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Can Your Car Get 1,700 MPG?
Xaroth writes "Given all the hubbub over EPA mileage ratings, I'm a little surprised that this one hasn't come up earlier. SAE apparently holds a contest each year to encourage students to design single-person, fuel-efficient vehicles. This year's winner achieved 1,747.4 MPG, with the press release that tipped me off pointing out that third got a 'measly' 1,194. There are more details on the competition over at SAE's site about the competition. Now, if only they could make these street-legal..." However, even the winner has nothing on top entries we mentioned in Shell's competition a few years back.
" People certainly took notice of our performance this year. Achieving over 1,000 mpg is quite an accomplishment, especially for the first year,"
Um, no they didn't. Your toothpick and styrofoam "car" averaged 15mph and weighed a paltry 80lbs doing nothing but ovals. Maybe you're busting out cartwheels in academic la-la land, but out in the real world where people actually have to break, accelerate, turn, drive uphill, downhill in traffic with air conditioning, heating, other passengers and groceries, it means JACK SHIT. Their testing parameters are so far removed from reality that practical application isn't even a possibility, which makes this an even larger excercise in absurdity.
No, my car can't get 1,194 miles to the gallon, and there is a good reason why-- It's not limited to being eight feet long, 26 inches wide and weighed approximately 80 pounds running soley along a six laps proving ground (9.6 miles) while maintaining a minimum average speed of 15 miles per hour.
If this were a step foward, I'd be behind them all the way, but it's nothing but engineering masturbation-- Neato to accomplish but utterly fucking useless.
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Silly you. You have not successfully deciphered the envirowacko mindset yet.
The answer, of course, is to force people to live closer to where they work. (Talk to an envirowacko long enough, and the word "make" or "force" always comes up). But, hey, it's all for the greater good, so stand in line, pal. Your federal fuel representative will stamp your gasoline purchase permit presently. After he inspects your car to make sure that it is on the list of federally approved vehicles.
But never fear, the socially conscious on slash dot will make sure that RFID tags never track your personal information.
You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
>but I bet if you had to run to work everyday, you wouldn't be living 25km away...
And I bet if everyone were to do that, we'd have to build mile high skyscrapers all over the place and ruin any sort of beaty the city ever had. Oh, and walking up 200 flights of stairs can't be good for you either.
The idea won't work unless we kill, say, 75% of the earth's population. Then it might be workable.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC