Specs For the New KITT

An anonymous reader writes "The upcoming made-for-TV Knight Rider movie features an all-new version of the Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT). Popular Mechanics has the 'specs' for the original Hasslehoff-mobile, as well as for the digital-effects enhanced version in the 2008 production. 'Designer Harald Belker, who has created the Batmobile for Batman and Robin and a next-gen space shuttle for Armageddon, came onboard to give the new KITT. a unique look. "The goal was to make it look more aggressive without being hokey or garish," Belker says.'"

Comments

Assuming constant acceleration

[aepervius]

Assuming constant acceleration A, speed increasing linearly A.t (speed=0 at t=0), meaning it reaches a distance X=A.t^2 (t=0 then x=0) transforming mile into furlong (sorry I meant meter) means at 12 foot it has roughly 4 meters, and a speed of roughly 300*1.6=480 km-1. Now I don't want to make complex calculation, so I will assume it will have over the 12 foot an average speed of (480+0)/2=240 km.h-1. Which is 130 meter.second -1 (we go for rough estimate). It will so take it roughly 0.03 second to make that distance of 4m with an average speed of 130 m.s-1. Since we know that X=4meter=A.T^2 and t=0.03 we get A=x/t^2=4225 meter.s-2. For reference g=9 m.s-2 so he will feel a force of 470 g roughly. Naturally I bet there are some errors in the above particularly how I calculate the time it takes.

Re:Assuming constant acceleration

[Fuji Kitakyusho]

300 miles / hour x 5280 ft / mile x hour / 3600 s = 440 ft / s a=(Vf^2-Vi^2)/2d a=(0^2-440^2)/(2*12) a=8066.67 ft/s^2 standard gravity = 32.174 ft/s^2 therefore, 8066.67 / 32.174 =~ 250 g. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest g-force endured was 82.6g for 0.04 seconds on a water-braked rocket sled by Eli L. Beeding, Jr., at Holloman Air Force Base on May 16, 1958. He was hospitalized for three days. Using that number, this still means that the new KITT is capable of stopping three times faster than the maximum rate within survivability limits supported by evidence.

Re:KITT is a Cylon!

[Antity-H]

here is the original

http://www.pvponline.com/2007/01/24/turbo-boost/

Must be boatload...

[Junta]

Well, the Viper already had it's supercar TV commercial... er... show in the 90s, but either way, it's not nearly as ubiquitous as the Mustang design or the Corvette design.

Anyway, in the 90s, also, Ford essentially bought out Knight Rider anyway (after my consultation with Wikipedia). In 1997, a show called Team Knight Rider made a brief appearance with a whole set of Ford vehicles.

After the 1991 flop (which GM was still involved with), the 1997 flop, you'd think Ford/NBC would be able to guess that 10 years later, not much is different.

Re:OOps forogt a factor 2

[MichaelSmith]

Red-meat-mash ex-driver is still dead as dead can be. even at 125g

I was going to debunk you by quoting John Stapp but found what I wanted at David Purley

He survived 179 gravities.

Re:What makes most sense..

[Dracos]

Well then, it this case it was Ford.

Years ago I read that Ford has a majority stake in the 3rd largest marketing firm in the country (but I can never remember the name of it), which explains why Mustangs appear in everything. Is there any other explanation why a performance car based on a platform that debuted in 1978 could survive the next 26 years on its own merits? (Yes, I know the 1994 Mustang was "all new", which structurally amounted to a new roofline, increased length and width, and crossmembers added between the front seats, not a complete re-enginering.) Before the Probe came out, Ford was seriously considering it as the replacement for the Mustang.

What would have made the most sense is a Pontiac Solstice. GM has left Pontiac in a kind of limbo, the marque could use some positive exposure. Unfortunately, Knight Rider has picked up some cheese factor over the years, and I bet someone high up in GM management (Bob Lutz?) declined for just that reason.