RE: Home-Grown Electric Beetle Beats Tesla

[Martin_Hx]

Its just boring without earth shattering loud NOISE !

I want...

[jamespink]

I am just blown away with this car, really great job. This is hero stuff!

[Kazlet]

Its impressive for FLT technology, I just cant see there is much point in it.

[Draexin]

Pretty impressive, I must say, but awfully boring to watch.
It lacks so much of the drama and theatre involved in drag racing like sceaming engines and the smell of petrol.

Nah, not my cup of tea...

[MattjK]

gifdy said:

carscribes said:

gifdy said:

Mannginger said:

Purpose built drag-car beats "production" car in drag race shocker.

Exactly. Quiet news day ?

Alternatively, "British blokes in shed beat Americans backed by zillions of dollars" shocker.

That's not really the point is it ? Looks like a great project and no doubt took a lot of effort to put together but the tone of the reporting ( 'wiping the floor etc' . ) is a bit ....well, tabloid. Deliberately missing the point to create a headline. If these guys could build a commercial vehicle with this performance then that would be news.

Actually I think YOU've missed the point. This Beetle isn't built for commercial use just like Pistonheads isn't designed solely to feature commercially-sold vehicles. The Tesla isn't even a commercially viable var yet, is it? Not at that price, it isn't, anyway. The headline is well-deserved because the story is all about a bit of what makes the British so great: that a Brit in a shed can quite literally beat the world at something. It's brilliant to be able to celebrate that in our own small way every now and again, so hearty congratulations to the blokes who built this Beetle.

[Yeast Lord]

I don't get it, was the tesla designed to be a dragster. Love to see at beetle get 200 miles from a charge and be fun to drive.

[busta]

MattjK said:

gifdy said:

carscribes said:

gifdy said:

Mannginger said:

Purpose built drag-car beats "production" car in drag race shocker.

Exactly. Quiet news day ?

Alternatively, "British blokes in shed beat Americans backed by zillions of dollars" shocker.

That's not really the point is it ? Looks like a great project and no doubt took a lot of effort to put together but the tone of the reporting ( 'wiping the floor etc' . ) is a bit ....well, tabloid. Deliberately missing the point to create a headline. If these guys could build a commercial vehicle with this performance then that would be news.

Actually I think YOU've missed the point. This Beetle isn't built for commercial use just like Pistonheads isn't designed solely to feature commercially-sold vehicles. The Tesla isn't even a commercially viable var yet, is it? Not at that price, it isn't, anyway. The headline is well-deserved because the story is all about a bit of what makes the British so great: that a Brit in a shed can quite literally beat the world at something. It's brilliant to be able to celebrate that in our own small way every now and again, so hearty congratulations to the blokes who built this Beetle.

Except he hasn't beaten the world has he! He's won a drag race against a road car in a drag car. The Tesla isn't, and has never claimed to be, the fastest accelerating electric car.

I'm pleased the beetle was built and I'm impressed with how quick it is considering it's just bits of forklift trucks and lots of car batteries. Whether or not it can beat a Tesla is irrelevant.

[tonym911]

I reckon that Top Fuel drag racing is one of the most visceral and thrilling forms of motorsport, but saying that a quiet car must be boring is kind of uninformed. I don't know if anyone else on here remembers Sammy Miller's rocket cars at the Pod? Or Henk Vink's rocket bike? The only noise they made was an occasional puff and hiss, but boring they were not. Miller's standing quarter time was three and a bit seconds if I remember correctly. They were banned for a reason (Miller routinely blacked out under the acceleration forces), but they were certainly never boring. Massive, silent acceleration is arguably more impressive than the noisier variety.

Edited by tonym911 on Tuesday 11th May 18:08

[Al 450]

Of course it does help if you're running big fat sticky drag racing tyres which the Tesla was probably not...

[hot metal]

BORING BORING BORING...with added boredom.

[redvictor]

MattjK said:

gifdy said:

carscribes said:

gifdy said:

Mannginger said:

Purpose built drag-car beats "production" car in drag race shocker.

Exactly. Quiet news day ?

Alternatively, "British blokes in shed beat Americans backed by zillions of dollars" shocker.

That's not really the point is it ? Looks like a great project and no doubt took a lot of effort to put together but the tone of the reporting ( 'wiping the floor etc' . ) is a bit ....well, tabloid. Deliberately missing the point to create a headline. If these guys could build a commercial vehicle with this performance then that would be news.

Actually I think YOU've missed the point. This Beetle isn't built for commercial use just like Pistonheads isn't designed solely to feature commercially-sold vehicles. The Tesla isn't even a commercially viable var yet, is it? Not at that price, it isn't, anyway. The headline is well-deserved because the story is all about a bit of what makes the British so great: that a Brit in a shed can quite literally beat the world at something. It's brilliant to be able to celebrate that in our own small way every now and again, so hearty congratulations to the blokes who built this Beetle.

Yep,and i'm one of those "brits in a shed" too.
Well done to the guys with the beetle. There'll always be people on here(and other forums) that have to dumb it down and belittle what you achieve.They're usually the ones who have done nothing but waffle on the net..

[jp-speed-triple]

most of the time was had from the hole shot over the Tesla. Tesla man must have been putting his coffee back in the cup holder or plugging his seat belt in to get rid of the incessant BONG! BONG! BONG!

Curious to know the standing quarter time for the Tesla, anyone know?

[Mr Gear]

jp-speed-triple said:

most of the time was had from the hole shot over the Tesla. Tesla man must have been putting his coffee back in the cup holder or plugging his seat belt in to get rid of the incessant BONG! BONG! BONG!

Curious to know the standing quarter time for the Tesla, anyone know?

http://aeracing.org/2010report.php

[central]

I've seen "Black Current" run several times this season.




I was shocked by its performance.

[busta]

tonym911 said:

I reckon that Top Fuel drag racing is one of the most visceral and thrilling forms of motorsport, but saying that a quiet car must be boring is kind of uninformed. I don't know if anyone else on here remembers Sammy Miller's rocket cars at the Pod? Or Henk Vink's rocket bike? The only noise they made was an occasional puff and hiss, but boring they were not. Miller's standing quarter time was three and a bit seconds if I remember correctly. They were banned for a reason (Miller routinely blacked out under the acceleration forces), but they were certainly never boring. Massive, silent acceleration is arguably more impressive than the noisier variety.

Edited by tonym911 on Tuesday 11th May 18:08

I had never heard of Sammy Miller before reading this, but I've YouTubed it and I'm speechless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mIfb4vIZOQ&fea...

Sammy seems so calm and modest too. Top guy, top car and top post!

[TheMighty]

jp-speed-triple said:

most of the time was had from the hole shot over the Tesla. Tesla man must have been putting his coffee back in the cup holder or plugging his seat belt in to get rid of the incessant BONG! BONG! BONG!

Curious to know the standing quarter time for the Tesla, anyone know?

Left Lane: Black Current III - 1/4 mile E/T = 11.75
Right Lane: Tesla - 1/4 mile E/T = 12.74

Most of the time was clearly not had in the holeshot. The Beetle was .99 quicker over the quarter regardless of whether the "Tesla man" was taking a nap or not. Reaction time (R/T) has no effect on E/T. R/T is measured from green until the stage beam remakes behind the front tyre and E/T is measured from this point until the car breaks the 1320 beam, hence R/T has no effect on the elapsed time, only the win in a heads-up race.

[Gr1fff]

Did the tesla have drag tyres though?

[Slinky]

Gr1fff said:

Did the tesla have drag tyres though?

Did the guys that built the Beetle have the same budget that Tesla did? No..

Listen, we could go round and round on this subject, let's just be proud of a bit of British shed tinkering, as opposed to doing the usual and attempting to discredit success..

[scubadude]

Yes yes, you all like big V8's and noise and this isn't a fair race, nuff said and most of us probably agree.

That said- I wouldn't mind that kind of electric backup/assistance off the line and around town to make up for the woeful first 0-15mph on my turbo diesel.

Irrespective of how they are driven you can't deny that for instant grunt electrickery tacks some beating, I'm not sure where the future lies for motoring but I'd be surprised if for town driving and acceleration assistance electric motors don't play a major roll.

Lastly- I wouldn't mind a ride in that, I bet the sensation is completely different to a IC engined and geared car under hard acceleration- probably more like a jet!

[SeiW500]

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