I'll show you mine, if you show me yours?
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Hi Guys,
This thread is growing nicely. It looks like we ALL
agree on one subject! Cars
I've been watching the progress of electrics and hybrids,
lots of 'coming soon' stuff but not much available at
reasonable prices.One that attracts me is the Zap X. Its a collaboration
between Zap and Lotus. In the following link there is a
video on show with a RHD prototype, this has sparked
my interest added that I understand the price will be
sub €30K.http://www.zapworld.com/ZAPWorld.aspx?id=4560
The spec is very impressive, especially the 4 wheel
drive feature.*Drive Train
100% Electric; 4 electronic wheel hub motors sporting
an aggressive 644 horsepower with super capacitor energy
burstsSpeed
0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds with top speed of 155 mphMileage & Range
350 miles per charge; about 1 cent per mile; rapid 10 min
re-charge; 9,000 life cyclesInterior
Seating for 5 +2 with European ergonomic design; all
electronic touch screen controls on-board carputer: Win XP,
Wi-Fi, Blue-tooth, High definition video, iPod ready,
Fire wire, USB2 and Mini USB portsExtras
Keyless bio-metric entry and ignition, Photovoltaic glass:
thermoelectric, for heating and cooling, energy collecting windows
and windshields to harness solar energy*I had to laugh at the 'all electronic touch screen controls
on-board carputer: Win XP' I think I'll write to them
as suggest that they also consider doing a Mac version as
I've had enough trouble with Windows
Mike
PS: Craig, I'll have my Fuoco 500ie tomorrow (Sunday), its being
delivered from UK. Only problem is that I won't be able to ride
it until I get a Provisional Bike License. I can't get this until
I pass a Theory Test and that will not take place until 28th of
this month. BTW, I wonder if you can organise some ElectricRain
discounts? And what is your good lady's name?Its also a well balanced smart design but again I would
expect no less from Lotus.Mike
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I don't know where the future of fuel is going... I would think, and hope it was hydrogen
but no matter where it goes... it better lead to me being in one of these
here's the test drive Movie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElS9BKSsezw
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I like this "flying car" video better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF6hxHyfbgk&mode=related&search= -
@mike lucey said:
PS: Craig, I'll have my Fuoco 500ie tomorrow (Sunday), its being
delivered from UK. Only problem is that I won't be able to ride
it until I get a Provisional Bike License. I can't get this until
I pass a Theory Test and that will not take place until 28th of
this month. BTW, I wonder if you can organise some ElectricRain
discounts? And what is your good lady's name?Its also a well balanced smart design but again I would
expect no less from Lotus.Mike
Hi Mike, the Fuoco looks very interesting. I've read articles from some good European journalists who thought the front-end traction was incredible! It's still a bike though (and a bit heavy), so train up, get the best gear, and study the conditions (light, rain, likeliness of drowsy of drivers, likeliness of drunk drivers, etc)...it's all about stacking the odds in your favor.
Not sure on the ERain discounts (beta possibilities though), and my good lady's name is Deb D'Andrea. D'Andrea is the "D" in CraigD!
Think D'Andrea guitar picks and you'd be on the right track.Good luck resisting the urge to ride your new Fuoco! ...I don't think I'd be able to...
Cheers,
- CraigD -
@unknownuser said:
I like this "flying car" video better...
He says "Now that's what I call sport..."
Great video Eric, nice start for my day!
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Kris, I've read about the Moller Sky Car some time
back and it seems that there is no way the authorities
will license these things, pity! Did you see the crane
beside the Moller in the video! Just wondering is it
actually taking off of on its own steam.Thanks for the the advise Craig. I will have to resist
the urge to take it out until I get the license as I
can't get insurance without one. However I have a few
friends that have bike licenses and insurance and they
are more than willing to ride it to a private road and
let me have a go.I'm sure a few of the guys here would be interested in
having a look a ERain and maybe even Beta Testing.Mike
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that was my immediate reaction also Mike
but I did see the hook of the crane for a split second and it wasn't attached to the vehicle. -
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What I had:
BMW 535i 1999 - A 3.5l V8 beast, We loved it but it started to develop a lot of electrical problems and was part exchanged.
