[ExI] Energy hints

[Dave Sill]

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 10:27 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
>
> No not at all.  In some ways we may see a generation which will look
> backward to a time when transportation was better in an important way than
> it is for them, but in a sense we already do that now.  Production cars from
> 40 years ago are generally faster than modern cars, if measured by quarter
> mile times at the dragstrip.

1970 Corvette
3425 lbs
300-460 HP
390 HP quarter mile: 15.0 s

2010 Corvette
3217 lbs
430-650 HP
430 HP quarter mile: 12.2 s

> Modern cars are actually better in so many
> ways, more comfortable, more reliable, cheaper to run etc, but not faster.

Not completely true: modern cars handle *much* better than classics
due to improved suspensions and better, lower-profile tires.

> Do go hang out at the local dragstrip to see what I mean.

You're seeing heavily modified, non-roadworthy, dedicated race cars.
Of course most these are older because most people can't afford to gut
a late model car and make a dragster out of it.

> There are likely plenty of people on this list who remember grandpa's V8
> that would go like a bat outta hell.  In my case, he had a '65 Chevy Malabu:
> lotsa power, light, faster than stink, fun to drive.

I had a big block '69 Plymouth that was like that, but it doesn't hold
a candle to my current car, a 4-cyl turbo sedan that could easily out
accelerate and outhandle it--as well as '69 Ferrari.

-Dave