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49 Comments
- karan1003, on 10/26/2008, -1/+24While going 1,000 mph is definitely interesting, it's probably one of the more pointless endeavors i've seen.
At the same time, I approve. - cloudberries, on 10/27/2008, -1/+17Make a sequel and set it on a frickin' cruise liner.
- S5S5S5, on 10/27/2008, -1/+14Pop quiz, hotshot. There's a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?
- huntersquid, on 10/27/2008, -2/+14Don't go above 50mph. Or better yet, don't even get in the bus.
- benbread, on 10/27/2008, -0/+9Why the hell is everyone so damned against people trying to "push the envelope" in terms of speed or anything else for that matter? What has happened to exploration, trying to do things better or just experimenting?
"We choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard"
A large amount of the development and simulation for this project is happening at my university (Swansea, UK) and one of the main aims is to inspire the next generation of engineers, just like the current generation were by the Apollo missions. Not to mention this project is helping to make some huge advances in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics which for the tree-huggers so against this project will mean we can make more efficient cars, aeroplanes and more.
In short; Stop Complaining - this stuff is awesome. - passedoutghost, on 10/27/2008, -1/+9I'd have Sandra Bullock next to me driving the bus and while she's maintaining the speed at above 50 mph, I climb under the bus while at the same time my partner who is a cop tries to find the remote detonator. I soon discover that the bomb cannot be defused and order Sandra to drive to the busiest airport in America which happens to have a deserted runway and start offloading people onto a secondary vehicle. Once that is completed I jam a pole on the the accelerator and jump off the bus while watching it ram into a plane potentially killing several crew members while I enjoy a few romantic minutes with Sandra Bullock.
- Quasic, on 10/27/2008, -1/+9As most major car companies and thousands of scientists tirelessly work to make cars that use the least possible fuel, the fact that this team is trying to make a car beat 1000mph makes me feel that there are still heroes in the world.
- inactive, on 10/26/2008, -1/+9Cool, I hope they crack 1,000 mph and the brakes bloody work!
- cloudberries, on 10/27/2008, -1/+8Let's get Richard Hammond to test drive it.
- inactive, on 10/26/2008, -1/+7Hell yeah. You wouldn't want to be responsible for forgetting to top up the brake fluid.
- DavidGX, on 10/27/2008, -0/+5It would be on land... eventually.
- inactive, on 10/27/2008, -1/+6jump off
- mattlevesque, on 10/27/2008, -1/+5I don't really see the point of building those "cars". I say "cars" because they're really rocket on wheels. I can see technology developed in F1 applied in every days cars but this? What's the point?
- zantos420, on 10/27/2008, -0/+4"i think it was called, 'the bus that couldn't slow down'"
- simg, on 10/27/2008, -1/+5well for one thing you learn about managing supersonic shock waves at ground level. will come in handy for building trains that travel at a 1000mph ...
- nursebettyrawks, on 10/27/2008, -0/+4Go Hamster!
- christhechris, on 10/27/2008, -0/+3disarm the bomb....
- SreyaNotfilc, on 10/27/2008, -0/+3Great! Now I have images in my head of Dennis Hopper's head being ripped off by the sign in the subway tunnel.
- inactive, on 10/27/2008, -0/+3Because it will look really ***** cool. There, I said it.
- Russelllucid, on 10/27/2008, -0/+2They should concentrate on making an R2 unit to ride shotgun. R2 can lock down those stabilisers before you make jam on the desert!
- tomj88, on 10/27/2008, -1/+3I would dare say they will be using parachutes to slow this down... but again you better hope they work!
- UnWeave, on 10/27/2008, -2/+4I don't think that would quite meet the requirements for a land speed record.
- Airforcefalco, on 10/27/2008, -1/+3I thought the question was "what would you do?" not "what movie is this quote from?".
