Have you ever even been to a short track?
Bristol != KY Oval. There are lots of open wheel cars with wings that have operated at short tracks in "dirty air" without killing anyone. There are hundreds of tracks in the US that specialize in such racing.
Meh. There are places like Indy that are just tragedies waiting to happen with their racing line being so far from the wall and the speeds so high, but I find it hard to believe that even a well sorted modern F1 track is "safer" than a place like Bristol with modern barriers. Keep in mind that oval racing in the US is conducted in vehicles that are less safe for the driver to begin with.
Meh, we also have a lot of money-making pro wrestling.
I call both societal problems...
We have a long history in America of publicly funding privately owned sporting venues. Claims of how they will pay off in increased economic growth and what not are almost always pure bullshit. Boondoggle would be the appropriate way to describe most such projects. As big of an F1 fan as I am, I would not support a largely subsidized operation for the same reason I don't support having the Olympics come round NY.
The last ALMS race I went to had fewer people in the stands than most Nextel Cup practice sessions. Most forms of road racing in the US just aren't economically viable. I suppose it wasn't always this way, but like I said earlier I don't know why any investor with a brain would invest in a high quality circuit instead of Texas Motor Speedway copy #14...unless of course they have a couple billion in their pocket and would really like a US F1 event.
The last ALMS race I went to had fewer people in the stands than most Nextel Cup practice sessions. Most forms of road racing in the US just aren't economically viable. I suppose it wasn't always this way, but like I said earlier I don't know why any investor with a brain would invest in a high quality circuit instead of Texas Motor Speedway copy #14...unless of course they have a couple billion in their pocket and would really like a US F1 event.
Unlike NASCAR fans, the F1 crowd seems to demand something better than an RV to get plastered in.
There is no city with the facilities an F1 event demands anywhere near Watkins Glen. I don't see who would dump the dollars into the venue to bring it up to a reasonable standard in any case.
I would love Laguna Seca, and the location is better, but it too would need big investment.
It would take a real ideologue with cubic dollars to build an F1 venue worth seeing in the US. Its just much cheaper and more profitable to Xerox a 1.5 mile oval and sell crappy beer to hundreds of thousands of Southerners.
There is no city with the facilities an F1 event demands anywhere near Watkins Glen. I don't see who would dump the dollars into the venue to bring it up to a reasonable standard in any case.
I would love Laguna Seca, and the location is better, but it too would need big investment.
It would take a real ideologue with cubic dollars to build an F1 venue worth seeing in the US. Its just much cheaper and more profitable to Xerox a 1.5 mile oval and sell crappy beer to hundreds of thousands of Southerners.
There are many situations in which the detonation margin will be dozens of degrees one way or the other from MBT.
Look at a typical ignition map for a large engine with two valves and old combustion chambers. There may be fifty degrees or more difference between the smallest and largest advance value. Yet aircraft engines are certified to run without detonation in all conditions with a fixed timing value.
Oddly enough this is, in a nutshell, the purpose of closed loop ignition control.
Certainly. See the few hundred thousand non FADEC piston aircraft engines in service. Huge compromises.
Why do you insist on semantic arguments? I already said I've seen no formal definition of LBT/RBT, have you? Let me know what text it is in. The obvious non handwaving point of the two terms is that torque is more or less constant over a certain range of lambda values. Going richer than LBT is not typically done for extra torque, but for extra life of things like exhaust valves.
I'll post YouTubes in the forums when I get it running and sorted.
Cash is important indeed for reliability, because cash means you can test extensively. Another big problem is quantity. Even with ample cash for development, you simply can not in practice build things with the quality control production manufacturers are attaining when you are building a handful of units.
No, it isn't. MBT is exactly what it claims to be. It varies with many factors but the result is the same, location of peak pressure at the optimal crank angle. The location of the detonation margin may be advanced or retarded from MBT depending on design and conditions...often by far more than "a couple degrees".
You don't "look at hundreds of graphs". There is no need to do so when you have a test rig with direct measurement of theta PP. Real time measurement of torque and cylinder pressure has been practiced since at least World War II, again...before you were born. In practice, you adjust ignition timing in real time until you have achieved your goal. Unless you don't have the appropriate hardware and you aren't clever enough to build your own.
