Diesel-powered "car" edges on half the speed of sound
By Conrad Quilty-Harper 
posted Aug 23rd 2006 4:02PM
posted Aug 23rd 2006 4:02PM
[Via The Register]
posted Aug 23rd 2006 4:02PM
Estimated time drivers save by using real-time GPS traffic updates
Drivers that use GPS systems with real-time traffic info spend 18% less time behind the wheel than those who do not.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Um... I don't think the "Spinal Tap" reference applies here. While 10 is a long accepted standard as a value for maximum (base 10 anyone?) volume there are plenty of cars with 4, 5 or even 6 gears (not to mention F1 cars or semi-trucks).
oops....it appears Denis left for work this morning and forgot to grabhis sense of humor. thanks denis, for explaining why the joke wasn'tfunny to you and then giving us a series of painfully obvious facts...I think all he was trying to say was that they haven't "cranked the volume all the way" on the car yet.
why is car in quotes? Also, what's the non-diesel landspeed record>
bet it could go faster if they leave the flag at the start ;)
With this news and the Audi R10TDI dominating LeMans racing, the diesel finally is beginning to look like more than just a truck engine.
http://www.audi.com/audi/com/en1/experience/motorsport/Audi_R10_TDI.html
make it a bio-diesel conversion, run it off used french fry oil, and then i'll be impressed
hahaha I got the volume to 11 reference... not quite so much the Spinal Tap part. thats sweet at shit, i've always wanted to drive fast as all hell, but sadly :( My Silverado 3500 isn't takin me there anytime soon
But... always go to 11.
Non-diesel landspeed record is 763 mph which is supersonic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_speed_record
TomTheGeek: I believe that "whoa" was more interested in a gasoline engine powered record. Its kind of hard to compare apples to apples with these records. Comparing a piston engine (on diesel) to a turbojet (on kerosene) isn't even close though.
Tom, jet and rocket powered "cars" are a very different animal from cars that rely on traction to accelerate. I'd be willing to wager that wheel-driven car won't get close to transonic speeds.
Denis, I don't think you understand. 11 is one louder.
I thought I'd add that in the UK JCB are known mostly for their diggers!
Wouldn't "acceleration level" or "speed potential" work better than "volume" in this discussion?
Great to see that americans can once again be patronising as hell. Since when was the British construction industry limited to a tractor ... JCB are known for their diggers etc. like Craig said, but I don' think they make tractors.
w00t!!1!1!one!!1! spinal tap is teh hax0rs!1!1!!!1one!!!1!
That is SERIOUSLY (I used capslock on that, do I go to hell for that?) a pretty good movie I guess. The 11 joke was the best one in the whole "rockumentary".
Half the speed of sound! You mean like existing French railways, tested at 277mph, using electricity?
Yes Ben, except there are a couple of differences between a car and a train:
1. It's not a train, you dumbass.
2. GOTO 1
"Great to see that americans can once again be patronising as hell. Since when was the British construction industry limited to a tractor ... JCB are known for their diggers etc. like Craig said, but I don' think they make tractors."
umm... dude, chill out already... us 'Americans' call all construction and large farm equipment 'tractors'.
Get over it.
"Salt Lake City street racing venue on the Bonneville Salt Flats"
Ummm...Yeah... the Salt Flats are about 125 miles west of Salt Lake, about a 2 hour drive.
Andrew, yes, it is a car, not a train. But since 92% of the world doesn't have cars, and that the fastest speed limits in the world for cars are something like 120mph, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's never going to serve a transportation need.
JCB did more than just sponsor this - it uses standard JCB 'tractor' engines (without much modification, just two turbochargers per engine) and standard diesel fuel of the sort you could buy at any forecourt (in Europe ;-)
The aim was to show how good their standard engines really are, as well as how good British engineering still is!
The SSC that went 700+ mph used jet engines, so really not a fair comparison to this...
"umm... dude, chill out already... us 'Americans' call all construction and large farm equipment 'tractors'"
umm... dude, its, so, like, just, like in the UK where we call all cars 'skateboards', all trains 'pencils' and all planes 'seagulls'. Like....TOTALLY.
I haven't yet seen a JCB tractor (although they may manufacture them) where as i have seen hundreds of diggers. I'm not being pedantic but a digger is simply not a tractor.
Lets face it, its a tractor with some earth moving jiggery pokery on the front. And the clostest the y make to an official tractor (why am I even bothering saying this?) is a fastrack.. as far as i know. And i used to live next to the testing arena at the HQ.
Alright dudes, that's enough! FYI I live in England, and when I see a yellow farm vehicle on the road with a massive tailback, I happen to call it a tractor. You all know what a tractor is, and you all know a digger is, so lets just all get along, mmkay?
P.S. I look awesome driving a tractor.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77701729@N00/222872311/
A few of you seem to be missing the point. It's a diesel 'car' and it goes half the speed of sound. How fast do diesels usually go?
No, you will not be driving this to work, but this and the Audi demonstrate what is possible with diesel. The technology will filter down to everyday vehicles to make cars that perform as well as petrol ones but are more efficient. That is a Good Thing.
But I bet it's still filthy as muck when changing gear.
Nick
PS Love the spinal tap reference, that's exactly what came to mind when I read the bit about 6th gear...
PPS Car is in quotes because... well look at it :P
http://www.jcb.com/(m2acuuza1qfspbavtxqtc155)/products/productdetail.aspx?pid=640&rid=8
thats a tractor allright.
they do some nifty shoes too.
Let me know when they get a TRACTOR to go that fast. Wake me up, I'll be over there(pointing to my wheat field). It does go to 11, Puppet Show/Spinal Tap. Nigel says high(HI).
Er, Diesels already can perform as well as petrol in every-day cars...well maybe not as good as the real top flight supercars but in the UK at least for a lot of cars (usually supermini to medium family sized) the highest performance model in a range is a diesel engined one.
The performance benefits already have made it to the mainstream, and we already are benefiting from them...in Europe we are anyway.
Matt, fo' sure. Nowadays in the UK I believe that 50% of all new cars are diesel. My Dad's got a 2002 model 5-Series BMW (2.5l turbodiesel) that's an absolute blast to drive. When you're on the motorway and need to accelerate, you don't have to shift down like a petrol - diesels have tonnes of torque.
The land speed record for an internal combustion engine is 407.222MPH:
"November 13, 1965 Bob Summers USA Goldenrod Internal Combustion Engine
(I. C. E) Bonneville Salt Flats 409.277"
I'm assuming that's a gasoline engine, since it was achieved in 1965.
Doh... I meant .277, not .222... lol