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Thin Car Travels Far (235 Miles Per Gallon Vehicle, Can Travel Up To 70 MPH)
Popular Science ^

Posted on 08/06/2002 2:08:25 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat

To listen to automakers snipe about tightening fuel economy standards, you'd think it impossible to squeeze more miles from a barrel of Extract of Arabia. This, of course, is not the case, particularly if you design a vehicle expressly to drive far and drink little.

Forget power, space, and speed: Volkswagen AG's latest idea-on-wheels does not address the requirements of the average American family driver. What it can do is travel more than 100 kilometers on a single liter of fuel. Translation: 235 miles per gallon.

The car's designers combined highly tuned aerodynamics, exotic materials, and a 0.3-liter diesel engine to achieve 0.99 liters per 100 kilometers. The project, the brainchild of engineer Thomas Gänsicke, is an engineering exercise and therefore has rather whimsical features. Most noticeable are the car's canoe-like proportions: It's 4 feet wide and 11 feet long. Occupants sit tandem, the passenger straddling the driver's seat, both wedged under a 4-foot-long gullwing canopy.

Three video cameras eliminate the mileage-reducing wind drag of rearview mirrors. Wheels are faired in, side-cooling air inlets open only when necessary, and even the keylocks have been replaced by a proximity unlocking system. The resulting coefficient of drag is 0.159, compared with 0.30 or so for most production cars.

The slinky carbon-fiber bodywork covering the magnesium frame is just the beginning of the unobtainium-based technology used throughout. The front suspension is a combination of titanium, aluminum, magnesium, and ceramics and weighs less than 18 pounds. The single-cylinder four-stroke engine has monoblock construction—there's no separate cylinder head—and is all aluminum. Fuel is atomized directly into the cylinder at 28,000 psi. Two overhead camshafts operate the one exhaust and two inlet valves. The fuel pump is magnesium, the exhaust system titanium.

The engine produces a thundering 8.5 horsepower and weighs only 57 pounds. It conspires with a 6-speed gearbox—magnesium housing, hollow shafts, titanium bolts—to pinch miles from the diesel fuel. The transmission shifts electronically, killing the engine when an onboard computer foresees an inkling of fuel savings. A starter-generator, with energy stored in nickel-metal batteries, rekindles the engine as necessary.

Because the electric motor only restarts the engine, the 1-liter car is not a hybrid. Gänsicke explains that if fuel economy wasn't paramount, the motor could be used to increase horsepower and torque by 30 percent. "But that's not the effect we wanted." In fact, he's not terribly specific about performance, other than to say that top speed exceeds 70 mph and that it's "not very quick in accelerating."

It can, he promises, "swim with the usual traffic." Who better to emphasize that point than Ferdinand Piëch, chairman of VW? For the most recent board meeting in April, Piëch drove the 1-liter car from Wolfsburg to Hamburg, 110 miles, averaging 264 miles per gallon on the way. That works out to an ultra-miserly 0.89 liters per 100 kilometers.

Of course, "0.89-liter car" doesn't quite have the same ring.


SIZING UP THE SMALL FRIES
How VW's 1-liter machine stacks up against the shortest-wheelbase vehicle on American roads today, the Mazda Miata.

VW 1-Liter Car

Length: 143.7 in.
Width: 49.1 in.
Height: 43.7 in.
Weight: 588 pounds
Peak Power: 8.5 hp
Fuel Capacity: 1.7 gal.
Mileage: 235 mpg




Mazda Miata

Length: 155.3 in.
Width: 66.0 in.
Height: 48.4 in.
Weight: 2,387 pounds
Peak Power: 142 hp
Fuel Capacity: 12.7 gal.
Mileage: 29 mpg


TOPICS: Announcements; Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: autoshop; business; economy; energylist; oil; volkswagon
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To: LloydofDSS
There are some options to be had on a vette. Some are pretty fast, if equipped properly, but I agree with you that some of the older muscle cars are capable of really embarassing some of today's overpriced "super cars".

The fastest car I ever rode in (acceleration wise) was a mid sixties model chevy nova that had a de-stroked 400 small block, high rise dual quads, and a stick shift, and who knows what other goodies inside the motor. I guarantee you no american production car made in the last 25 years could come close to it in a drag race. I've driven a ZR-1 vette and I can tell you it would lose badly against that old nova I just described.
101 posted on 08/08/2002 6:46:31 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: Barnacle
Speaking of camouflage, do you know it is possible to camouflage something by putting bright lights on it? In otherwords, turning on your headlights can actually make you less visible.

The military did just this in WW2. THey found that when they were going on a strafing run, they made themselves a more difficult target if they had the sun behind them. THen, somone figured out that if they equipped their planes with lots and lots of really bright headlights and then turned on those lights when they were between the enemy and the sun, they became invisible.

So keep in mind that if the sun is at your back, people directly in front of you will be able to see you better if your headlights are OFF.
102 posted on 08/08/2002 6:54:28 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: timydnuc
An absolutely beautiful specimen. My guess is 1948 or'49 Cadillac, with a flat head V-8. Miles per gallon = "who cares"? Curb weight = a ton! How am I doin'

I believe it is a 1947; I had one just like it when I was 16, it was 9 years old and cost my dad $175.00.

