Steam-Powered Car Breaks Century-Old Speed Record

mcgrew writes "New Scientist reports that a steam-powered car has broken the 1906 record of 204 km/hr (127 mph) for the fastest steam-powered automobile, the Stanley Steamer. The Inspiration made a top speed of 225 kilometres per hour (140 miles per hour) on August 26. 'The car's engine burns liquid petroleum gas to heat water in 12 suitcase-sized boilers, creating steam heated to 400C. The steam then drives a two-stage turbine that spins at 13,000 revolutions per minute to power its wheels.The FIA requires two 1.6-km-long runs to be performed in opposite directions — to cancel out any effect from wind — within 60 minutes.'"

Comments

Check that off the obscure to-do list

[swanzilla]

Next up...ridiculously large front-wheeled bicycle speed record.

Re:Check that off the obscure to-do list

[Beardo the Bearded]

That style of bike is called a Penny-farthing.

It's not like we use steam for cutting-edge tech like nuclear power plants or anything.

Re:Check that off the obscure to-do list

[owlnation]

Wonder what the record is for the fastest cockroach?

What do you mean? An African or European cockroach?

Re:Check that off the obscure to-do list

[ev0l]

The name of the bike you are, presumably, referring to is called a penny farthing. They worked by direct drive. The cranks were tied directly into the front hub. You would generally get the largest wheel your legs would allow so that you could travel as fast as possible. The bigger diameter of the front wheel the further you would go with one rotation.

Interestingly the first geared bicycles, that resemble the ones we ride now, were called safety bicycles. Presumably this was because you were closer to the ground and had less distance to fall. However the invention of gearing on the safety bicycle allowed a rider to travel much faster than would of even been possible on a penny farthing. Bicycles today are far more dangerous than a penny farthing. Even going downhill, the penny farthing rider is limited to how fast they can pedal (the cranks never stop spinning) but todays bicycles employ multiple gearing ratios and free wheels/hubs that allow for extremely fast speeds. As I understand it penny farthings quickly died out after the invention of the safety bicycle.

-Will

 

Re:Check that off the obscure to-do list

[beav007]

Even going downhill, the penny farthing rider is limited to how fast they can pedal

Until the bike picks up enough speed to throw your feet off the pedals. Then there is no hope of stopping without losing skin until you reach the flat again.

And slope

[seifried]

"to cancel out any effect from wind" - and any slope, otherwise we'd have people dropping cars off cliffs claiming speed records like nobody's business =).

Re:All oficial times

[couchslug]

The Stanley Steamer record is vastly more impressive. Tires, brakes, and suspension in 1906 were primitive, materials were not nearly as reliable, and design was done on a drawing board.

"That smashes the previous official record of 204 km/hr (127 mph) set in 1906 by Fred Marriott of the US in a modified version of the then-popular steam car known as the Stanley Steamer."

Sorry, but only going thirteen (13) miles an hour faster than a record more than a _century_ old is shit. He might have done better by using a replica Stanley engine made from modern materials (to allow heat increase without a boiler explosion) instead.

Re:"Smashed"? It takes 103 years to go 13 mph fast

[Anonymous Coward]

And being based on petroleum gas, at least they should have provided with some sort of performance measurement, such as Miles or Km per gallon or liter?

Slow down..

[pablo_max]

Slow Down you damn Steam Punks! And stay the hell off my lawn.

Stanley Steamer?

[brkello]

Stanley Steamer...you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. *shudder*

Re:Stanley Steamer?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think a Stanley Steamer is the same as a Cleveland Steamer. A Cleveland Steamer involves shitting on a girl's face while covering it in Saran Wrap. A Stanley Steamer uses tin-foil. Now you know.

Re:All oficial times

[DJRumpy]

If it was that easy, it would have been broken before now. You belittle the achievement without understanding the challenges involved.

Another thing to consider is that during speed runs, brakes, and suspension are not really a factor. The car is driven in a straight line at maximum speed. It's not taken on a touring expedition to test is comfort and handling performance. The tires need only be capable of not blowing at high speeds.

Re:All oficial times

[Kral_Blbec]

Is there really anything scientific or technological that we cant do vastly better now that 1906? Its like the captain of the senior football team boasting about stealing lunch money from a 7th grader.

Re:did anyone else besides me

[geekoid]

Since neither the term airplane or helicopter indicate it's power source, I'm going with airplane or helicopter

Re:All oficial times

[ae1294]

Is there really anything scientific or technological that we cant do vastly better now that 1906? Its like the captain of the senior football team boasting about stealing lunch money from a 7th grader.

In the US? yeah I'd say we can't do 7th grade math any better without using some sort of damn dirty machine...

Meh

[stokessd]

I have to agree with the underwhelming nature of only 13MPH faster.

