Posted on 07/17/2008 4:54:18 PM PDT by Reaganesque
The switch from gasoline to something else will come. It may even happen during the next 10 years like Al Gore wants. But it will only happen as a result of free market forces and not through government mandates. Long live the free market!
I wonder where the carbon in the carbon fiber comes from?
My suspicion is that safety regs will keep yt from becoming a four wheeler. Hence, you will not see a Chevy Suburban , etc with this approach. I wish them well, though.
The carbon fiber fairy? ;-)
Sounds like BS to me. Another small company making claims about supposed breakthroughs in order to fleece investors.
A plastic thread is passed through a special atmosphere carbonizing furnace at just the right temperature. Not cheap in 1980. Maybe cheaper now.
It would not matter to me, having seen carbon composite bicycle frames collapse in races at 1 Peak HP, if that, at a total gross weight of the rider + a few pounds.
There are videos of these events on the Web.
Metal can crumple, and as it does so, it absorbs energy. When composites fail it is catastrophic. One may as well hit the pavement nude. And was there not an issue of some aircraft's composite control surfaces deciding to suddenly leave a while ago?
No thanks. Plywood might be safer.
Looks like four wheels to me.
I think 100mpg from a 500cc engine is an unrealistic claim; 60-70mpg would be more likely. My bike has a 125cc four-stroke and it gets 100mpg because it only weighs 240lb.
Carbon fibre banana, is gonna be a sudden craze...
Don’t drive it across a bridge in high winds.
I was going to say that. My 2300 pound Yaris is buffeted by 20 mph wind. I haven’t driven it when we’ve had 40 to 45 mph winds yet.
You can make a car composed of turkey feathers that I’m sure would be nice and light, but who would be fool enough to entrust their family’s safety to such a contraption? Why not just bring back the Corvair or Pinto?
Buick Century...My second one...The 13 year old one was looking shabby!!
I had three corvairs and I loved all three ... well .. the last two anyway.
The monza’s were fun to dirve and both ofthem had a unique heating sustem .. a gasoline fired space heater. 35 beliw zero .. walk out turn the key and turn the heater on .. toasty almost immediately.
And quite frankly .. I wish I had them back .. anything to get that goofy ralphie nader’s panties in a wad .. is alright with me. nader and gore .. neither are safe at any speed.
My suspicion is that safety regs will keep yt from becoming a four wheeler.
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That was my first thought ,,, a 3 wheeler is a motorcycle and doesn’t have to pass a crash test...
Yeah. Uh-huh. Just like industry was going to produce new Light Sport Aircraft for $ 20,000 - $ 30,000 using composites, alloys, and new technology. Only, these aircraft finally arrived at a cost of $90,000 - $ 160,000 a copy. And still burn 5-8 gallons per hour at $ 6.10/gallon LL100.
There’s an opening out there for somebody to become the Andrew Carnegie of carbon fibre.
And yet Formula 1 and Indy Cars are made out of carbon fiber and allow the driver to survive a 200 mph crash into a concrete wall.
I think it's all in the design. My worry is that a carbon fiber car won't be repairable. One crash and your car is totaled.
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