Flathead V-8 with hydraulic lifters, 6 volt system and hydromatic transmission.

103 posted on 08/08/2002 7:34:03 PM PDT by Old Professer
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To: mamelukesabre
So keep in mind that if the sun is at your back, people directly in front of you will be able to see you better if your headlights are OFF.

Interesting story. But, in my experience, it doesn't apply to driving. Next time you drive toward the sun, take note of which oncoming cars you can see most easily. The cars without lights are mere shadows. The ones with lights are distinct.

104 posted on 08/08/2002 7:37:55 PM PDT by Barnacle
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To: Petronski
Oh, Man, that is the quote of the day!

105 posted on 08/08/2002 8:47:21 PM PDT by Rocketwolf68
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To: 2Trievers; HairOfTheDog; SkyPilot; Cagey
Just when you thought, you had seen it all .... and it is for sale.

STEAM Road Locomotive

.

106 posted on 08/09/2002 3:03:56 AM PDT by Inge_CAV
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To: backhoe
See #106! Seems like a good idea.

Pull into the gas station, get 50 gallons of diesel and 500 gallons of water......
107 posted on 08/09/2002 3:09:49 AM PDT by Inge_CAV
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To: snopercod
you bet snoper, I helped in putting a Lancair 235 together when I was a younger lad. Grunt work mostly, but my building skills improved dramatically. Had a ride/stick time in it, delicious Ailerons! Do you have one?
108 posted on 08/09/2002 4:07:58 AM PDT by taildragger
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To: RckyRaCoCo
RckyRaCoCo

go to www.eclipseaviation.com for the real story.

109 posted on 08/09/2002 4:09:12 AM PDT by taildragger
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To: Inge_CAV
LOL ... cool Cavster ... but aren't we missing something? The COWcatcher in front? haha &;-)
110 posted on 08/09/2002 4:20:21 AM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: Recovering_Democrat
The project, the brainchild of engineer Thomas Gänsicke ...


111 posted on 08/09/2002 4:29:27 AM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: 2Trievers
I would want a snow blower out front ... for slow Yugos. : )
112 posted on 08/09/2002 4:31:09 AM PDT by Inge_CAV
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To: Knuckle Sandwich Combo
"Occupants sit tandem, the passenger straddling the driver's seat, both wedged under a 4-foot-long gullwing canopy. "

Seems a bit crowded in that cockpit. &;-)


113 posted on 08/09/2002 4:35:16 AM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: martin_fierro
"...a 4-foot-long gullwing canopy."

Now THIS is a gullwing ... &;-)


114 posted on 08/09/2002 4:40:18 AM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: Inge_CAV
Great idea, but there is a water shortage here and water will soon exceed fuel prices the way it's going. I do like the idea of blasting that steam whistle in traffic!
115 posted on 08/09/2002 5:42:06 AM PDT by Cagey
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To: Physicist
No. It only seats two. At best, you can pick up chick with it.

Dunno, I mean, if she had a close friend, and they were both very petite...

116 posted on 08/09/2002 5:47:36 AM PDT by Chemist_Geek
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To: Cagey; 2Trievers
It is a great idea and now there are propane water heaters for instant hot water that could be used to reduce the waiting time for steam pressure to build up.

Wonder what a Porsche model would look like........... : )

117 posted on 08/09/2002 6:12:37 AM PDT by Inge_CAV
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To: Barnacle
I also feel the benefit of having your headlights on 24/7 as being iffy at best. There are certainly situations where it's beneficial (like a shadowed area around a curve) but in most situations, I wish they never existed. I find them to be distracting, and not in a good way.

As for the pic of the VW with its lights off, the "line" of cars you see in the background is headed up by a couple VW Eurovans, most likely accompanying the 1 liter car on its journey. Having the lights on for the picture probably would've reduced the detail you could see in that beautiful front end. I love this design experiment, though I'll admit A) I'm a German car fan and B) I own a Volkswagen.

Sean
118 posted on 08/09/2002 6:21:44 AM PDT by gugen
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To: Inge_CAV
New pics just released ... 450 horsies! Yeehah!!!!!!!!! 7,716 lbs. towing capacity. &;-)


119 posted on 08/09/2002 6:48:04 AM PDT by 2Trievers
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To: Barnacle
Not only is sodium flammable in air, it spontaneously ignites with air contact.

Really? I'm going to have to talk to my supplier then, 'cuz they aren't sending me sodium...

Any of the alkali and alkaline earth metals will react violently with water. For example, take a sliver of sodium or potassium and throw it into a bucket of water and it'll skitter across the surface, "melting" until its all in solution, shooting out flames and smoke.

What happens with the first column elements is that they have a single electron on the outermost side of the atom. They react with the water, splitting it into a hydroxide, sodium in this case, and hydrogen gas which is flammable. You can take water with a pH indicator, and dump some sodium into it, and see the indicator turn basic.

Fighting a light metal fire with water will not work due to the above mentioned reaction.

As far as Deltas go, I work with metal hydrides on a daily basis. Delta fires are Not A Big Deal, after fighting the first dozen or so...

120 posted on 08/09/2002 6:49:16 AM PDT by Chemist_Geek
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