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Old 11-03-2008, 04:53 PM   #4 (permalink)
MechEngVT
Mechanical Engineer
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 190

The Truck - '02 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Sport
90 day: 13.32 mpg (US)

The Van 2 - '06 Honda Odyssey EX
90 day: 20.56 mpg (US)

GoKart - '14 Hyundai Elantra GT base 6MT
90 day: 30.24 mpg (US)

Godzilla - '21 Ford F350 XL
90 day: 8.69 mpg (US)
Thanks: 0
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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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