Unabashed Gearhead Gnarlyness

Commento del Pilota: David Jeffries on the Isle of Man TT

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This Commento del Pilota is delivered by the late David Jeffries.  A man of immense talent, Jeffries held the absolute lap record for the Isle of Man TT, and won the overall event nine times. 

In this commento, Jeffries details one lap of the Isle of Man TT course, a distance of 37.75 miles.  As you listen to his voice, imagine the cognitive power it takes to navigate this route at triple-digit speeds: you're taking an outrageously powerful machine to and beyond the limit while also anticipating what the conditions will be around the next corner, all based on your memory of the circuit, informed intuition based on miles of racing experience, and pure feel for the road.  As I look at this video, I couldn't imagine maintaining control of his motorcycle for even the first 30 seconds, let alone the almost twenty minutes it takes to complete a single lap.  Then imagine doing it for successive laps on end. 

Racing like this isn't about a crazy guy letting it rip on a bike.  What we see here is something akin to a highly-trained and exquisitely practiced concert pianist taking us through a Rachmaninoff sonato seamlessly, all from memory and without a single technical error or lapse of expression.  To go on a lap with Jeffries is to understand flow and its importance.  His life is on the line every foot and every second, and in the running, he is living.

Respect.

UGG Ferrari Friday

Two key aspects of gnarlyness are represented in this video:

• Red:  not all red things are gnarly, but being red certainly helps something be gnarly
• Sound:  listen to that exhaust note!  To hear this machine in motion, to hear the emotion in de Cadenet's voice, is to know gnarlyness

Bimotore!  What a beast, indeed!

How to drive a 911, part X

Great sound on this one; the combination of gear whine and motor wail is quite gnarly.

Sound is an essential part of gnarlyness.  Again, it is an aspect of designed objects that is only apparent while they are in use.  As such, it is often overlooked.

Commento del Pilota: Foust rallies the Subaru

Here's a new feature on Unabashed Gearhead Gnarlyness: Commento del Pilota.

Those of you who read metacool know that we have a series running there called "Director's Commentary".  The Director's Commentary is about design thinkers articulating the design process behind their creations.  It is based upon the very cool feature of movie DVD's where we can listen to the movie director commenting on why a scene is the way it is.  Powerful stuff.

Commento del Pilota is going to be a place to hear racers, designers, builders, pilots, and all other purveyors of gnarlyness talk about what they do, how they do it, and why they do it.  My big learning so far in the creation of this blog has been that gnarlyness is often a state of mind induced by action and dynamism; sometimes the object may not be so gnarly when static, but can create a sense of gnarlyness via the act of moving.

This first Commento del Pilota features Tanner Foust, ace rally pilot, drifting artist, and stunt car driver (and former pre-med student), talking us through what it takes to drive a Subaru rally car at the limit.  Rallying being a team sport, there's a huge amount of teamwork and behind the scenes prep that goes in helping someone like Foust get out there and rip it up.  And then there's the driving, and his incredibly quick hands.  Wow!  Be sure check out the video at the 4:04 mark... simply amazing.

Oh yes, the title.  It's in Italian.  If you have to ask why, you're probably better off reading this blog.

Forza Subaru!

Matte is the new Black, part IV

I love the aesthetics of the diesel Peugeot 908 HDi FAP running (and leading) right now at Le Mans.  The rear of the car is particularly militaristic in its aggressive simplicity.

It's also sporting a cool matte black finish over all but its beak.  Matte continues to be the new black!

UGG Ferrari Friday

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is this weekend!  Listen to this race engineer talk about all the little things that go in to prepping a car for this race.  I can't wait.  This should be a good year, what with Peugeot showing such good speed and Audi having years of reliability and experience to back them up.  My Father's Day present this weekend?  A few hours of uncontested TV time with Speed Channel!

How to drive a 911, part VIII

UGG Ferrari Friday

What's the role of mechanicalness in gnarlyness?  Is a manual shifter more gnarly than an roboticized paddle-shifting transmission?  If so, then the Ferrari gated shifter must be near the top of the heap.

How to drive a 911, part VII

At night.  In the rain.  Traction control via your own two feet.

Gnarly.

My favorite off-road racing truck

The Honda Ridgeline Baja Racer