Engineering Explained:Why Tesla's Are Bad at Towing

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

I might suggest an exception: aircooled VW, particularly the bug with proper chains installed. Noted for superior snow handling up to 9 inches deep.

HERSBIRD: Hadn't thought about swapping ends, but reflecting on it, yup, bugs tried mightily to be FWD.

I'd been quiet about that. In 2016 I spun out on a freeway onramp* and nearly totaled the Superbeetle. I hit the guard rail 25-50ft from it's end, else I would have been sitting motionless, facing backward, in the right hand lane of a freeway.

They're good for backing up, uphill, on wet leaves though.

*Black ice. My mother totaled a 1950 Ford station wagon with the whole family inside one night, coming home from Sisters, OR. Maybe that's why I like that Jeep On Black Ice video so much?

[Hersbird]

RWD bugs do well in reverse because that makes them FWD with rear steering. Almost always I can get my mail truck unstuck by backing up unless I got stuck while going downhill. If we had FWD mailtrucks I'm sure 0% of them would be rolling without chains today in our town, as is I think about 25% of them needed them, and after Fridays just 3" probably 70% will be running them.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Hadn't thought about swapping ends, but reflecting on it, yup, bugs tried mightily to be FWD.

I used to "rally" my '69 bug, and going down a gravel road and tapping the brakes made the car want to swap ends.

Originally Posted by Xist

We had a bunch of ice for a bit and it was aggravating. Stop signs were my enemy. I would come to a complete stop and gently push the accelerator like normal. My wheels instantly spun and my tachometer showed 4,000 RPM while I might be slowly rolling backward.

I let off the brake when a light turned green once, and the idle power of the truck in 4x4 mode was enough to spin the tires and go nowhere. Had to put it in low range to get 'er goin'.

Had 2 notable fishtails in that same truck. First time was highway 58 near the lake on a sunny morning. Felt like I spent half a minute countersteering and alternating between heading toward the opposite side guardrail, and the ponds on the right side of the road. Fortunately no traffic at that moment, so I could use both lanes of the road to get under control again. I'd guess I wagged the tail a dozen times before getting straight again.

Second time I thought for sure we were going off a snowy cliff. Attempted to slow well ahead of the corner, but that sent the truck into a fishtail and I wasn't getting anywhere trying to wrangle control despite not using the brakes at all. Last second idea, I shifted to N, the rearrend hooked back up, and I made the gentlest steering I could and took the truck to the last couple inches of road to make the corner.

[ldjessee00]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

My old leaf can do a good 60 miles when it's 10F out.
I'm looking to battery swap it to a 62kwh battery.

I hope that can happened, but I assumed that the 30kWh Leafs would not have the electronics and software (chargers, inverters, management software, etc) to support the larger packs (40 and 62).

It would be awesome if I was wrong.

Are they physically the same size? For some reason I thought the newer batteries were a different physical size, but now I cannot find where I got that idea.

[ldjessee00]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I let off the brake when a light turned green once, and the idle power of the truck in 4x4 mode was enough to spin the tires and go nowhere. Had to put it in low range to get 'er goin'.

I would always start in 2nd gear when it was super slippery out with my 4x4 when driving on roads. That always seemed to work.

[freebeard]

Speaking of off-topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnxKo18lETk

Is it still a flying car if it's supersonic and transcontinental?

[Piotrsko]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Speaking of off-topic:
Is it still a flying car if it's supersonic and transcontinental?

If the DMV or DOT says it's a car, then yes.

Btw: NEVER loose steering traction in a schoolbus. Terrible things can happen, terrible.

[aerohead]

I just posted some tow vehicle/trailer relationship data at #1 (permalink)

[freebeard]

Btw: NEVER loose steering traction in a schoolbus. Terrible things can happen, terrible.

I once put a rental box van into a ditch, backward. These disreputable looking guys came by with their lifted 4x4s and winched me out. I just handed 20s to them until they stopped taking them.

It went back to the rental comapny without a scratch, saved by a fence post in the middle of the back bumper.

BTW, that Cyberjet is what R.B.Fuller called a twin-stilt jump-jet omni-directional transport:

Architecting the Future - DesignMiami
DesignMiami/ https://www.designmiami.com/design-s...ng-the-future/
This 'omni-directional transport system' (patent 1937) was intended to fly, jump-jet style, when suitable alloys and engines became available. Three cars were produced in Fuller's lifetime. Renowned contemporary architect Lord Norman Foster recently reconstructed Fuller's Dymaxion Car in England - Dymaxion 4.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Speaking of off-topic:

Is it still a flying car if it's supersonic and transcontinental?

If you used a flying car as a tow rig your trailer could be lifted by lighter than air gas. Maybe even hydrogen, and then use the hydrogen to fuel the flying car. When you run low on gas the whole setup automatically comes back down for a fill up.

Even more off topic:
I watched Star Wars on Monday and thought, how exactly does the Millennium Falcon fly while in atmosphere anyway?