- mas6700, on 10/27/2008, -0/+2Once the car reaches and then exceeds the speed of sound there will be a strong oblique shock wave coming off from the leading pointed tip of the vehicle. The angle of the oblique shock wave depends upon the Mach number and the sharpness of the tip itself. As the vehicle continues to pick up speed the shock wave will move further back, (i.e moving in a direction that makes it approach being parallel to the ground). As the vehicle continues accelerate above and beyond Mach 1 the shock wave may quite possibly reflect off of the ground and impinge upon the bottom surface of the vehicle. This will create further oblique shock wave structures which will most likely create a region of severe pressure instability under the vehicle.
The article talks about using computational fluid dynamics for modeling the supersonic flow around the vehicle. Ordinarily this shouldn't be a big deal nowadays, even in 3D and with a complex volumetric shape of the vehicle surfaces. But I've never heard of this kind of flow around a vehicle being modeled with a moving solid surface about a foot directly under the vehicle, (i.e the ground). The bottom line is that if they don't model this unique and difficult problem very carefully and design the underside of the vehicle to potentially dissipate the shock waves under the vehicle as they approach Mach 1.4, the vehicle will be sitting on highly unstable high pressure flow as it continues to accelerate to 1000 mph. The result may be the last ride for whomever is driving that thing. In my opinion of course.... - gerrylazlo, on 10/27/2008, -0/+2They forgot to add "...Without dying"
- inactive, on 10/27/2008, -0/+2gay, she'll just mace herself
- Protuhj, on 10/27/2008, -0/+2wooooosh.....
- Protuhj, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1way over ghost's head.
- MrFurious2k, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1I knew there was a reason I hated taking the bus.
- flamesoftheend, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1I drive that fast to work every morning.
- Airforcefalco, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1Don't tell anyone what is going on, drive to a nice soft field somewhere and jump?
- drgmdp, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1we all know the german will achieve that first
- GarrettGrimsley, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1They're going to need an amazingly low drag coefficient.
- ShiftyBizniss, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1someone's gonna die for sure...
- sipsyrup, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1just hit the ground running and you'll be fine
- fuzzlepop, on 10/27/2008, -1/+2speed ***** me up
- SeaICIubber, on 10/27/2008, -0/+1Is that the car speeding past?
- jaytee52, on 10/27/2008, -0/+0this is by far the single most important endeavor that mankind has ever attempted. if we were to abandon the attempt to achieve the 1000mph speed record with a ground vehicle then centuries from now our descendants will look back and say, "Why did they waste their time on pointless projects like trying to find a cure for childhood leukemia or breast cancer. Why did they spend all their time working to cure world hunger and turn their backs on such an important goal as going 1000mph in a car?"
- Airforcefalco, on 10/27/2008, -1/+1Hopefully it makes up for that fact.
- Airforcefalco, on 10/27/2008, -2/+2Put a rocket on the back and put it in a huge plane, climb 40,000+ feet in the air, aim the car towards earth and ignite the rocket engine?
- arkaycee, on 10/27/2008, -1/+1I can't find a cite, but I recall reading in the Guinness Book of World Records when I was a kid that the driver of a previous speed-record-setting car out on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the US lost control and skidded something like six miles. That't take me right through Ann Arbor.
- BullHunter, on 10/27/2008, -3/+3Faster than a speeding bullet - literally!
- inactive, on 10/27/2008, -4/+3Why not just stick to an aircraft. Whats the point.
- FastZ, on 10/27/2008, -4/+3Judging from the comments to this, I'd say some of you have no idea where this quote comes from.
- Airforcefalco, on 10/27/2008, -3/+1"The challenge at the heart of the project is to create a car capable of 1,000mph - a car 30% faster than any car that has gone before."
- dlan4327, on 10/27/2008, -3/+1Stupid... But Ballsy. Definitely Ballsy.
- arijit57, on 10/26/2008, -4/+11,000 mph.... Really interesting!!!
- inactive, on 10/27/2008, -7/+2Yeah, because the douchebags who clog up the roads all day long are only causing traffic because of the 120mph speed limit of the average car.. yes, thats what we need, a 1000mph car.. brilliant.. someone give these eggheads a Nobel prize
- redfred18t, on 10/27/2008, -9/+2But can it run Crysis?
