How can a car like this even be difficult to drive? Its probably pretty slow anyway so what could go wrong? There is four wheels, gas brake and steering. Does it steer left when you steer right or what? Maybe brakes are too small but that still does not make it difficult.
*"The T87 drove and suspended its rear wheels through swing axles, and*
*swing axles of the 1930s were prone to strange behavior in corners. The*
*relatively narrow track was married to a relatively high center of*
*gravity. Finally, the Tatra’s front axle carried just 37 percent of the*
*car’s weight; the driver was miles away from the mass that helped*
*compass the car’s moves, guiding a heavy pendulum at something like*
*arm’s length."*
Would be cool to be able to play this car in a racing game just to get a feel of how bad it is. Weird that the engineers didnt see all of that coming when designing the car. I think they had enough knowledge about weight distribution, center of gravity and so on.
They did and they engineered for it which is why all the contemporary handling reports express amazement how smooth and safe the drive is. This handling BS is all modern
It isn't hard to drive. It's very comfortable and modern and can be extremely fast. Modern idiots have made up the handling problems - but they have never driven one so really don't know what they're talking about
Some quotes from people who have tried to drive this "myth":
"dangerously unstable at anything above a medium speed"
"like a cross between a Greyhound bus and a P-51 with a wing full of holes"
"both vicious oversteer and such a dangerous lack of stability the society’s test drivers flat-out refused to find the car’s top speed"
“the uneasy exhilaration which may be got from shampooing a lion.”
"a distracted grandfather could probably crash the thing in a straight line"
"I was not trying to roll the car. I entered the first turn at 20mph"
Ah this guy again picking comments from the British technical assassination report from 1947. The same people who said "the Volkswagen does not meet the. Minimum requirements of an automobile".
https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2020/11/bios-final-report-no-922-tatra-car-type.html
That's from the Hagerty article when they rolled the T87, and it really doesn't do justice.
Are the bearing scaled in the gearbox ok? Are the leaf springs properly working? The dampers ok? Then we could discuss suspension straps. The 87 never had them, since the gearbox is physically limiting the axle movement. The gearbox construction is totally different from 603, which has axle straps (I have a 603).
For sure there’s a lot to be said about the tires and pressure. It's a museum piece that was taken out for a spin.
In the photos of the roll you can clearly see the tire is folding totally under the car. Giving it a virtual much more narrow track and much easier to roll over.
The 87 for sure is sensitive in its handling. But in this case I wouldn’t use this test as a benchmark at all.
Edit: Link to article: https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/classic-car-reviews/the-death-eaters-chapter-1-tatra-t87/
*Are the leaf springs properly working?*
Well, that us what makes the camber work/not with this type of a suspension.
One can try messing up the wheel geometry on a modern car and see how it drives ..
They took the already rear heavy Tatra 600 and stuck a V8 in the back. Coupled with swing axles that gained negative camber whenever they were depressed meant it slid all over the place. The 87 had already become famous for killing Nazi officers, and that used a transaxle that was actually designed for the larger engine.
Your comment shows you know nothing about Tatras. This is the one off convertible Tatraplan gifted to Stalin. It and the other vehicle gifts from Czechoslovakia were not used officially and put in storage. It was later returned to Czechoslovakia and is in the tatra museum.
The Tatraplan is powered by a flat four 1.9 litre engine. It is in no way unstable. Even the T87 (v8) is perfectly stable unless driven by an idiot. I own abd drive a Tatraplan and have driven one of the v8s
In the days of Stalin, there was a little different traffic and different driving than now. When I was young, I drove a GAZ-21 "Volga" and a Moskvich 412. They were interesting cars. It was impossible to smoothly squeeze the clutch pedal, the front axle was constantly pulled to the side. Very weak drum brakes. Maximum speed 70 km/h. In modern conditions, it is very difficult to manage such a machine.
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