As promised here is another video that shows the car as it is passing the halfway mark and some behind the scenes footage. One thing to note is Ron pouring fuel into the car and how it looks almost like water it is so clear. Enjoy.
del.icio.us tags: environment biofuel e85 viper renewable
Technorati tags: environment biofuel e85 viper renewable
Nice car, but what kind of world record is it?
As far as I know the McLaren F1, the Koenigsegg and the Veyron have been recorded at speeds above 240mph.
Posted by: MrF | July 18, 2007 at 06:50 PM
If you consider the complete fuel cycle, E85 is roughly on par with gasoline, in its impact on the environment. Additionally, a car like this one will use massively more fuel ( a higher BSFC ) than if it were on gasoline. No friend of the environment at all. And using feedstock to fuel our vehicles has now been shown by economists to be increasing prices at the supermarket. Oops........
Posted by: Randall | July 19, 2007 at 04:30 AM
Those other records are top speed records meaning the car has as long as it needs to get to top speed. This record is top speed in a mile meaning from a stop to one mile how fast can the car go. This is a *much* better proxy for performance since you have to both get to a high speed and do it in a limited distance.
Posted by: Karl Jacob | July 19, 2007 at 09:48 AM
I am not sure where you are getting your data but it is incorrect. If you consider the modern complete fuel cycle E85 is much better than gasoline on its impact to the environment. It does not use "massively" more fuel than if it were on gasoline because it is higher octane. In fact the Indy cars that run on ethanol get better gas mileage than their gasoline counterparts. Many factors figure into prices at the supermarket and using cellulosic ethanol would be a neglible impact.
Posted by: Karl Jacob | July 19, 2007 at 09:51 AM
I read about this in the local paper (Iosco County News-Herald) and then found out more on the web. I live in Ann Arbor now but grew up in East Tawas not too far from Wurtsmith AFB and when I was a kid (during the 60s) remember watching the B-52s as they left or arrived at the base. Anyway, congratulations and it was good to see that you were able to accomplish this in Oscoda.
Posted by: paul | July 21, 2007 at 06:50 PM
Please check out information on AHL-TECH's ethanol-electric hybrid locomotive project. I believe some of your project's technology development could complement our project and vice-versa. I would like to make sure Karl Jacob is aware of our project and would really like to talk with Karl or someone on the Viper design team regarding the Viper engine development, fuel consumption, etc. Please note some of the well-known consortium partners we are working with - they are listed on our web page.
Tom Mack
President/CEO
AHL-TECH
Posted by: Tom Mack | August 08, 2007 at 05:06 AM