[Norm Peterson]

I kind of hope he did get it, or at least still has it as an option. Either way, I hope that distilling my experience down to a couple of paragraphs can help him, his wife, and anybody else.

For riding - even driving - at up to at least moderately enthusiastic driving, the key is to simply relax in the seat. Don't tense up, or push on the floor - those actions tend to unweight you in the seat (you don't want to be doing that). As would pulling on an overhead strap, with the lifting up being somewhat counterproductive to whatever value it has in holding your upper body in place laterally. Grabbing low, say, under the seat cushion with both hands, might make more sense and for sure be better than reaching outside the window for the edge of the roof. Hands outside the vehicle is frowned upon even at autocross.

I don't think it's the g's per se that's the problem as much as it's the rate at which they are developed. And that's entirely a driver issue, save for any emergency-mode accident-avoidance maneuvers. While I can (almost) fully understand OP's situation out on the track as an instructor for people with driving skill levels that are unknown/uncertain/maybe almost absent, that shouldn't be the case for others when he's in the driver seat.

I'm not an instructor (experienced intermediate, maybe), but I do try to notice what's going on around me. One of the things I've found out over the past 45+ years is that the smoother your driving is, the harder you can drive before it upsets your passengers. But you have to drive smoothly all the time, and probably a little bit harder than average traffic for much of that so that whatever higher intensity you're about to put into your driving won't come as a big surprise. There will still be limits to what you can "get away with", and needlessly tossing people around faster than they can adjust to or dialing it all the way up to track pace are a couple of things to avoid doing.


Topaz - the average driver rarely pushes past 0.3g laterally at any speed much past what you take neighborhood intersections at, 0.2 being more common at least in measured observations I made some years ago. 0.5 runs away from most everybody, so it doesn't surprise me that 0.4 is outside your wife's comfort zone. Whether it's too late for her to ever get comfortable at 0.6 or a bit higher, only you'll ever know. But from where I sit, married to the same girl since 1970, it's at least possible.


Norm

[ST1LE]

As silly as a reason as it seems, and I don't mean that in a mean way, it sucks but sounds like it is not the car for you man. There are tons of nice cars in that price range though. Good luck OP.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Tighten the seatbelt?

I've never grabbed a handle when going around the track...even in a car with them.

I think being thrown around is a part of the fun riding shotgun...this is an interesting thing to think about...truly never considered it.

[nfboy]

Just to add to this odd thread, I have a 1985 Trans Am in my garage with no such handle either. I had a Mustang in the mid 1990's that di dnot have one. I do not think it is uncommon for such cars not to have one.....

[Bassment]

I wouldn't buy this car if it had a passenger handle

[I`m Batman]

Personally, I bought the car for me and the performance. To me, it's a driver's car, not a passenger car. Plus, I feel that these bucket seats holds you in pretty well. Unless, you're larger/wider than the bucket to hold you in... which is not the car's fault. :P

[Karma81]

Sounds like you need a minivan, not a performance vehicle.

[Lafourche1]

Serious design flaw would call to mind the Ford Pinto and its tendency to explode on contact or Chevy's own Corvair and its tendency to swap ends at any speed. Those, in my mind, are serious design flaws. Whether or not there is a handle for the passenger to grab in the case of high g maneuvers does not seem to rise to this level. Just my two cents, only worth a single penny in today's economy.

[camarouwe]

Walter Röhls comment about wifes and cars
The difference between your wife and your car is:
Your car needs love!

Change seat belt to a manual one , tighten your wife and jeeha, lets s go,
-----------Step the peal to the metal-----------------

[1fujifilm]

I went to use the supplied funnel today to put Stabil in the tank as today is storage day (Green Bay, WI) and it was designed poorly! Look at it once, it is completely round with no lip and when you put into the tank filler hole you will see you will clearly spill what ever you pour into it due to the angle. You almost need a funnel to go into the Chevy funnel, stupid.
My 13 Mustang GT I just sold had a perfect angle and a longer funnel with a lip. My Wife's 15 Grand Cherokee even has a better one, Chev you bummed me out...again.

Bear