A ball bounces. A pin drops. A man falls...

[Brother Laz]

Might be interesting reading...

http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~phrozenkeep/ubb/Forum19/HTML/000384.html

[Lance]

~
lifting a vehicle off the ground is very cool, but is of itself insufficient. most of the required energy is consumed in pushing it forward through the air. [unless you're in space or some other radically reduced gas pressure environment.]
holding a vehicle of the ground by using wheels requires no energy input. to lift it off by air pressure or an active anti-gravity device requires extra energy. only if the amount of energy required to do this is less than the amount required to overcome rolling resistance due to friction will there be any advantage in maximum speed or reduced energy use. a modest aerodynamic advantage is gained by eliminating the frontal area of the wheels.

the chief advantage for racing vehicles using antigravity is the elimination of control problems due to road surface irregularities. this is why the ultimate speed of aircraft is greater than that of wheeled vehicles. for wipEout speeds, you need anti-grav or wings!
^

[AmishRobot]

Forgive me for being an idiot, but is that legitimate?

[Lance]

!
A: James, you are not an idiot.

B: yes, i was serious. vehicles that contact the ground or other running surface have gone more than 600 miles per hour[969 KPH] but were only able to do so on extremely smooth surfaces. the best natural surface suitable for such speeds is at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where the official Land Speed Records have been made. rocket powered ''sleds'' running on specially constructed railway tracks have gone similar speeds. but normal paved surfaces, even the smoothest race tracks are not good enough. there is the additional problem of going around curves while remaining on the paved surface. possibly aerodynamic surfaces in the form of vertical wings could hold a racer on course at such extreme speeds in a curve, but tires can't. i haven't checked lately, but some years back the closed course [continuous circuit, not a straightline track] speed record was about 260 to 270 miles per hour. kinda puny compared to wipEout speeds!
^

[Brother Laz]

~
lifting a vehicle off the ground is very cool, but is of itself insufficient. most of the required energy is consumed in pushing it forward through the air. [unless you're in space or some other radically reduced gas pressure environment.]
holding a vehicle of the ground by using wheels requires no energy input. to lift it off by air pressure or an active anti-gravity device requires extra energy. only if the amount of energy required to do this is less than the amount required to overcome rolling resistance due to friction will there be any advantage in maximum speed or reduced energy use. a modest aerodynamic advantage is gained by eliminating the frontal area of the wheels.

the chief advantage for racing vehicles using antigravity is the elimination of control problems due to road surface irregularities. this is why the ultimate speed of aircraft is greater than that of wheeled vehicles. for wipEout speeds, you need anti-grav or wings!
^

Yeah, what's exactly the point of AG racing? Why not just race motorcycles?


:D

[AmishRobot]

Lance: Between this and other (http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=83) posts you've made, I'm getting the impression that you're a serious speed freak!

[Lance]

~
Brother Laz [may i call you Brother?], speed is the point of AG racing. the thrills, the chills, wheeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEE

sittin' on a sofa, slouchin' on a couch while going at the speed of sound, oh yeah!

James, i.. um... well, maybe. :)
for some reason, i have always been interested in cars, starting with toys, and when i was 11 i became interested in real ones. i discovered the existence of European and English sports cars when i was 15, and started following [in magazines] international sports car racing. maybe a year later. i attended a local sports car racing event, the first one held in my city as far as i know, where i saw 2 mercedes-benz 300SL gullwing coupes, a maserati 300S, a D-type LeMans body racing Jaguar with the large fin, a Porsche 550 Spyder [he beat all the other race cars in the two heats of the main event! really tight corners is why.] and there were maybe a hundred or so ordinary sports cars. i was totally hooked. when i was able to buy my first car, i got a 2-year-old Porsche 356B Cabriolet. i've been doomed to a love of cars, planes, trains, ships, and other engineering marvels since i started playing with toy versions of them. my main interest has been in engineering design, but speed? yes indeed.
^

[q_dmc12]

I know I'm digging up the past yet again, but [humor me] what was the original topic and/or direction of this thread??:?

[adelheid]

That link sends me to a page without content.

[Task]

That's because it's over five years old.
Try the link on the WayBackMachine or something.

The original topic appears to have been something to do with real physics and anti-gravity more than likely. It was a long time ago, but IIRC, the article was hardly interesting compared to the conversation it spawned.

So you could look it up, but I think you'd be disappointed. 8 )

[q_dmc12]

I'm dissapointed with most of the old threads:p