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Computer Designed Car Sets Speed Record

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the sitting-on-a-rocket-and-lighting-the-fuse dept.

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.'"

18 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. That's pretty fast by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

    broken the diesel speed record of 236MPH at a speed of 328MPH.

    But they could probably top 350 MPH if they'd ditch the CB antenna and Yosemite Sam "Back Off" mudflaps.

    this thing gets some real looks at the Sapp Bros.

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    1. Re:That's pretty fast by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Funny
      > But they could probably top 350 MPH if they'd ditch the CB antenna and Yosemite Sam "Back Off" mudflaps.

      Me an' Tim was haulin' chickens
      O'er a lakebed outa Wiggins
      And we had spent all night on the uphill side,
      Of thirty seven hundred square miles of hell called Bonneville Flats,
      (Which was up on the great divide...)

      And we was sittin' there readin' Slashdot,
      And moderatin' like Crow T. Trollbot,
      And I says "Tim, let's send an Internet down the tubes,
      And then send them chickens on down t'other side"
      (Yeah, lets give them hens a ride.)

      Chorus:
      Bonneville flats, way up on the great divide,
      Truckin' on down, the other side.

      Leverton put down his bottle,
      With Andy's foot down on the throttle,
      Ate a couple o' smores, then 1500 horse,
      from a two-thousand-ought-six Dieselmax screamed to life.
      (We woke up the chickens.)

      We roared up off'n that shoulder,
      Sprayin' pine cones rocks 'n boulders,
      And put four hundred head of them Rhode Island Reds
      And a couple of burnt out roosters on the line.
      (Look out below. 'cause here we go...)

      ...and I really don't have to change another word of Wolf Creek Pass, by C.W. McCall, from that point onwards, because the ride was just about as hairy.

      'Cept for that feed store in downtown Pagosa Springs. Place was still a mess from when that truck done run through it.

  2. all part of the plan by User+956 · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.

    ..and it will help those computers find Sarah Connor just that much more quickly.

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  3. Imagine the bandwidth of... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    a diesel computer designed car going 328 MPH filled with hard drives.

  4. Then it did it again... by chill · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...on the next day of testing, it again bested the record. This time it was 350.092 MPH. http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?t ype=topNews&storyID=2006-08-23T151359Z_01_L2331696 1_RTRUKOC_0_UK-TRANSPORT-DIESEL-RECORD.xml

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    1. Re:Then it did it again... by BWJones · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yeah, this was their plan to do it incrementally. I got some great shots of the JCB team doing their thing during Speed Week here. The Dieselmax team was having some problems setting up the car for the salt and were gradually working their way up and had planned all along to really go for the record the week or so after Speed Week.

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  5. Are we talking... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

    a diesel computer designed car going 328 MPH filled with hard drives.

    An information super highway, here?

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  6. Come on, 'entirely computer designed' ? by ScentCone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The connotation is that someone signed onto a machine somewhere and at the command prompt, typed "design_car -fast -diesel", and poof, there's the design.

    It's a human-designed car, designed by humans using computers (as they have for decades), and no pencils this time. TFA goes on and on about all the people on the team and the work they did, and that's great. So, what's with the headline and summary?

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    1. Re:Come on, 'entirely computer designed' ? by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 4, Funny
      design_car -fast -diesel
      What is it with these Linux geeks. They think the whole world works on the command line. Everyone knows that this car was built by double clicking on "Car", selecting "diesel" in the "Car Design Wizard" and then pushing the speed slider to the top. And apparently there's a hidden option in the registry that increases the range of the speed slider so we expect this record to be broken again very soon.
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  7. FYI by hurfy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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)

    1. Re:FYI by BLKMGK · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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!

      --
      Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
  8. Yeah, but... by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...the ping times are a bitch.

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    1. Re:Yeah, but... by x2A · · Score: 4, Funny

      It took 5 days for a car my secretary sent to reach me, because it got stuck in traffic. You see, cars aren't like trucks, you can't just dump loads of stuff onto them. Cars are a cereal of tubes, they run on... I'm not finished, they run on milk in a bowl. Excelsior!

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  9. I followed the link... by agentcdog · · Score: 4, Funny

    and was surprised to see that this thing really runs on 440 AA batteries. Quite the misleading article. Diesel indeed.

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  10. Turbo Boost by Megane · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.

    Don't they know that K.I.T.T. can only use the Turbo Boost once per episode?

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  11. Re:Deisel motors by BLKMGK · · Score: 4, Informative

    This particular diesel doesn't smoke - it's running a blended mix to help prevent that. Black smoke is unburned fuel and a sign of an improperly tuned diesel. The low sulphur fuel will help air quality and allow us to FINALLY get some of the better diesels here but I don't think it will change the exhaust smoke since if the car is running right it shouldn't smoke anyway. I've got a new TDI and I've yet to see any smoke but expect to see some come Winter...

    --
    Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
  12. Re:Deisel motors by afidel · · Score: 4, Informative

    The black smoke hasn't been a problem for properly maintained engines ever, but much cleaner diesel's should be available in the US this fall. Refineries have been producing S15 Low Sulphur diesel since June and all retail outlets should have it by October 15th according to EPA requirements. This means that manufacturers can start importing designs from europe that are designed to run on ultra low sulphur diesel fuel. These designs are MUCH less polluting then engines designed for low grade diesel. For more info see link

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  13. Forget fast...... by Rank_Tyro · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...."we need ludicrous speed".

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