>> is it true to say that only the wind drag is a key factor in deciding
>> the speed limit
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>At low speed, drag is not much of a factor. As the speed increases, drag
>increases as a mathematical power function (not linearly).
AIUI, mu is linear with speed (notwithstanding tire heating effects),
and wind drag is proportional to the square of the windspeed, while
actual resistance (power required) is proportional to the cube of the
vehicle speed.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
At low speeds, we mainly deal with thermodynamics and volumetric
efficiency. The old saw, "jack-rabbit starts waste a lot of fuel"
dies hard, with today's ICE's, because they are well ported, and
volumetric efficiency offsets throttling losses, with gasoline
engines.
With older large carbureted V-8's, all bets are off, of course. :-)
Diesel engines don't really have this problem, which explains why
they can run at curb idle for hours, and use very little fuel,
compared to an equivalently sized gasoline engine.

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-john
wide-open at throttle dot info
jas - 30 Apr 2006 18:36 GMT
but i could not find solution to my starting question