Blistering speed of...

[P-hack]

I'm quite of the opposite, especially since I spend so much time on a motorcycle. I have heard "unsafe" and etc for a long time. Truth is that safe and roadworthy are relative terms, perpetuated by a lot of opinionated muckity mucks. I like to know what is "scientifically" possible without the social constraint junk. There are real limits, then there are social limits. If there is an actual energy crisis, the social limits will be the first thing out the window, the real limits will always be there. And if my car had pedals I would use them.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Something that has been bugging me about those million mpg vehicles is the speed they operate at. 15 mph in a hyper light and aerodynamic vehicle with no shock absorbers requires so little power that driver input could seriously contribute to that, thwarting the competition and invalidating the result.
Let me explain that.
Engine starting.
Many vehicles use pulse and glide, and use a very short pulse of just a few second and a coast of over a minute or so. If the engines start by a starter motor and battery, fine. If they bump start, okay. But they start by a pull cable... That's physical input, and at these speeds a good jolt will hurl the paperweight cone forward. Me no like.
Suspension.
Some cars have systems that harvest damper energy to provide propulsion. If the driver lies still that's fine. But in those cars the driver can load the system by moving up and down. As the driver is alone in the car ther is no excuse for that kind of movement. (sex drive ? )
Steering.
At the day care center we used to visit my son had a favourite toy; a little trike that steers in the middle of the frame. All wheels roll free, yet it moves forward quite quickly by swinging the front part left and right. As he pushes his legs sideways the front wheel follows the motion speeding up at every swing.
There's the swing step; same effect, all free rolling wheels, yet propulsion from sideways motion and steering. Same with skateboards and swingboards.
Power steering, for sure.
Surely they know and use that?

So I refuse to take those mile on a single drop claims serious anymore. Drive at a decent pace, replace the driver with sandbags and a standardized R/C unit, then I might regain some interest.

NONE of that was happening on the cars I'm familiar with, and I don't think it's possible besides.

[user removed]

I look at it like this. If one of those tiny underpowered very specialty vehicles can get 10,000 MPG then there should be no problem getting 100 MPG in mine. That's only 1% or 1/100th the mileage they are getting. I read somewhere that they built a small drone aircraft that can cross the atlantic ocean on 2 gallons of fuel. I dream of sailplanes climbing a mile and gliding 40 miles. Aerial P&G, now that would be a lot of fun.

While automotive technology has progressively improved as a general statement, the potential for vast improvements is there and we ignore potential design improvements because we are agenda driven and ignorant.

One is curable. The other is pitiful.

regards
Mech

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

NONE of that was happening on the cars I'm familiar with, and I don't think it's possible besides.

I'm sure it would be possible, and given enough interest in the competitions, someone would eventually resort to cheating.

The other day I was curious about soap box derby racing and Googled the subject. One of the cars was outfitted with a powerful electromagnet in the nose, and when the starting gate was thrown forward, it pulled the car along significantly enough that officials were skeptical of the results and ordered an x-ray of the car. Soap Box Derby - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[P-hack]

That is awesome I feel bad for the other racers, and the overreaction of All-American Soap Box association in banning all of boulder colorado though! But he is like the smokey yunick of soapbox racing. They didn't ban all of Daytona Beach from participating in NASCAR...

[niky]

Pretty sure a tech inspection is mandatory.

Note... if you have energy harvesting dampers, they're not creating free energy... they're recouping energy lost to movement. If the car is bouncing, it's not going to glide as far.

As for steering, it'd be pretty obvious if someone were to start weaving back and forth to pick up speed. And the pogoing motion (you need vertical movement) should be obvious.

[Grant-53]

Think what kind of vehicle you would want to ride that used a 50cc engine. A 500 mpg moped should be easy enough if you only want to go 45 mph. Some wheels, tires, and brakes from a small used dirt bike to be needed to make it street legal. A low drag fairing is necessary. A Vetter Challenge for urban mopeds anyone?

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by niky

Pretty sure a tech inspection is mandatory.

There is a tech inspection.

It is closed course- smooth race track- no bumps significant enough to harvest energy from. The cars don't have suspensions.

They are clutched for freewheeling- the act of starting the engine provides no forward propulsion.

[niky]

There you go, then. Only way to cheat is with a stomach full of beans and a rear-facing air vent attached to your seat.

Originally Posted by Grant-53

Think what kind of vehicle you would want to ride that used a 50cc engine. A 500 mpg moped should be easy enough if you only want to go 45 mph. Some wheels, tires, and brakes from a small used dirt bike to be needed to make it street legal. A low drag fairing is necessary. A Vetter Challenge for urban mopeds anyone?

I've actually seen an electric moped with a 30cc gasoline generator. Chevy Volt style. Gets crappy economy in regen mode, though. Around 25 km/l. But if the motor were hooked to the wheels...

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

NONE of that was happening on the cars I'm familiar with, and I don't think it's possible besides.

I believe that to even want to participate in these kind of races, you have to be eco minded and bona fide.
But if anyone wanted to play tricks, there is a lot that is possible. If the front wheels trail the steering point any sideways shake provides forward thrust, and it would be very hard to notice.

Originally Posted by Grant-53

Think what kind of vehicle you would want to ride that used a 50cc engine. A 500 mpg moped should be easy enough if you only want to go 45 mph. Some wheels, tires, and brakes from a small used dirt bike to be needed to make it street legal. A low drag fairing is necessary. A Vetter Challenge for urban mopeds anyone?

Apparently you can get 10.000 mpg from a 130 kg car/driver combination doing 15 mph.
Lets extrapolate that to 1300 kg and 75 mph, assuming 10 times as much air restistance times 25 for 5 times the speed.
10.000 divided by 250 is just 40 mpg... and 40 mpg at 75 mph, that is something my Insight can do easily. Ah ha...!
10.000 mpg? They're not even trying