Steam-powered vehicle looks to scald world record
By Darren Murph 
posted April 8th 2009 6:16PM
posted April 8th 2009 6:16PM
[Thanks, Robert]
posted April 8th 2009 6:16PM
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i bet it would be faster without the superfluous wings and fins.
Maybe, but I think those are for stability.
yeah i was gonna say. that looks like a lot of added weight.
yeah its an actual race car not a honda
You might be right, depending on how fast this thing goes, at approx. 130mph (previous record) aerodynamics aren't going to be effected THAT much.
Yeah. You Engadget commenting rocket scientists are probably right. I'm sure they just threw those wings on there for fun. The did no R&D or anything. I'm sure it was a bunch of Brits at the local pub who said, "Fuck it. Let's build a bloody steam powered rocket mate!"
That's one fancy-looking and probably expensive teapot.
I bet it would go faster with some go-faster stripes
Or flame decals. Those always make the cars go faster. They'd probably help with steam generation too.
In all seriousness, I'd say the fins are there for a good reason. I am not an aerodynamics expert, nor a vehicle engineer, but I'm sure the aerodynamics experts and vehicle engineers that made this car are well aware of all the tolerances, drag coefficients and other variables that AFFECT the speed. After all, there's a world record at stake.
choo-choo!
Yeah, well I did 125 in a honda del sol with only a little spoiler on the back, and I'm still stable. Those aerodynamic treatments are overkill for the speeds involved. Makes for interesting pics I guess. This is all about marketing anyway.
@auricom: Damn you. Now I have the image of two unicorns sitting in a shoe stuck in my head..."Chugga chugga chugga, chugga chugga chugga, Choo Shoe!"
@joe blow: It may be OK to do those kinds of speeds in a car with only a little spoiler, but in order to get that thing light enough to do those kinds of speeds running on steam it probably requires far more stabilisation. Heck, some steam powered trains can go 120mph+ but they have tracks to keep them stable, and are also extremelly heavy. The point of this is to find the sweet spot between power, weight and aerodynamics, and this is what they have come up with.
try reading the article guys, somebody did 127 MPH in 1906 and technology has advanced a lot since then.
my guess would be they are going for 200 MPH or something like that. so they need fancy spoilers
Earl Grey. Hot.
Hold the milk. Go wild with the lemon.
Heh. I was actually expecting someone to mention the Mojave thing.
Was that a trek reference...oh damnit now I have the picard song stuck in my head as well as two unicorns and a giant shoe (see above)
i have nothing to say about the car, i just wanted to compliment you on your awesome avatar. frog blast the vent core!
Why?
Because there is a record of 127.659MPH.
all you people keep asking "why" when in reality the correct question is "why not?"
Before anyone gets all patriotic (err, Queensriotic?) on the UK's high horse, check the bio:
"Charles was born in the United Kingdom. He had the advantage of having a Canadian mother and an American father. As a triple-national, he inherited a love for travel and all things mechanical from his father, who raced hydroplanes and restored Hudson automobiles.
Charles spent much time growing up near the sound of offshore powerboats racing in Fort Lauderdale.
After completing three years at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and one year at the University of Richmond in Virginia, he competed in drag car and drag boat racing."
This guy's about as British as the Fish n Chips at Denny's. U-S-A, U-S-A!
I will concede, however, that the Engineers are mostly British. And have lousy teeth to boot.
Its okay. Americans are too stupid to invent anything.
One word. Lotus.
It makes me laugh how Americans always use Britons teeth as a slur! What is the point in spending thousands of dollars on unnaturally white and perfectly positioned teeth in mouths that are generally crammed with junk food? I prefer my "bad" teeth over hulking sweating wobblebottoms!
1 word and 3 letters: Thrust SSC
You should be more concerned with the quality of what comes out your mouth than its appearance.
Besides, these fake ultra-White teeth are just happy side-effects fro
industrial chemicals, sold to idiot consumers all across the globe, including the UK.
Well who is on the patriotic high horse now bandigolo? :P
You are both idiots:
Oooh! British have bad teeth- That's original (and not true, I've met many Brits with teeth that did not repulse me)
Oooh! Americans are stupid and fat- That's not a stereotype at all. Yes, there are fat Americans. And skinny ones, and average ones, and muscular one. Yes there are stupid Americans, just like there are stupid Canadians, French, Japanese, Nepalese, Mozambicans, Peruvians, Pakistanis, and anyone else. No nation has a monopoly on stupidity. There are also many very intelligent Americans, just like there are intelligent Britons (just not you apparently.
Both of you grow up and try to form your own opinions about people, not some ridiculous stereotype. Of course, you would have to leave the basement to meet either a Briton or an American...
What's the alternative power here?
this vehicle need to heat up the water using burners, right?
what 's the burners energy come from?
Gasoline?
magma.
Dead kittens,
It runs strictly off of Red Bull. That's why it has those silly wings on the side.
love......
Illegal immigrants
The infinite power of christ...oh wait, no, thats not right
now a steam powered small nuklear reactor would be fun ...
good god man, your almost as bad as bush
For the historians in the crowd, 126MPH is the FIA world record, but Bob Barber reached 145mhp in 1985 (though not run two ways through the same speed trap- ironically, neither did the Stanley Steamer since that wasn't required in 1906)
Did Bob Barker do that before or after Price is Right?
The Stanly Brothers biography was one of my favorite books.... They did some amazing things with steam
"The turbine shaft drives the car at a speed the designers hope will exceed 170mph. "
130 is a bit off... Adjust your radar gun.
Bet you it won't work on a Mac. Fuckin Gabe Newell...
Why do they do it? Why not? USA-ers have resorted to rocket engines to claim the fastest, why not this?
@Shattered Ice....Americans haven't invented anything? Gee, bucko, our problem is not inventing things, but producing them cheaply. We invented most of the good stuff being manufactured elsewhere, including the franlink stove, lightbulb, transistor, IC circuits, modern PC, and the memory foam bed.
Until Dogfish head beer, we had crappy beer here, but you brits drink Stella Artois instead of Brit beer (I like Stella, too actually) In anycase, Yeah! GB!!!! I don't see any steam powered high speed Renaults!!!!!
"lightbulb, transistor, IC circuits, modern PC"
Lightbulb; no, that was a scotsman.
Transistor; independently by a Canadian and a German
Integrated Circuit; a british radar engineer
Define 'modern PC' - the idea of computing is older than the USA, therefore cannot possibly have been invented there but the US totally nailed the "lets make 'em small and sell loads" step.
Also, did you mean "Franklin"? It seems that not even wikipedia's heard of a "franlink stove"...
@randombloke
You are partially right in your correction. But, Edison did invent the first commercially viable incandescent light bulb, even if it was a device to which many contributed development.
The transistor was invented by a team at Bell labs
http://www.physlink.com/education/AskExperts/ae414.cfm
All Americans
Were Kilby and Noyce Canadian and German? http://inventors.about.com/od/istartinventions/a/intergrated_circuit.htm
Well, they invented the IC. Ooops! Kilby and Noyce were from Iowa and Texas.
Yes, Germans and Brits and many other people have produced great inventions. I am not saying that only Americans invent things. I am just addressing that fellow who claimed Americans invented nothing, and correcting you, who was right on the inventor of the lightbulb, but was wrong on transistors, and ICs.
I love seeing the out of place comments made by computer geeks trying to get all mechanical. You may not need wings on your civic hybrids and mopeds, but surely for something of this magnitude you need out-of-the-ordinary devices that you don't see every day. After all this isn't something you would see going down your local freeway....
Hilarious title!