On Mon, 30 May 2016 10:11:44 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

On 5/30/2016 7:23 AM, Kurt V. Ullman wrote:
You can, if you know what to look for. The gears are now paddle shifted from a
small paddle on the steering wheel.

The steering wheel houses *most* of the driver controls. Just like the
idea that you want to keep your keys on the "home" keys on the keyboard
(instead of moving a hand OFF to deal with the mouse), this increases
driving efficiency by reducing the need to direct their attention
elsewhere.

There's a "push to talk" button that controls the microphone in their
radio headset (like on a walkie talkie).

I saw him use that once, but other times he talked without moving a
finger. ?

There's a "push to drink" button that pumps water into their mouth.

There's a button to scroll through the available displays (which are
present *on* the steering wheel)

I didn't see any of that and I think I would have. I could see all
but about the bottom one inch of hte center.

There's a button that resets their fuel metrics (typ only pressed when
they refuel).

There's a button to bias the engine for better fuel economy vs. better
performance.

There are buttons to put the tranny in neutral or reverse.

What about 1st, 2nd and 3rd?

There's a "push to pass" button that gives them a bit more power to
edge by a competitor ahead of them.

Why don't they run at that speed all the time?

There's a button to limit the car's speed as it enters pit row (where
there is actually a 60MPH speed limit -- for obvious reasons)

There are controls to allow the car's side-to-side "balance" to be adjusted
(lots of left turns in that race! : ) to improve the car's handling.