I don’t mean this to be an advertisement for Mercedes Benz, but this video of their new SLS AMG Gullwing is just too cool not to put up. Michael Schumacher does a barrel roll in a tunnel.
I want one. I’ll need about 250 of you to subscribe to this blog at $1,000 apiece to make this happen. It has 563 horsepower, 0-60 in 3.8 seconds. That’s only $445 per horse. Well worth the price.
Hat tip Alan K.
DAAAAAAYYAAMN!!
You can’t do that with a Prius!
Then again, unless you’ve got a special ramp built, you can’t do that at all.
Seeing this will make more capitalists than any economic theory now under study!
You can’t have it. You are not Roubini.
Besides, subscriptions will not work. The analysis you provide is priceless.
I am 63 and I want to do that before I die! I think Mercedes is a mechanical marvel. This commercial convinces me that it has never lost its place.
Alas, I can only watch as I could never afford to buy such a dream car. Germany is back! May its Football teams have as much success!
You all realize of course that this is physically impossible. The car cannot create sufficient ground effects forces to keep it inverted even for the short time it was inverted. Great film though :-p
Actually I was told by a friend who is a serious auto racer that it is quite easy to do. For example, he said the average F1 car weighs about 1500 lbs and can generate a down force equal to 3000 lbs which means it could actually drive upside down the length of the tunnel. Of course the problem is what do you do when you get to the end? So maybe the Benz rolled at 150mph?
Morris B and Jeff Harding. Listen up. It has NOTHING to due with ground effects. It’s a ‘circular’ cross sectioned tunnel. Ever swish your beer around in a bottle? Ever use a ‘hoola-hoop?’ It is CENTRIFUGAL force that keeps the car pressed against the wall.
1) I use to work in special effects and car commercials are SUPPOSED to be REAL. BMW on ice up a hill. Volvo lawsuit for faking it NOT being crushed by a truck running over its roof… still researching (good digital if fake tho).
2) I consult to racing and car designers re aerodynamics. INDY cars in street form can produce well over 4000# of downforce by BOTH wings and ground effects. THAT means that if you subtract the ~1500 lb. car (while upside down due to gravity alone) you HAVE ~two times safety factor. Almost did this with Goodyear years back but left company to go back to my aerospace career.
I HOPE this helps your understanding of the physics involved. That and dissecting the speed (really vectors of velocity) and thus centrifugal acceleration and mass for the ‘radius’ of the tunnel to mathematically decide if real or fake. Include friction too as it pertains to the rubber/concrete interface. : )
Sorry, addendum/edit. It has MORE to due with centrifugal force than just ground effects alone. Better stated.