What I've got:
VW Touareg 2003 2.5l diesel - Its good (like a big Golf/Rabbit) but its boring and dull.
What I want:
BMW 535d sport 3.0l twin turbo diesel - All the economy of the diesel but the umph of an M5 - In black of course with 19" wheels, either one of these 2 styles:
I don't think I'm asking for too much, am I?
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the crane has a tether attached to it. the hook is off to the side, the were worried about the hook damaging the car/plane. the reason the tether is there, is in case one of the 4 turbofans fail, and the car comes crashing down. they had a lot of money and time in the prototypes and didn't want to risk it with free flight.... I don't think they have ever taken it to free flight before or forward flight for that matter.
on the note of everyone getting one. it's not that they can't you can go and get an experimental pilots license, the thing is they only licensed pilots for aircraft that are approved by the FAA so things like gyro-copters and new designs all fall under one license. the craft has to have written on it in large letters for the pilot to see, experimental aircraft. normally this is inside the cockpit. and you can build your flying device and fly it after passing this very basic flying test.
we built one years back, me and some friends from the local libertarian party. the gentleman running for Lt. governor, and the gentleman running for u.s. congressional house seat 7, now our current city councilmen,
it was a really nice machine, the man who paid for the toy in a box, had lost the use of his legs in a parachuting accident, in the Rangers... so this guy had no fear... we built it, then had to have each 50 hours in the seat with a licensed pilot.
well our engine tests and prop tests were all good, and we were all in classes for our license, and our first test flight days came. well the guy running for congress Doug, and our instructor pilot who had never flown a gyro before started on there first hour. as they took off, he pulled back on the stick too hard and the rotor clipped the rear stabilizer or tail. they got off the ground and continued their flight, all was well... on landing they did not clip it again but it came very close.
sooo needless to say with my lack of surety in a god, I backed out of the project as to keep my risk of death at a minimum... I'm not sure how much farther they took it. they don't talk about it anymore, but I don't see Phil the owner too often. I know Doug isn't involved any more but I do think he got his Experimental License...
anyway the point of the matter is, they will let anyone who can get that certification fly whatever they want... I think the trust fear and monetary hurdles to keep them from doing so...
I think this flying car is very unstable, and someone would have to give it port-starboard engine rotation coinciding with the aft-forward rotation. and this would all need to be computerized so that it could compensate for wind gusts and cross winds. I would not trust a man to manipulate the controls quick enough to catch surprise wind changes... it's really cool but I don't know if I would fly one.
one of the big let downs for me of the pilot's licnese was that you were not supposed to get acrobatic, and that most of the plane you would fly would not even structurally handle banking hard much less acrobatics... and the cost of the planes that would was huge... maybe one day I'll have my mustang
http://www.centaf.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/050427-F-2295B-058.jpg
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@paul russam said:
What I want
BMW 535d sport 3.0l twin turbo diesel - All the economy of the diesel but the umph of an M5 - In black of course with 19" wheels, either one of these 2 styles:I don't think I'm asking for too much, am I?
Good choice of engine Paul. This new 3lt twin turbo from BMW offers the perfect
balance of performance and economy for the car enthusiast. Personally I would go for it in the X3 with a LUMMA tuning kit!Mike
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WOOT...a post I can actually be a part of and talk for days on...the second love of my life...my realistic dream car...my baby.
Been featured in magazines and is still a daily driver! In the process of putting in a new twin turbo 500+ HP engine. Hoping to run the dyno closer to 600HP though.
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Whoa! ToDamGood, that thing is off the hook!
Sweet!
- CraigD
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I like the look, nice and anonomous, a real Q car.
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I love how you kept the exterior a little bit more 'sleeper' ish, bet you've won a race or two with that eh? lol
my one question: is that a bottle of NO on the console? where do you put your arm while driving? lol
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Yea, I love the sleeper look as well. A great story...
