believe I'm having to explain this to you. You being a guy on this site with actual firing neurons (that's a compliment) - as opposed to some other participants.
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We will probably have to agree to disagree on this one. I believe that the car that is following is at a disadvantage. Think of all the great race ends, where a second place car is able to catch the leading car thus clearly showing greater speed but then be unable to pass. While I understand defensive maneuvers are likely at play too here, IMO, it is more difficult to maintain speed while closely following another car because you need to adapt to the car in front and compromise your own driving. At least this has been my own experience.
While I fully agree that a slower driver can benefit a lot by following a faster driver, but the point here is to compare the cars, not drivers.
At the end of the video (probably because of editing, as you stated), we don't see that the RS5 gained much ground on the M3 (if at all). In my book, if the following car is able to keep up, it usually means that it is faster. So the video does not prove anything.
I am not claiming that the M3 is faster than the RS5 (other evidence seems to point to the opposite). My point is that this video itself is useless. The only "evidence" that the RS5 is quicker, is the subjective impression of the drivers.
Thanks for the compliments, I can also say the same about you. Cheers
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