No, you made a really ignorant assumption about my post. Read it over until you understand it. I was explaining that the minima for BSFC is lean of stoich, and that engines have been run this way for longer than you've been alive. I made these comments because someone expressed the misconception that engines automagically blow up when run lean. Lean of stoich is where best economy is found. Lean Best Torque which is rich of stoich is where best power is found.
I have done this IRL, champ.
I'm working on a closed loop ion-sensing ignition controller -from scratch- for my project car at the moment. Quite an amusing summer project.
You are a pretty cocksure dude. You aren't even familiar with the basic terminology (worse, you called me wrong about it rather than consulting any number of textbooks...or Google) and you post as if you actually have experience in the field.
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This is why, as silly as it might look, putting a quality harness and seat in any car will instantly make you a better driver. No longer need to use the wheel to hold yourself in place.
You can't "relax" and hold the wheel like the delicate control that it is if you are busy trying to remain in your seat.
Cool vid. I remember reading a paper on those shapes with odd behaviors at one point. The wikipedia article says sometimes the bases are completely symetrical but the mass distribution is offset.
If you are going to correct me, you should, you know, be right.
Lean Best Torque means exactly what it says. Tends to be around .9 lambda. Yes, it is richer than stoich. Yes, you could have understood that if you read my first post. Rich Best Torque is a couple points richer and is as rich as you can go without power falling off considerably. I've never seen exact definitions of these, but they describe an area in the lambda/torque curve that is generally very flat.
Engines do produce their minima for BSFC when lean of stoich. 16:1 or so. This has been proven again and again both empirically and in the theory, and I can direct you to papers on the subject written in the 1920's if you so desire.
MBT has nothing to do with "retarding timing a few degrees." MBT is exactly what it says it is, minimum timing advance for best torque, which varies dramatically with many factors to produce a theta PP that is essentially static for a given engine design.
Do yourself a favor and go type these terms into Google. Read a little. Sir Harry explained these simple topics before your parents were born.
Good luck building a motor/generator that can convert energy from a rotating shaft into power with the kind of packaging and mass efficiency a carbon brake has. Its a formidable engineering challenge. I'm guessing the weight will end up sprung, but I haven't looked at it in detail. I was assuming electricity as the medium as well, but on second thought I think mechanical or hydraulic systems will be better suited.
I would agree, except for a couple things:
-As you've stated, aero owns all other disciplines.
-There is a gigantic amount of energy dissipated by the rear brakes alone, forgetting for a moment about the even greater portion up front.
My intuitive guess is that any energy recovery system is going to be snagging the low hanging fruit it can without compromising the aero package. Thus I start to find new axles at the front and a compromise nose somewhat less likely than a system that packages at the end of the vehicle where there are already shafts in place. Could be completely and utterly wrong about that, especially if someone decides all wheel drive is a worthy goal/within the rules.
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Its silly to claim that it is "easy" to stand with a bike in balance, unless you wave your hands around and have a thoroughly corrupt definition of easy.
Also, while gyroscopic effects aren't dominant in keeping the bike upright, they certainly create some large forces when the axis of the wheel is rapidly accelerated. I'm guessing without further knowledge that its a factor considered in the design of the axles and bearings of bikes, and I'm also guessing that particularly in motorbikes these effects alter handling qualities significantly.
Depends on which way one spins the CD.
Also, while gyroscopic effects aren't dominant in keeping the bike upright, they certainly create some large forces when the axis of the wheel is rapidly accelerated. I'm guessing without further knowledge that its a factor considered in the design of the axles and bearings of bikes, and I'm also guessing that particularly in motorbikes these effects alter handling qualities significantly.
Depends on which way one spins the CD.
Why on earth would you think a highly developed racing engine would be less efficient than typical?
The more efficient a naturally aspirated engine is, the more power it will produce. BSFC is actually a pretty decent indicator of the level of development. Lower being better. Plus, is it not obvious even now that if your engine uses more fuel than the competition's, you'll be at a great disadvantage in pit strategy?
