Bill & Rich:
Great stuff. I've never seen the drag coefficients of cars
mentioned. Rick, can you figure the drag coefficient from the
BHP required to attain a given MPH? If so, run this through you
calculator. I took this data from a graph in John Thornley's
book "Maintaining the Breed."
EX179: (MPH,
BHP) 73,12.1
80,13.3 90,15.5 100,25
MGA (MPH, BHP) 20,2.1 30,4.3 40,6.4 50,10
60,15.7 70,22.9 80,33.2 90,47.9 100,69.3
MG TF: (MPH, BHP) 20,2.9 30,5.0 40,7.9 50,13.6
60,22.2 70,32.9 80,50 84,60
Somewhere I read in a book in regards to the TD-TF that all the
horsepower in the world wouldn't let it get much past 100. The
phrase was "it in runs into a veritable brick wall."
And the higher gas mileage of US cars is necessary for the CAFE
laws. When a manufacture produces hundreds of thousands of cars
which get 8-10 mpg above average, it helps offset those pickups,
SUVs, etc. that don't.
Blake
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