The Driving Woman

Force = Mass x Acceleration. It all comes down to physics. Let's start with the bare bolts at the Chrysler Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Michigan, which is also the city where I was born three-and-some decades ago.  Automotive technology is put to the test in its experimental phase at the Proving Grounds. (Full disclosure - my dad worked at those proving grounds, and we attended family picnics there when I was a kid.) A lot has changed since the 1970s and the fuel crises, but in some ways we're still discussing the same issues -- how to go fast and smooth and use less gas. This is an engineer's eternal question. Without spilling embargo beans, announcements drifted in this direction for a program aptly titled "What's New." It's ironic how technology changes everything, but nothing when it comes down to the basic goals of the automobile. Journalists could test out these principles making loops around the track in the existing Chrysler vehicle lineup.

Force = Mass x Acceleration. This principle became crystal clear for me the next day attending an NHRA Supernationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. The last race I witnessed was in Milan, Michigan sometime in the early 1980s. A lot has changed then in the Top Fuel and Funny Car brackets, with cars flying at speeds of 325 miles per hour. Its also exciting to see a woman like 24-year old Ashley Force making the Top Ten in her souped-up Ford Mustang. I saw her speed down the track at 321mph, the youngest and the only woman in her race.  I stood behind the cars as they took off, unleashing G-force in an explosive reaction. Too bad high school physics couldn't be taught at the race track.

Force = Mass x Acceleration.  Yesterday I checked out the latest technology on the new Cadillac CTS, which hits dealerships this fall. The presentation focused on the technological integration of the consul and the dashing abilities of the new Navigation and sound systems. The car is starting to feel like a personal computer with downloading capabilities and standard XM Satellite radio. However, what was most compelling to me was dreaming of the future. Our cars are becoming more like personal computers every day. The time is not too far away when we'll pull up to the dealership only to find the computer has already diagnosed the problem. While the solution might be more electronic than human in nature, the principle will still be the same -- force = mass x acceleration.