-Engines don't self destruct when run lean. In the heyday of the large radial aircraft engine, lean of stoich operation for thousands of hours at high power levels was common. In the here and now, lean cruise is employed on a bunch of engines. More in Europe where fuel is expensive and low in sulfur.
-Best power occurs at a point called lean best torque. This has little to do with whether or not the engine is turbocharged. It is almost always in the 12.5-13:1 area. Turbo motors sometimes run more richly in order to help keep things like exhaust valves from burning up. 8:1 is just plain pig rich, at least with gasoline.
-For a variety of reasons, I think a fuel flow limit will encourage slower, larger displacement motors.
WRT the energy recovery, it will be interesting to see how the designers make trade offs. Will the unsprung weight disadvantage of a motor/generator at the wheel create a need for front axles leading to a motor/generator stuffed in the nose box? Or will designers leave the front of the vehicle alone and just recapture energy at the rear of the car?
I think BL1 would be a lot of fun in real life. FOX. Try real hard not to kill myself in the first sector...I'd realistically probably be two or three seconds slower there minimum.
Yah, so?
I agree. In most of the world it would be rare to find a road with ~100km/h speeds and more than 6 percent grade. Even at that grade, you are likely to find warning/info signs.
yes/no/no/no
Can't believe it took 2 pages to get to this answer.
Can't believe it took 2 pages to get to this answer.
Yes. 1.5 mile cookie-cutter tracks make all the complaints about NASCAR true. I usually don't even watch any of those races.
As to all the inane comments about "no braking" at a place like Bristol....jeebus, do they not have bittorrent in these places? Has Ted Stevens not yet brought these people the miracle system of tubes known as the Intarwob?
I love xkcd.
Some of my favorites are the "My Hobby" comics.
What a cool ass-comic.
Some of my favorites are the "My Hobby" comics.
What a cool ass-comic.
Several years ago I managed a ski rental shop. It was absolutely mind-boggling to have young children from all over the world -- not just Europe -- converse with me in beautiful English. Impressive in a way that few things are. Granted, these kids were the beneficiaries of a high socioeconomic status; but the American kids were as well. The American kids were much the same as the illiterate crazy-eyed children you'll see at any Wal-Mart, except they wore more expensive clothing. It appears to me that wealth and culture are more strongly dissociated in America than they are elsewhere.
I'm unceasingly amazed by the number of people that write English as a foreign language here so brilliantly. I can converse with people in Spanish if they are kind and treat me like a slow person, but I wish that I could communicate with the effortless fluency that many of you do.
Yet wishing won't get me there. I suppose what I really need to do is start studying languages again and then find some poor forum to practice corresponding with.
I'm unceasingly amazed by the number of people that write English as a foreign language here so brilliantly. I can converse with people in Spanish if they are kind and treat me like a slow person, but I wish that I could communicate with the effortless fluency that many of you do.
Yet wishing won't get me there. I suppose what I really need to do is start studying languages again and then find some poor forum to practice corresponding with.
If that were true, you would be the moron for not getting it reassessed
Oh wait...
Seriously though, my dad fought two asessments in the last 5 years and got big adjustments on each. More than 100k on one. I guess its probably easier to bitch about it on the interweb than to actually fix it. Property taxes can't be very high where you live in any case.
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In the US it varies dramatically. If you looked at the average for say a zipcode, it probably varies by 10 to 1. If you look by county, maybe 5 to 1. And by state, maybe 2 to one.
The other problem is "average size." I grew up in the old northeast where 1800-2200sq-ft houses are probably average. In some newly developed areas, the smallest homes they build are bigger than 3,000sqft. This is America after all, bigger, fatter, slower.
Ignoring all that, I could buy a house that I'd be happy with in a town I'd be happy with for somewhere between 150-250k USD.
The other problem is "average size." I grew up in the old northeast where 1800-2200sq-ft houses are probably average. In some newly developed areas, the smallest homes they build are bigger than 3,000sqft. This is America after all, bigger, fatter, slower.
Ignoring all that, I could buy a house that I'd be happy with in a town I'd be happy with for somewhere between 150-250k USD.
