Computer Designed Car Sets Speed Record

amcdiarmid writes "Several sources are reporting that the first entirely computer designed car, the JCB Dieselmax, has broken the diesel speed record of 236MPH at a speed of 328MPH. From the article: 'The record attempt came after a string of trial runs on the runways at the airbase. But while testing went well, the team endured a troubled time in the US. The combination of the altitude (4,000ft) and the higher air temperatures affected the performance of the second engine, which was generating insufficient turbo boost pressure and led to days of work for the small team of engineering experts.'"

Comments

FYI

[hurfy]

Since it was the 1st thought i had......

Gas-powered seems to be at 410mph

No idea why that record held so long for diesel at what seems a low number (236 vs 410)

Re:FYI

[BLKMGK]

Diesel gives more torque partly because as a fuel it contains more BTUs per gallon than gas - it has more energy. Compression ignition is also more effeciently (apparently) which results in better MPG. Part of the reason why that Audi did so well was because it didn't have to refuel nearly as often as it's competitors - I believe it was allowed to run the same size fuel tank as the others. As for weight - diesels generally have heavier engines as they stick to iron and don't use aluminum. The compression loads are a great deal higher and the aluminum apparently cannot handle it.

Personally I cannot wait for someone to build a diesel hybrid. Now that ought to get some good MPG!

Re:Sure that's fast...

[Tarquin Sidebottom]

Interestingly enough, as well as a common driver (as pointed out in the post above), both vehicles had their aerodynamics designed by Ron Ayers.

http://www.jcbdieselmax.com/html/team.php?team_id= 5

Re:Why care?

[donaldm]

Surprisingly people do base their car purchase on how fast a car can go and the brand that can do this.

I just recently brought a VW Passat 2.0 TDi with Direct shift gearbox and there are a few words that describe it. Excellent performance, economical (approx 5.5l/100km (approx 42 US mpg) to 7.0l/100km), comfortable seating (5), large boot, luxury mod cons and cheaper then its petrol equivalent. Granted there are some petrol cars that can beat it off the lights (if you are into this) but it seems strange that in normal Drive (there is sports and tiptronic as well) I still leave most cars behind and I am not even trying. On the open road I can easily keep up with the traffic and the engine is very quiet although there is a little bit of diesel rattle at idle. That's not bad for a engine that is rated at 103kW (138hp) with 320NM torque and there are better engines coming (with about the same fuel economy) within a few months.

Modern diesel cars are very competitive in price between their petrol equivalent. It must also be noted that 50% of cars sold in Europe are diesel although in the US and in Australia it is nowhere near that but it is increasing.

Before anyone buys a diesel car please do some homework taking into account the price difference between the diesel and its equivalent petrol engine (the VW Passat was cheaper but some other diesel cars are not) also work out how far you are going to travel in a year and the cost in fuel to to this. In addition work out the difference in servicing costs (diesel should be cheaper but be careful). Just about all other things such as tyres, registration and insurance should be the same.

Use Google to search on diesel, bio-diesel, comparison between petrol as well as other fuels such as hydrogen, alcohol ... etc and it gets very interesting.