Quote:
Originally Posted by 2009Prius
I would be interested in seeing a calculation of the example of 1000 feet drop over 100 miles.  |
Sure, that's real easy to do.
A car with 300lbs extra cargo converts .4MJ of extra gravitational potential energy from a 1000 foot descent.
300lb*9.81m/s*1000ft - Wolfram|Alpha
With some fair LRR tires, CRR=0.010, the cargo burns up that much energy through rolling resistance every 20 miles.
.01*300lb*9.81m/s*20mi - Wolfram|Alpha
If you were descending an endless slope, it must be a 1% grade for extra cargo to pull its weight at CRR=0.01. This is independent of factors like the weight of the car, cargo, aerodynamics. It depends solely on CRR.