We now have a much better handle on material science and metallurgy. We actually have the capability to model the predicted performance and make design tweaks. We have the ability to machine to tolerances only dreamed about back then. And we have composites and alloys that weren't available.

I realize that it's not a linear scale from a drag standpoint, but our victory could be due only to 1906 measurement error.

Sheldon

Re:Meh

[u38cg]

Don't be too quick to assume that our mechanical engineering is better than in 1906. That was an industrial age, and the skills and capability they had in place back then were very strong. It's literally impossible to reproduce many of the things they used to do with modern capabilities (look up the story of the building of the new Peppercorn steam engined train for more of this sort of thing).

Re:Meh

[noisyinstrument]

Perhaps they've made 100 years worth of improvements to the car from a reliability and usability point of view.

TFA is wrong in saying that 100 years ago steam cars were easier than petrol ICE cars, but that's not to say petrol ICE was easy. The management lingo term "turn-key" was invented a long time AFTER cars were invented that's for sure. Cause cars back then weren't exactly "turn-key" regardless of the engine under the bonnet.

This video of Jay Leno's sort of shows what steam cars were like, though this one is 1925.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=213453

hybrid

[Eil]

'The car's engine burns liquid petroleum gas to heat water in 12 suitcase-sized boilers, creating steam heated to 400C. The steam then drives a two-stage turbine that spins at 13,000 revolutions per minute to power its wheels.

Cool, a hybrid! Where can I get the government coupon to purchase one?

Yeah, sure it can run fast

[reboot246]

but can it get my carpets clean any faster?

Out of steam

[westlake]

The fate of the steamers is a cautionary tale for backers of projects like the Tesla.

They were handcrafted for the extremely wealthy.

The total production run for the Stanley was 11,000 cars in 25 years. Stanley Steamer

No matter how you price such a car, you never generate enough cash to remain competitive in R&D - never enough to survive hard times.

Re:Out of steam

[u38cg]

Yes, but none of that was true for quite a few years *after* petrol engines were invented. The only advantage petrol had was the instant-on factor, but given that this was an era when you stabled a horse and had it looked after 24/7, it's not such an advantage in 1900 terms.

Re:Out of steam

[DuckDodgers]

You're thinking of the very first steam cars, where solid fuels were used and someone on the vehicle had to stoke the fire by hand. The last steam cars were dramatically superior to that. Check http://www.stanleymotorcarriage.com/GeneralTechnical/GeneralTechnical.htm

1. Steam cars did not emit dirty smoke. Unlike steam trains, steam ships, and very early steam cars, the later steam cars only used liquid fuels. It burns fuel like a propane stove, and burns very clean. Internal combustion engines burned their fuel far less efficiently until the last few decades, because the burn has to occur inside the cylinder within a few milliseconds of time. The steam engine combustion is like a torch or stove burner, it burns every bit of fuel for heat.
2. In terms of engine size, steam engines in steam cars just weren't that big. The boiler in a Stanley Steamer was smaller than a mini-fridge, and the engine was only 2 cylinders. Because the steam is created outside the engine cylinder, it has nearly full engine torque right from launch. Steam cars also did not use transmissions, which saved on complexity and weight. Remember too, the internal combustion engines of the steam car era produced ridiculously low power output per unit of engine displacement by modern standards. I don't have comparison figures, but I assume that at the time steam engines were equal or smaller for an equivalent power output.
3. The original steam cars just released the steam from each cylinder motion as exhaust gas, and went through water quickly. From the page I linked, the original Stanley Steamers worked the same way and required about 1 gallon of water per mile in addition to the kerosene they burned to heat the steam. But later Stanley Steamers and other steam cars used condensers to recapture most of the steam after each cylinder motion, and used 1 gallon of water per 10 miles, or less.
4. From the page I linked, the boiler was wrapped in piano wire and designed with exhaust valves so that there would be no catastrophic boiler explosions. None are documented.

Now obviously, a century old Stanley Steamer can't match a modern car. It offered 40 horsepower, required one fuel tank for kerosene and one for water, and gets lower fuel economy. But imagine if the technology was updated with 100 years of technical know-how by more than a bright but small and group of students at Southampton University with limited funding. I don't know if it could be made as good as modern cars, but I bet the gap would narrow tremendously.

Re:All oficial times

[Carnildo]

Tires, brakes, and suspension may have been primitive, but in 1906, steam propulsion was a mature, well-understood technology.

Re:All oficial times

[Bob9113]

Is there really anything scientific or technological that we cant do vastly better now that 1906?

My guess is yes, but I can't come up with a good example at the moment.

Here's an unbroken 1960's land speed record set by one guy with very little money working in his garage:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Munro

Very fun flick too, if you like hackers.

Re:"Smashed"? It takes 103 years to go 13 mph fast

[Anonymous Coward]

... But, speaking of acceleration, how does the Pinto do going from 60mph to 0?

