Remember the Thrust SSC from 1997? Broke the sound barrier on 4 wheels?

The same guys are now designing the Bloodhound SSC, which could theoretically shatter the old record and make its way over 1000 (one thousand) miles per hour on land. If you are in the least bit interested in physics or engineering check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t8yw...record-car.htm

 

Cool. They ought to call it..."1000mph land speed engineering endeavor" instead of "car".

 

Awesome tech

 

Pretty amazing that every single square inch of the car has undergone some physics resistance equations to give it the maximum possible aerodynamic capability and strength. This will lead to significant changes in the way vehicles are designed in the coming years if successful.

 

Most of the engineering problems will be more related to aeronautical engineering than automotive engineering... with the exception of the wheel/tire and suspension loads.

As far as the body itself, there are planes that can achieve those speeds already so the loads are not that outlandish...

However designing a wheel and tire that will not desintegrate itself at those speeds, and a suspension that can maintain control even if it hits a bump at those speeds will take some serious advances in materials.

Currently the Buggati Veryon can only maintain it's max speed for less than 5 minutes before the tires overheat and desintegrate... fortunately at 200+ MPH the gas tank of the car is depleted within 3 minutes, and you have to stop to refuell . (talking constant top speedshere... according to "Top Gear")

 

Great point WDR.

the aeronautical engineering issues were talking about will definitely have an impact on cars as well as we have recently found that fuel economy can make or break a manufacturer these days. The big 3 stopped selling SUVs by the truckload when fuel prices increased. Aerodynamics is a huge part of the ability of a car to reach it's top speed (and it's drag coefficient at typical high way speeds).

There are 3 ways a car can reach top speed: gear-limit, redline limit, and drag-limit. Long story short, gear-limited cars are capable of a higher speed with a higher gear ratio, redline limited cars need more horsepower to get to the higher speed the body of the car is capable of reaching, and drag limited cars need better coefficient design to get the higher speed. All of the physics of the car goes into effect, that's why it's so amazing that this particular car is capable of going to the extreme and maximizing all three. The greatest challenge of any supersonic car faces is when it's passes through the transonic barrier, when different pressures are being applied to different points of the car (which invariably produces both lift and drag).

From what it seems, as far as the tires and wheel load are concerned, they certainly won't be riding on rubber. On the Thrust, they are bare discs with forged magnesium

Interesting side note:The thing about the Veyron, as much as I hate to admit it since I don't particularly love the car, is that it is actually governed to its 253 MPH top speed because that was the highest speed the tires were rated at. Theoretically, some believe the car could be capable of 275 with better gearing.