: : well, you know how in KnightRider, Kitt2000 could always drive in and
: : back out of that 18-wheeler? is this possible? i mean possible
: : without distroying the car? what happens to each wheel? suppose the
: : car is driving forward at 61MPH and approaches the truck ramp when the
: : truck is going 60MPH. assume the car has front wheel drive. what
: : happens? theoretically, Kit would suddenly be racing into the back of
: : the truck at 61MPH, but surely this won't happen... right?
: I would guess that wheel travelling 60 MPH suddenly hitting a surface
: with a reference speed of 0 or 1 MPH would merely squeel until they
: gain proper traction, which gives the driver more than enough time
: to clutch and shift.
What I've heard in past threads of this sort is as follows. KITT, at 65
MPH, approaches the trailer moving at 60 MPH. When KITT gets really
close to the ramp, just shift into neutral. The 5 MPH speed difference
will probably be sufficient for KITT to coast about half way up the
ramp. At this point, I've heard rumors that the trailer then applies its
breaks and slows to 55 MPH, and KITT's momentum carries him the rest of
the way up the ramp. More likely, since KITT is already half way up the
ramp when his speed equals that of the trailer, (and the drive wheels are
hopefully off the ground), the driver simply puts it in first gear and
drives on in.
: : now the second problem seems even more, uhh, disturbing. you have this
: : car backing out at, say, 1MPH, and its back wheels hit the pavement.
: : suddenly, the back and front wheels are going in opposite directions.
: : and then what happens to the front wheel when it hits the pavement, and
: : can i shift it into gear without destroying my awesome sports car?!
: I seem to recall the whole thing with coming out of the back of the
: truck was just film of driving into the truck played backwards. I haven't
: seen Knight Rider in a long time, but I recall that if you look real
: close, the front shocks compress unnaturally right before the car
: leaves the ramp, something that would only happen if the car was
: running forward into the ramp.
This one's even easier. Put KITT in reverse just to get moving (1 or 2
MPH relative to the trailer), then shift into neutral. Leave it in
neutral until all four wheels are on the pavement and turning at the
proper speed. Then put it in gear and fly past the trailer.
As far as tire torture is concerned, the squeal you here when the trick
is performed does eat some ***, but airplane wheels go from 0 to ~200
during a landing, and they survive. I still doubt that they got more
than 5000 miles out of a single set of tires as many burnouts as they did
with that car. I would be careful about trying the trailer trick in an
AWD car. Having 60 MPH of difference between the speeds of the front and
rear driveshafts can do some interesting things to the transfer
case/center differential. My truck (a '78 GMC Suburban w/ a NP203
transfer case) had full-time 4wd with a center differential in the
transfer case similar to what one would find on an AWD sportscar. When
the front wheel bearings died, they sent a non-flatbed tow truck. They
lifted the front wheels off the ground, and put the *** in neutral.
The rear wheels turned at up to 65 MPH on the way to the local 4wd shop,
and the front wheels never turned. Since it was a short trip (<10 mi),
the transfer case fluid never got hot enough to damage anything. This
did not, however, involve any *sudden* acceleration from 0 to 60, just
what the diesel tow truck could manage. Also, this is a gear-driven
transfer case designed to handle the input torque of a 454 with a TH-400
and 3/4 ton drive axles. A 3000GT VR4 might not be quite as durable.
Disclaimer: Don't do anything stupid. If you do, don't blame it on my.
See ya'
Mark Whitmer
P.S. - Most of the above is my hypothesis, and is subject to inaccuracies
without notice or obligation. Presently, I still think I'm right. :-)