I went to my son's daycare to pick him up and this little girl comes up to me and said "My daddy likes your car and saw it in a magazine". I said oh really. Just then her mom came up and the little girl says "hey mommie, it's HIS car". She then turned and smiled and said she got home from work the other night and her husband was looking through a magazine and shouts out "HEY, I know that car, it's always at (whatever their girls name is) daycare". She said he couldn't believe I had all that in there and that he actually saw it in real life. Pretty funny stuff.
I can't go anywhere without people wanting to take a look. They are blown away when they really see what I have inside. Almost 10,000 watts of audio, Playstation 2, TV tuner, DVD, CD, Navigation, 5.1 surround processor, the works. Drive-In movie theaters never sounded so good.
Yes, that is nitrous there...and my arm fits perfectly over the top of it. My hand rests right at the valve and is actually more confortable on the bottle than without.
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I found the problem, you have no steering wheel... ahahah
great looking car! how fast can you actually get going with NOS? and do you just turn the nozzle on and off by hand when you want? sorry for my ignorance, but I've never ridden in a car that has it.
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LOL...that's called a theft deterent - one of many located on the car. No steering wheel = harder to drive away. Special unique locking pins prevent other steering wheels being put in its place, even if from the same company/brand.
As for the speed thing...I really don't know. I have the car built to look fast, run fast and be fast, but I just cruuiiizzeeee in it. Although, I did, just this one time, put it down as I saw a ricer (slang for a wanna-be import tuner) about a mile up and as I went by him about 140mph (speedo goes to 160), I looked in my rear view mirror only to see a nice gold colored car with interior lights going crazy. So I pulled over and waited for him to catch up...and he was not very happy with me. Luckily for me, I was going faster than he could even determine and I wouldn't admit guilt, so all he could do is yell (and he was literally yelling at me like I was his kid) and look the car over for something stolen.
I haven't ever run it with the nitrous though...but to turn it on, you have to turn the bottle on, allowing gas to the engine. You can then purge (you might see people doing this by spraying up in the air)it at this point to get any air out of the lines to prevent hesitation. Flipping the switch ("go baby go" on Gone in 60 Seconds movie - highly recommended by the way, not only for the hot cars, but Angelina Jolie is fiiiiine in it
) putting the petal all the way to the floor opens up the solenoid to inject the gas into the air intake and mixing with the fuel. Mine is set for 60 additional HP per "hit". The injectors are replaceable and can be adjusted from 25hp to blown motor. -
Sounds like fun. You want a "focus moment" try that on a bike...on the track please..
I have some pretty good track training (and multiple season as race winning motorcycle road racer) and my wife and I have become friends with Kieth Code and the folks at his California Superbike School. So at the end of my 4th level of training with him on track, he followed me for a number of hot sessions around Virginia International Raceway. I was feeling good and he said he'd trail me and critique so I went on track and gave it the berries (so to speak).
So for multiple track sessions I was allowed full effort riding...this means a race prepped Kawasaki ZX6RR going flat out on the track...to the limit. It is an interesting moment when you have to take a bike that is going roughly 170 mph (6th gear flat out on the rev limiter) and then haul it down to around 50 mph or less for turn one. I'm not sure if you can imagine scrubbing off over 120 mph as you approach the end of a straight away with a fairly tight right hand corner coming up! I mean if you only scrub off 110 mph, you're going 10 mph too fast to make the corner...it's tough to gauge to say the least.
My race bike only tops out at about 120 mph, but it's geared that way because of the tight track I ran in New Hampshire.
I've gone almost as fast in race cars, but it is totally different on a bike! The steering becomes very, very stiff above 150 mph and the wind buffeting and noise are amazing. A car doesn't steer any differently at speed, but a bike becomes very hard to turn..you really have to muscle it and not influence the chassis the wrong way.
I'm addicted, that's for sure!
Great car! I'd love to see and hear it sometime.
Cheers,
- CraigD
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My personal/family 16teen wheeler
....Oh, it floats too
Marek
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