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Old 11-03-2008, 04:53 PM   #4 (permalink)
MechEngVT
Mechanical Engineer
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 168

The Truck - '02 Ram 1500 SLT Sport
90 day: 18.78 mpg (US)

The Van - '00 Odyssey EX
90 day: 19.86 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NiHaoMike View Post
Why couldn't they thermally couple some coolant lines to the shell of the vehicle? Then the shell becomes a radiator.
The single-word answer? Lawyers.

You can't have any surface of the vehicle over 140 deg F (or 110 IIRC for a metallic surface) excluding solar loading. If by design surfaces get that hot without sunlight and someone were to lean on it they would be instantly burned and could sue for negligent design. This isn't so much an issue on racing vehicles since they generally aren't exposed to large numbers of the mind-numbed populace.
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