Self driving cars will get their drivers killed

[Fuddyduddy1952]

No it doesn't take a juiced up ice to beat a plaid...a 390 cu.in. naturally aspirated Rambler will do it. Herman (rip) would dust it 10 years ago. SS/A, had to be street legal (install wipers & DOT slicks), and for a WHOLE lot less than $120K. A LOT less.

 

[dodge man]

I agree, while Tesla Plaid is very quick, I’ve seen some pretty low dollar cars that would put one to shame. Granted they are more race car than street cars but whatever. The Tesla guy sounds like a typical excuse maker. I didn’t know it was a pro tree, I didn’t have a full charge, he had a tailwind and I had a headwind etc. As often is the case it comes down to the driver if the cars are fairly even. I’ve done some drag racing, mostly 1/8 mile, you just have to understand that they and in this case the track announcer also, aren’t going to be receptive to an electric car.

 

[MossRoad]

A more realistic race...

 

[Fixastuff]

Am I seeing that first video correctly the Tesla did a sub 10 second quarter mile?

Anyone who doesn't think that is fast for a stock, comfortable vehicle is crazy. (It's faster that many peoples dedicated street legal drag cars!)

 

[MossRoad]

Am I seeing that first video correctly the Tesla did a sub 10 second quarter mile?

Anyone who doesn't think that is fast for a stock, comfortable vehicle is crazy. (It's faster that many peoples dedicated street legal drag cars!)

I didn't see it do sub 10. I saw the one in the video I posted do sub 11. THAT is fast for a stock street car. Anything under 13 is FAST for a stock street car.

I have a 1977 Yamaha RD400 that would turn 11:92 (when I weighed 150# ) and that was fast on the street.

Most FAST muscle cars that old folks are familiar with would barely turn 13s in the 60's and early 70s in stock form.

There is no doubt about it, an upper model Tesla fully stock will whoop the crap out of most other stock cars in a 1/4 mile race. I still don't like them. But that's a fact.

 

[lman]

Yes, you can use these things called turn signal and steering wheel, that what i used anyway. My sister says when she passes someone, she can put her turn signal on and it will wait till the lane clears and move you over, if i understood her correctly.

That must be a little too much effort for some as it seems they stay in the wrong lane. Maybe they're taking a nap.

 

[turbo36]

So it takes a supercharged and juiced redeye to beat a plaid? I wouldn't say he got destroyed, either. Redeye got him off the line, but as said in the video, the plaid wasn't ready or used to the light. But if you look at the video, plaid looks to be either maintaining or closing the distance. I think if the start's were the same, it would have been much closer.

You have to remember that with EV's, there's no torque curve, it's all of it, all the time, period. And I would wager that the redeye will not last as long, especially doing runs on the strip. There's about a billion moving parts on it. On the plaid, there are 4, one motor for each wheel. The redeye must run race fuel, has to purge nitrus tanks and refill, oil changes, coolant changes, all that fun ****. The plaid you just need to plug it in. They are amazingly simple in terms of maintenance.

Mechanically, EV's are superior, there's no doubt. The battery tech is questionable. But there's already an EV thread. This is focusing on the autodriver aspect.

Yes, you can turn up the power on an EV to give spectacular quarter-mile performance, however, they are not designed to dissipate heat so it only takes a few quarter-mile runs before they overheat and have to go into limp home or reduced power mode. That’s why they don’t do very well on a road race course. Also, the super high power draws that are necessary to enable this high end performance is very hard on the batteries and shortens their life significantly.

 

[fatjay]

I agree, while Tesla Plaid is very quick, I’ve seen some pretty low dollar cars that would put one to shame. Granted they are more race car than street cars but whatever. The Tesla guy sounds like a typical excuse maker. I didn’t know it was a pro tree, I didn’t have a full charge, he had a tailwind and I had a headwind etc. As often is the case it comes down to the driver if the cars are fairly even. I’ve done some drag racing, mostly 1/8 mile, you just have to understand that they and in this case the track announcer also, aren’t going to be receptive to an electric car.

I don't know if they put one to shame, vs beat them by a very small amount. And they are probably not comfortable at all, and terrible to drive around town, where the plaid is comfortable and pleasant to drive in general.

 

[fatjay]

Yes, you can turn up the power on an EV to give spectacular quarter-mile performance, however, they are not designed to dissipate heat so it only takes a few quarter-mile runs before they overheat and have to go into limp home or reduced power mode. That’s why they don’t do very well on a road race course. Also, the super high power draws that are necessary to enable this high end performance is very hard on the batteries and shortens their life significantly.

An EV that isn't powered by batteries doesn't have this issue, not all EV's are battery based. You could use a gas or diesel engine to power a generator to power the wheel motors, like the fisker karma.

 

[turbo36]

An EV that isn't powered by batteries doesn't have this issue, not all EV's are battery based. You could use a gas or diesel engine to power a generator to power the wheel motors, like the fisker karma.

What is the point of that type of EV? It’s still burns hydrocarbons.