Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier • Hacker News Board

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#31

Post by beambot » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:32 AM UTC

tialaramex wrote: post #13

It's futile to actually have road-legal cars that go this fast because you can't do very much useful with the speed. This is much too fast for the human operator (driver) to safely react to things outside the cockpit, which is why for example Britain owns trains capable of 140mph in service but deliberately limits them to 125mph. Tests suggested drivers couldn't be relied on to reliably observe and react to a linesid…

> The "obvious" upgrade ...

What's stopping the trains from operating autonomously?

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#32

Post by mosselman » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:34 AM UTC

axilmar wrote: post #28

It's too bad that the state of roads in most countries is aweful and can't support anything approaching high speeds, let alone this insane 490 km/h.

Yes it is such a shame that the roads are such that when I am on the road with my family some crazy daredevil can't drive 490km/h near us.

The roads are for getting from A to B, not racing. If you want to go 490km/h, go to a race track.

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#33

Post by Svip » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:34 AM UTC

beambot wrote: post #31

tialaramex wrote: post #13

It's futile to actually have road-legal cars that go this fast because you can't do very much useful with the speed. This is much too fast for the human operator (driver) to safely react to things outside the cockpit, which is why for example Britain owns trains capable of 140mph in service but deliberately limits them to 125mph. Tests suggested drivers couldn't be relied on to reliably observe and react to a linesid…

> The "obvious" upgrade ... What's stopping the trains from operating autonomously?

Drivers are still a lot better at spotting pedestrians on tracks than autonomous systems. Autonomous train systems already exists, but those are completely enclosed systems, like a city metro system. Not a system where speeds reach 200 km/h, or even 100 km/h.

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#34

Post by tudorw » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:35 AM UTC

axilmar wrote: post #28

It's too bad that the state of roads in most countries is aweful and can't support anything approaching high speeds, let alone this insane 490 km/h.

I met a guy who owned a Lambo, before he drove anywhere he'd walk the route to check there was nothing to snag on!

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#35

Post by clouddrover » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:36 AM UTC

tialaramex wrote: post #13

It's futile to actually have road-legal cars that go this fast because you can't do very much useful with the speed. This is much too fast for the human operator (driver) to safely react to things outside the cockpit, which is why for example Britain owns trains capable of 140mph in service but deliberately limits them to 125mph. Tests suggested drivers couldn't be relied on to reliably observe and react to a linesid…

> It's futile to actually have road-legal cars that go this fast

Bugattis are high-end collector's cars. The average Bugatti owner owns 84 cars, 3 jets, and a yacht:

https://jalopnik.com/the-average-bugatti-owner-has-three-jet...

You buy a Bugatti simply so you can say you have one.

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#36

Post by tener » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:38 AM UTC

Once again the IC cars manufacturers underperform. This is non-production car and very late to the party. Meanwhile Tesla Roadster, an EV car, is doing cool 4513 mph - or 15 times faster, with insane fuel economy of ~0.03 l/100km.

Source: https://www.whereisroadster.com/

Joking aside, a really nice car I wouldn't mind owning!

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#37

Post by mrweasel » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:38 AM UTC

ollie87 wrote: post #21

tialaramex wrote: post #13

It's futile to actually have road-legal cars that go this fast because you can't do very much useful with the speed. This is much too fast for the human operator (driver) to safely react to things outside the cockpit, which is why for example Britain owns trains capable of 140mph in service but deliberately limits them to 125mph. Tests suggested drivers couldn't be relied on to reliably observe and react to a linesid…

Mmmmhmmm, don't really see it as an issue here given that not many folks are going to be buying a £2.5m hypercar to drive at three times the speedlimit to work on a Monday morning.

True, but that just makes the whole exercise even more pointless.

There's really no point in building a car that can go above 150km/h, but perhaps some of the aerodynamics can translate into more fuel efficient car.

I'm also slightly annoyed by the usage of the word "barrier". There's physical or perceived 300mph barrier. People have built cars that will go a super sonic speeds, so there was never any doubt that it would be possible. Admittedly it is a little funny that the Bugatti is faster than a Formula 1 car.

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#38

Post by parsimo2010 » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:38 AM UTC

tialaramex wrote: post #13

It's futile to actually have road-legal cars that go this fast because you can't do very much useful with the speed. This is much too fast for the human operator (driver) to safely react to things outside the cockpit, which is why for example Britain owns trains capable of 140mph in service but deliberately limits them to 125mph. Tests suggested drivers couldn't be relied on to reliably observe and react to a linesid…

Pretty much all modern cars will go faster than is useful and/or safe. Only a small set of public roads allow cars to go their top speed. I have a 1991 Corvette that will go 153 mph, and I've only done it twice. It scares the crap out of me. Top speed is a cool thing to boast about, but most people won't ever see it, and a few stupid people will hurt themselves with it. That's okay on the balance, because millionaires are spending their money and supporting the economy. Buying one of these cars probably funds an engineer's salary and likely a few others supplying materials to Bugatti.

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#39

Post by edejong » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:42 AM UTC

jlg23 wrote: post #26

tialaramex wrote: post #13

It's futile to actually have road-legal cars that go this fast because you can't do very much useful with the speed. This is much too fast for the human operator (driver) to safely react to things outside the cockpit, which is why for example Britain owns trains capable of 140mph in service but deliberately limits them to 125mph. Tests suggested drivers couldn't be relied on to reliably observe and react to a linesid…

> It's futile .... But it is fun .

This got me thinking. Once I thought it was fun, but the more I look at it, the more I feel it is utterly pointless.

A racing car has a function: to get around a track faster than other cars (over a period of laps). To do this, it needs to be versatile: turning, braking, acceleration, fuel consumption, range of vision and suspension (among others) play a role. That's the true engineering challenge. It's why it has wheels, not wings. But to simply go fast, seems a bit pointless to me.

Re: Bugatti has broken the 300mph barrier

#40

Post by mrweasel » Mon, Sep 02, 2019, 8:44 AM UTC

tudorw wrote: post #34

axilmar wrote: post #28

It's too bad that the state of roads in most countries is aweful and can't support anything approaching high speeds, let alone this insane 490 km/h.

I met a guy who owned a Lambo, before he drove anywhere he'd walk the route to check there was nothing to snag on!

My old boss had his Ferrari fitted with winter tires to drive it year round in Denmark. His logic: Why should I only be able to drive the car I love driving 5 month a year. (That answer is related to the heater, or lack there of, in a Ferrari. It is apparently really cold driving it in January)

I like that approach a lot more. What the point of having an awesome car, if you're afraid to drive it.