Yeah gee I haven't even thought of the FU series for about 10 years, but I recall the models being a lot better than the FS98 stuff of the day, and probably better than modern FS2004/X stuff as well.
Now there is a cultural difference eh?
I went to a pretty small school, but we had guys with everything from swapped Civics to old Novas with big blocks.
I sure as hell don't go around free revving motors. Ever. I'll drive like a jerk on public roads now and again, but only in places you've never heard of miles away from anyone to endanger. Mostly my Mazda is a fun toy that I drive a couple thousand miles per year, rarely in anger. I daily-drive a very practical van. I use "daily" loosely; unlike most Americans I don't drive every day in any case.
My first car was a 400 dollar Volvo with 240k miles. Bought it with a friend. Replaced two struts, a balljoint, brakes all around, and a rusted out floorboard to get it to pass inspection. Learned a lot from that. Sold it for more than I put into it.
The idea in its very nature is ass-like. I don't need to assume anything. It might have been funny ten years ago before they started selling fake sounds on eBay. As in, if your idea were original I might have laughed.
Ten grand? Bought the car (93 MX6 LS 2.5l V6) from a guy who didn't care to fix what was wrong with it. Needed a window motor, a nut for a wiper, and a redo of a lousy windshield replacement job. Did this all myself except for the professional reinstall of the windshield after I took it out and fixed the incipient paint issues it had caused. Spent a total of 150 bucks on parts and labor. Bought the car for 800 dollars.
At that point it was a clean daily driver with leather, A/C, etc. I wanted a project, so I built an ECU for a couple hundred bucks, bought a fuel pump, sourced and modified injectors from a u-pull, bought Chinese hotpipes which I cleaned up, cut and welded a modified crossmember, layed out and installed an eBay intercooler and cold pipe setup, built a new wiring harness from Radio Shack parts, etc, etc, etc. Receipts indicate the forced induction project has consumed about 2000 dollars, much of which is in the turbo itself which I can resell on eBay for more or less what I paid for it. I've spent hundreds of hours on the project, and it can only be considered a good investment as a learning experience and a recreational pursuit.
There is literally no chance in hell that I'm going to dump ten grand into a mass produced car to make it look shiny and sound cool. Later in life I'm sure I'll dump more than that into old British sports cars for my own enjoyment. I'd really like an XK in my living room someday. I got over showing off for others sometime around your age.
You should get involved in your local club racing. Autocrossing is a great much fun and you don't need an expensive or fast car to have fun.
Well, yeah. I've buried the tach in fifth gear once or twice, only in carefully chosen circumstances with literally no one around to hurt but myself. Not without risk, but then again nothing in life is. As a general rule, I drive the thing pretty darned legally and gingerly. I did put a lot of work into it, and I'm not so young and dumb that I need to prove anything.
Heh, I agree with most of that rant, but I think with experience you'll find that more often than not the idiots that you see upside down in ditches next to snowy roads are the ones in the most capable vehicles. I drive a RWD van in the snow with a set of Graspics. Works great. As you might guess from the name, I drive in snow an awful lot.
Why are you trying to come up with a way to annoy adults with your car then?
Do you want to be in middle-management when you grow up? Thats hilarious...I don't think I've ever heard anyone boast their PowerPoint skills except for in jest when referring to Al Gore and the Greatest PowerPoint Presentation Ever.
Easy champ. I'll be walking out of here with a degree in ME next spring. But hey, there isn't anything wrong with being an art person. Its just not my cup of tea.
To be clear, new ideas that challenge norms are great. Its just that your idea isn't really new and it doesn't do anything very interesting or challenging. No offense meant by that, its just how I see it.
I think if you insist on doing this you should do it right. Take the suggestion to reference the TPS to your LFS throttle. Might be a funny effect in the school parking lot.
OT: heh, talk about a controversial issue. Even as a supporter of common-sense gun laws, it is obvious to me that the alarming prevalence of gun violence in America has little to do with the guns and the gun laws and a lot to do with other aspects of our culture and society. Michael Moore really annoys me, but he addresses this disconnect and some of the issues in his Columbine documentary...something to watch if you find yourself bored.
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