Doesn't that depend on how solid the wall that it hits is?

Re:did anyone else besides me

[camperdave]

although i'd be REALLY impressed if someone invents a steam powered aircraft/ helicopter

Apparently both airplanes and helicopters have been powered by steam.

Re:All oficial times

[Michael Woodhams]

I was thinking the same: 100 years of technology and only 10% faster? However, at the end the article says "... the team is planning another run on Wednesday, to try to get even closer to the car's theoretical top speed of 274 km/hr (170 mph)." My interpretation is that they didn't want to go flat-out right away so that any engineering problems could show up at lower speed first. So they are doing progressively faster runs, and this just happened to be the first that was faster than the old record.

Re:Drag increases at the cube of velocity

[Rival]

Mod parent up! This is basic physics folks; I would have hoped more people on Slashdot new this. Wind resistance is the single most limiting factor in land speed records.

To illustrate, this high-powered modern steam vehicle hit 225 km/h, or 140 mph. Bruce Bursford beat this by nearly 50% on a bicycle , setting the world record of 334.6 km/h or 207.9 mph. He biked on a treadmill, with no wind resistance.

Re:All oficial times

[fooslacker]

Have steam engines really evolved that much since 1906? I mean materials science is better but I doubt (and I could be wrong) that we've pumped much R&D effort/funds into small steam engine design over the last 100 years. Anyone know?

Apples and Oranges

[srobert]

Okay, when someone wins an Olympic medal for the 100 yard dash, do you chime in about how they're not very impressive because you could cover a hundred yards much faster in a Ferrari?

Re:More details would be nice

[RandomJoe]

Sure the temperature means something. You don't get steam above 212F without increasing the pressure. So the temp tells you roughly the pressure. I did a quick search for a chart, and it says 400 degrees would be around 235 PSIG. In comparison, your 600 PSIG boiler ran about 489 degrees and the 1000 PSIG ran about 546 degrees.

http://www.indpipe.com/images/PDF/steam_temperature_pressure_table.pdf
(Just the first link I found.)

Re:All oficial times

[Chris Mattern]

Um, no, they don't. Coal-fired ships generated steam to drive a reciprocating piston engine. Nuclear powered ships use their superheated steam to drive turbines.

Also, "naval", unless the ships you're referring to are in fact associated with belly buttons.

Re:Very Optimisitic Speedo.

[Chris Mattern]

I was tempted to put up a picture link for "very optimistic speedo" but on second thought, I'm afraid of what Google might turn up.

Here's what's impressive

[Burning1]

What impresses me about this accomplishment is that it must have been achieved among a small group of enthusiasts.

With the internal combustion engine, an amateur can draw on a huge pool of professional resources and documented knowledge to build up a high performance vehicle. In fact, very few people, if any are a master of every component on a modern race car - usually your race team will have access to suspension specialists, tire specialists, engine builders, aerodynamic and chassis design guys...

There really can't be that many experts on the automotive uses of steam engines, and a huge amount of new development must have gone into this car - that's something fantastic.

Materials have come a long way... But how much of of an advantage does that give you against the massive loss of experience we must have had over the last 100 years?

I'm a motorcycle racing enthusiast, and even at my amateur level it's amazing how much knowledge is only available through experienced teachers. There are literally more in-depth books about programing in ruby than books about motorcycle chassis engineering and physics.

Re:"Smashed"? It takes 103 years to go 13 mph fast

[flibbajobber]

Acceleration off-the-line is predominantly determined by power-to-weight (given traction). This is how the low-powered Caterhams and Lotus Elises can hang with the "big boys" using that metric.

Top speed, OTOH is dominated by outright power and drag. Mass features little, hence top speed is typically dominated by heavier cars with massive amounts of power.

Incidentally 60-0, and also cornering, should be dominated by mass & traction, but traction itself is influenced strongly by mass, making traction alone the dominant factor (ignoring aero which is increasingly significant at speed) - which is why almost any car with four good tires can pretty much pull the same braking and cornering (skid-pan) figures of around 1G. if you can find published 60mph-0 distances, you'll find they are usually around the 40 metre mark, almost regardless of the car model.

Sad lack of historical relevance

[Anonymous Coward]

The Powell steam engine and it's associated motor vehicle was far more advanced than the Stanley systems and also more powerful and reliable than the Packards, Duesenbergs, Auburns, etc. of it's day. Powell was devastated by the collapse of the economy in the late 20's and his patents and inventions remain locked away somewhere to this day.

Cars and Parts magazine ran a month's long series on this revolutionary inventor and his motor car in the early 70's.

It was, as I recall, a horizontally opposed, 4 cylinder engine, ran completely silent and exhaust-free, with none of the dire explosion risks the Stanley Bro's systems had.

