Posted on 03/17/2007 4:52:14 PM PDT by bkwells
ping
Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the amount of exhaust produced more a product of engine effort than speed? If that's the case, then wouldn't it be better to go fast and keep the engine at low RPM than going slow and having to accelerate/decelerate constantly?
looks like the germans don't like the enviro-weenies pi**in their corn flakes..
Couldn’t they just buy some “carbon” credits from Gore’s outfit and put the pedal to the metal?
I'm sure those will be next. After all, raising the animals that eventually become bratwurst and brewing the beer involves making evil carbon dioxide! </sarc>
"– a speed limit could be imposed tomorrow and at relatively little cost."
Only if you don't consider millions of wasted hours in the aggregate to be a cost.
The power required to push your car through the air is proportional to drag. Drag depends on the "drag coefficient" CD, densitiy of the fluid, velocity squared and frontal area S. If you double your speed, you require four times the energy to go through the air. Sure you'll get their in half the time, but the quadratic term dominates. Maybe your engine's efficiency will be 10% or 15% better at one speed or another, but that will be totally dominated by the velocity squared term.
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Funny thing. A few years ago I was in Ireland, traveling through the countryside by car. The posted speed limits were often beyond my ability to drive. A narrow, hairpin turn, country road had a 90 Kph limit. I couldn't navigate it at 40 Kph. But within town limits, they had reasonable limits - it made a lot more sense than the posted limits we have on our roads. 55 mph on limited access highways - who are they kidding? Quite safely, 70-80 is typical, unless blocked by a moronic jerk in the passing lane, or excessive traffic. The highways were designed for speed.
Click on POGW graphic for full GW rundown
Ping me if you find one I've missed.
The Germans better give up their autobahn if they are going to make me buy a Prius.
Well - being a German from good old Europe I only allow me one form of real anti-Americanism:
Every time I pick up my relatives and friends from New York or elsewhere in the US at the airport I enjoy driving home with a minimum of 120 miles (not kilometers) per hour. This is the moment when (most - not all) steadfast Americans turn into shivering weiners hopping from one side of their seat to the other. Even French surrender monkeys have usually more balls than most of your compatriots then. Obviously you guys lack the erotic of speed.
Apart of that I am a faithful friend of America. ;)
you bet I don't
Carbon credit this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfFAZ5-P04I
I LOVE cars that make contrails.
see above posting Nr. 17 for a practical demonstration on what you need for V equals 24.4 m/s.
Not all Americans are as you describe. The first thing I did upon arrival in Germany is open it up on the Autobahn. The fact that I only had a 1.6L BMW just meant it took a bit longer and a slight downgrade to get above where I used to drive my Olds F85 station wagon as a teenager. The main difference was the BMW didn't feel like it was about to fall apart.
Wow! Thanks for posting the YouTube link. What did he say? 175 hp needed for 120 mph, then another 700 hp to get up to 250? Sounds roughly like a square law.
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