Chris Harris

[ronin]

I say take a road course and paint a line 12 ft from the edge and then put the showboat drifters and racers in their cars and fine them $100.00 for each time they touch or cross the line at speed.... That's only 1/3 the ticket fine in the real world not to mention there could be on coming traffic.

 

I say test all road cars like this and then talk about the real world handling and performance.. 

But then again I buy and build my cars for the real world ..

 

Oh yeah take that Seven out on a rough canyon road and see how it just wants to skip out of its lane and off the road.... The real world, yeah it sucks..

Edited October 7, 2013 by ronin

[Bibs]

[The Pits]

I can tell you first hand, a 512 TR is NOT an easy car to powerslide!

 

Think 911 with a huge 5 litre flat 12 in the back and you're not far off. It's GRIP, GRIP, GRIP, HEDGE.

 

The steering is also properly heavy and slow, anyone complaining about the Exige V6 steering needs to try one!

[USAndretti42]

I believe the power-sliding is all about entertainment and a bit of showing off.  Seeing an expensive, powerful car being driven sideways on a public road is a testimony to the driver's skill at balancing the car and the car's handling being good enough to allow such liberties to be taken.  It's also the driver saying, "Look at me.  See how clever I am."  It's something most of us don't get the chance to do in our front-wheel drive family cars set up for safe understeer, or don't dare to do for fear of losing it and disappearing backwards through a hedge.

 

5th Gear probably has it right where they thrash the car around a track, drifting it sideways but getting all neat and tidy when they want to set a fast time.

 

Showing off or not, but I always enjoyed watching Gerry Marshall power sliding his Vauxhalls to victory in British saloon car championships and I still remember watching Ronnie Peterson and Mike Hailwood going sideways around the old Woodcote at Silverstone when it was a 150 mph + corner.

[Vanya]

That Drive film (Le Pain) embodies just about everything that is fantastic about owning a supercar. How many of us haven't waxed lyrical at the prospect of performing a mundane task (go buy some milk!) on a sunny day just to get an excuse to jump in the car out front?

 

It also makes me want to buy a 512TR. The blue smoke out the exhaust on cranking sealed the deal .

[The Pits]

I know the 512 TR quite well. I think the styling has aged really well actually, it's still one of the best rear ends in supercardom. The hard-edged distinctively flat-12 noise and open gate gearbox are the highlights. But the steering is deliberately slow and gearing huge which gives the whole car a slightly lazy demeanour. They never feel quite as fast as you'd hope. They are more grand tourer than b-road blaster. Nice things but my brother sold his pretty soon after trying to keep up with my esprit v8 at the time!

[Vanya]

Hahaha a win for the v8 then - what did he replace it with?

 

TBH I wouldn't mind a lazy grand tourer with huge power under the hood - I've been told the V8 is in fact more of a GT than the 4-pots so I'll hopefully find what I'm looking for. If the TR is even more laid back then I really gotta check it out.

[Bibs]

Chris Harris in a new, PR supplied Ferrari. Who'd have thunk it?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjp1xjOzJqY

[Vulcan Grey]

speaking of Chris Harris drifting...

 

This looks like fun!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPh90yNX-mY

[Mark Blanchard]

Wow, that Testarossa is the best sounding car I think I've heard, what a car!

[gospeedv8]

2 years back i made a 512TR owner to sell his car with my

Lotus Omega (RIP).

Great drive to the silvretta pass. Will never forget the way he looked. :-)))

Driving that car fast on alp roads means to drive that car sideways too.

He drives Aston now.

I now the F40 and the F50 very well.

Its difficult to drive the F40 fast - but its not difficult to drive it spectacular.

Horrible built quality - nice to look at it if your in distance some Meters.

The F50 is the besser car in my opinion.

Better to drive with its big NA Engine. Better throttle response, way the better steering.

Met 2 Stuttgart guys with 2 918 Prototypes on monday this week.

They turned up in my town on the way back to Stuttgart.

Time for a drive :-)

[gospeedv8]

The pics.

[Bibs]

Wow! Nice

[Vanya]

Cool looking cars! Didn't know about these until now. Design is funky - a bit of a Corvette bonnet, some R8-style intakes,a bit 370Z past the windows...

[Bibs]

Skills!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjE_RIllh4A

[Bibs]

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Fandabedozee!

[ronin]

 These cars are the only reason I bought my Elise... The specs on the Stratos and the Elise are so close you would be amazed.

The Elise still handles better even when bone stock..

[auRouge]

forget the cars, I found that far more interesting to watch than Top Gear, even if there were some glaring continuity errors.

Couldn't agree anymore!

I'd trust Harris any day, he knows and isn't bias or afraid of the manufactures. Ferrari anyone?!?

TG is fun but...

[Bibs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb8tGX-HPQE

[Bibs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ktMcCDZvk

[Simon350S]

Is that the first ever video he's made where he's not drifted a car?

[Guest surferphil]

The NobleM600/Ariel V8 is pretty good too....

[ronin]

So no matter how cool his drifting may seem to be his real world driving skills suck it seems when on the road in So Cal.  

[Bibs]

In the UK where he's driven his entire life. no-one really cares about crossing the centre line, it's really no big deal. So long as you can see clearly that there's nothing coming the other way we do it all the time.