Worth a read if you can locate the article series.

Untrue

[Savior_on_a_Stick]

In 1905, the British Admiralty announced all new ships of the line would be turbine driven.

Babcock & Wilcox built coal fired boilers through the 50's - most of these driving turbines.

By the time of the Stanley record, piston steam was on it's way out for capital ships

Now, some WWII naval ships used piston steam driven pumps for damage control, but it sounds like you're talking about main propulsion.

Re:All oficial times

[dwater]

> Coal-fired ships generated steam to drive a reciprocating piston engine

References?

Here's one to the contrary :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbinia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_turbine#Marine_propulsion

Also from that latter article:

"Steam turbine locomotives were also tested, but with limited success."

which, I think, is what you're talking about.

Re:All oficial times

[Alien Being]

Turbine versus reciprocating parts has to be a huge factor. A 1906 Stanley was ran like those old steam locomotives. This new one is arguably closer in design to a modern turboshaft.

Steam is simply a lost art in automobiles. What's old becomes new again, though. An old steam car saved energy as hot water. Insulation around the boiler facilitated that heat storage. I recently read that the latest Toyota Prius saves its heated engine coolant in a vacuum flask when you shut it off.

Re:Check that off the obscure trivia (what isn't?)

[aqk]

It was called the "Penny-Farthing" because of the ridiculous small wheel and the ridiculous large wheel. The big wheel had no gearing AFAIK, so you had to REALLY lay on the leg-muscles. Now.. lesseee.. I'm not a Brit so which was the "Penny"? I seem to remember UK pennies as bieng quite large and HEAVY! I remember being in London during the 1960s, and the only place that would take my damn pocketful of pennies (my pants were about to fall down) was a slot-machine arcade. Now, presumably all road bicycles are known as Euro-Euros.

Re:All oficial times

[doug141]

"If it was that easy, it would have been broken before now."

An economist and his son were talking a walk. "Look Dad," said the boy, "There's a $20 under that bench over there." The man looked down at the boy, "That's not possible son, passers-by would pick up any free money laying about."

Re:More details would be nice

[ragefan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas_law

Assuming that in a boiler, the volume of the boiler and amount of water in it is constant (i.e the amount of steam leaving is the same as the amount of water coming in), then the temperature and pressure are directly proportional.

Re:All oficial times

[osu-neko]

The US mile and the Imperial mile have always been identical in length. At one time there was a difference in how a nautical mile was defined between the US and UK, but that would not be relevant here.

Re:All oficial times

[evilviper]

If it was that easy, it would have been broken before now.

No. There are a vast number of things which are easy to do, but NOBODY cares enough to bother with... Steam-powered vehicles being one of them.

Even if some new million-dollar racket could guarantee you'd win every round of badminton, do you really think anybody would buy one? Even at the Olympic level... who cares?

It isn't steam powered at all

[Colin Smith]

The steam age never ended because it didn't exist. There was the wood age, the coal age, the current oil age and i'm guessing the next age will either be nuclear, or wood again, depending on how the coming resource wars go.

 

I guess the usual reason...

[wisdom_brewing]

... support of the porn industry

More pics here

[tubeguy]

http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/british_steam_car_plans_for_170_mph_at_bonneville.php

Re:All oficial times

[necro81]

There's been plenty of advancement in math since 1906. Advancements in math have driven advancements in technology, and vice versa. A lot of mathematical advancement it has been concentrated in this particularly worthless area called computer science. There's also game theory, which is intricately tied to economics. While not a mathematical theory per se, general relativity didn't come along until 1914, and was as much a breakthrough in applied mathematics as it was a way to describe gravitation. String theory falls into a similar category - it's required tremendous discoveries in mathematics as well as physical concepts. Modern cryptography is based on sophisticated number theory that didn't exist in 1906. Information theory, which is the basis for how we store and transmit data, didn't exist until Claude Shannon laid the groundwork in 1948.

Do I need to go on?

Besides, math isn't the only thing one needs in order to build a fast vehicle. You need pretty advanced materials and the ability to fabricate something useful from them, according to some design that can be planned out and captured along the way. I don't want to denigrate the abilities of designers and machinists of 1906, but today we have fantastically more sophisticated design and fabrication technologies available to us, and more advanced materials to apply them to.

Re:All oficial times

[commodore64_love]

Ah yes. A common myth about the "illiterate past" that is simply not true.

According to de Tocqueville who traveled the U.S. and documented what he saw, the literacy rate during Thomas Jefferson's term (circa 1804) was nearly 100%. Parents bought "readers" for their children and expected these kids to self-teach themselves how to read and write. They recognized that their new Republic would only work if the voters were educated enough to read the weekly newspapers.

By 1906 every state had mandatory education upto 9th grade, so "the chance" your average American knew 7th grade math was effectively 99.9%.