1.1 is very impressive.
When I take the Ariel Atom to the track in Hallett, OK, I see 1.2 lateral g peaks as recorded by Harry's Lap Timer (and previously with a Traqmate). This has Sparco seats that don't let you move around, so I don't notice the lateral movement you mention. At this point, it gets difficult to hold your head (with a helmet) upright. Neck muscles are generally not up to the task and start getting weak/sore by the end of a 15 minute lap session.
The Atom can definitely do more than I am able to get out of it. My fastest lap time at Hallett is 1:32. People with similar-equipped Atoms can get something around 1:22. I believe the track record for an Atom is 1:17. While I'm not necessarily pushing the Atom to the limits, getting a similar lateral g reading in a large sedan as what I'm comfortable doing in a lightweight purpose-built vehicle is even more impressive.
For those that aren't familiar, the Atom is a 1,500 pound track-centric vehicle, designed to be able to be tagged for the street in many cases. Getting the same g-readings as what I feel comfortable doing on a track environment is really impressive.
.. that would be one of these. Like you say, it seriously exercises the neck muscles. Over a seasons racing I ended up with an enlarged neck and lots of shirt collars that didn't fit anymore !
Driving an Atom on a track must be awesome! I considered buying one, but I don't have a place to keep it.
swaltner, your comments on the track environment made me think about the experience a little more and I felt I should give a disclaimer to everyone about doing it off a track.
There are a lot of people that would be totally fine pushing the car like I did, but I really want to point out that doing this on a public road wasn't a great idea and is in no way like launching or even driving fast through turns. The car can handle it, but it doesn't mean it's safe to do. I don't want my confirmation of what the car can do to make it seem like it's something you just go do, like launching at a light or going to the drag strip. When I planned to do it, I thought I had already had the car near 1G on a particular road, but testing some turns I saw I had only seen 0.7-0.8. I'm not sure I'd want someone in the car with me going over 0.8G unless it was on a track, at least not on the road I was on.
When I did the test I drove at a time when no cars would be on the road so only I was at risk. I have driven the road many times in a few Teslas and had already pushed it through corners. To hit 0.97G I had to go faster than I had before, accelerate in the turn, avoid the apex, and when I reached the peak it was pretty dangerous. Road choice makes a difference in safety and in some ways it was a good road to do it on and in others it wasn't, but had I lost traction it would have ended very very badly.
When I used the onramp I entered the turn at around 30 and exited around 60 and I don't know if it is the weight of the car or what, but it felt way different when it felt like the tires were going to give out. I've intentionally and accidentally lost traction in corners before so I know the feeling and it just felt really different.
Here's the onramp, which you can see by the size of the cars is pretty tight.
I just wanted to mention this because I don't want anyone getting hurt trying to get 1G laterally just because the car can handle it. If it is something you want to do then take it to a track and build up to it and also try to have a PBOX or some other device to monitor where you're at so you don't push too far.
