A question on safty?

[CPOK]

Ok if the roads are the same as they are now, how does say a Austin Martin doing 500mph stay on the road on a corner?

[Kellogg]

On 2002-02-24 22:48, CPOK wrote:
Ok if the roads are the same as they are now, how does say a Austin Martin doing 500mph stay on the road on a corner?

Howdy!

Well, for one thing, it actually didn't.
Lance the lion ended up smacking into all the cars that were in the pile up.

But to answer your question, the next 60+ years should have some advancements in 3 fields:

Tires
Road grading
Aerodynamics of the car

On Jack's Thunderbird (currently under repairs) the tail fins are actually not just decorative, but more like computer controlled fly by wire control surfaces.

The only thing I can think of today that's comparable are some of the cars which automatically deploy a spoiler when the car gets above a certain speed.

Given the lightness of the vehicles involved, these become an absolute necessity.

I once read somewhere an estimate by Arthur C. Clarke that if they used buckytubes (nanotube structures made out of carbon atoms) to build a car, they could reduce the weight of it by a factor of 100. So, a 4000 pound sports car would tip the scales at 40 pounds. (Yeep!)

I was much more conservative, and guesstimated that Jack's T-Bird weighs 500
pounds. Well, that's still VERY light. Thus the need for the aerodynamic surfaces.

What causes people to develop stuff like this? Gasoline prices. This is 2066 after all. Gas conservation is big.

Hope that makes sence?

Scott

[Icefox]

...Wouldn't it be hard to make an entire engine block out of buckyfiber?

And tensile strength isn't the same thing as rigidity. You can't build a car out of kevlar, even though it's stronger and lighter than steel.

[Kellogg]

On 2002-02-25 11:41, Icefox wrote:
...Wouldn't it be hard to make an entire engine block out of buckyfiber?

And tensile strength isn't the same thing as rigidity. You can't build a car out of kevlar, even though it's stronger and lighter than steel.

Hmm. I was under the impression that buckytubes were very rigid. I mean, it's basically a tubular carbon crystal, right?

Scott

[Katra]

On 2002-02-25 07:51, Kellogg wrote:
I once read somewhere an estimate by Arthur C. Clarke that if they used buckytubes (nanotube structures made out of carbon atoms) to build a car, they could reduce the weight of it by a factor of 100. So, a 4000 pound sports car would tip the scales at 40 pounds. (Yeep!)

I was much more conservative, and guesstimated that Jack's T-Bird weighs 500
pounds. Well, that's still VERY light. Thus the need for the aerodynamic surfaces.

I would guess a lot of that 500 pounds is parts that can't be made of buckytubes and still work. Upholstry, springs, tires, the electrical system & battery, and maybe the windows.

[Kellogg]

On 2002-02-25 20:07, Katra wrote:

I would guess a lot of that 500 pounds is parts that can't be made of buckytubes and still work. Upholstry, springs, tires, the electrical system & battery, and maybe the windows.

Makes sence to me! Though the electircal
system could be made of buckytubes as well. They can be made to be superconductors.

Scott

[Matt Trepal]

On 2002-02-25 07:51, Kellogg wrote:
But to answer your question, the next 60+ years should have some advancements in 3 fields:

Tires
Road grading
Aerodynamics of the car

There should also be improvements to onboard electronics, too, right?

So, the computer that is an integral part of the Aston Martin's engine and drivetrain should be able to gauge road conditions and adjust the all-wheel drive to compensate accordingly. (Yes, I think all-wheel drive would exist on every model of car)

And as for making an engine block out of buckytubes, if you aligned all the tubes properly you'd get a crystal carbon lattice, right? Isn't this a diamond? Solid diamond (only industrial diamonds, though) engine blocks! There's something to think about!