Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
That's incorrect. From a physical standpoint it's the same amount of energy to accelerate to a certain speed whether you do so over a long period of time or suddenly accelerate within less than a second to your desired speed.
The difference is how close or how far from optimal efficiency is the load putting onto your engine and what RPM's are you having to rev it up to to get that kind of power.
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In the past, BMW conducted an experiment which indicated that 'jack-rabbit' starts could be more fuel efficient than long, protracted accelerations.
The issue was that ICE engines have their worst thermal efficiency during transient loading.
If one got up to speed judisciously, you could reduce the engines residence time at lower efficiency, spending more time at a higher thermal efficiency, for an overall gain.