3Mach1

Very impressive. Somebody post this on the Prius forums. Those nut jobs never cease to amaze me.

Bert

funny, I was kinda wondering what a Prius would do in the same test . . . I bet it wouldn't be much better, since this test is all about how efficiently the engine converts gas into forward motion, along with rolling resistance/drag, not so much about how it reclaims that energy when slowing down

David Young

I would have never guessed that many laps. My guess would have been around 1,000 laps.

Ice Hawk

That's very impressive. I had to read that title three times to understand that was what it meant. Good job Ford. This means more Mustang sales and more money invested into the future of the greatest automobile ever created.

3Mach1

YOu know, those people are nut cases. I like to burn rubber and gas. I dont need the goverment telling me what I can and cant do. I am not interested in saving the planet. I want to have fun while I am here. That means having fun even as an old man. I cant hang with you young guys but I can try.


One of these days I would like for Bob Cosby to teach me how to do the quarter mile. Its one of those things I want to do before I am dead. I have never made a pass. He would have to start at square one because I have no clue.

It only shows how broad the Mustang family is. It appeals to all ages and I am living proof.

Bert

hey, who are you calling a "young guy" ?

cdynaco

Don't forget the Prius owners are self-delusional about their method 'saving the planet'. Both from mining the rare elements for their (NOT) clean batteries to the disposal in the land fill....

tmclaugh

Batteries are the wave of the future though I think for cars and for one simple reason. The electrical grid is more flexible on the backend for fuel generation. Every new fuel for the internal combustion engine requires a refueling infrastructure to be in place. Have a more efficient fuel than gasoline? You need stations to carry it. It's awesome that people can create efficient hydrogen powered engines but for people to use it they need stations where they can refill and until then they won't buy those cars... And stations won't bother carrying it until people are using those cars. That leaves a chicken or the egg scenario. Batteries on the other hand provide a standard fuel which is electricity. On the back end utility companies can come up with more efficient means of generation without affecting the consumer at the pump... I mean plug.

Former director of the CIA James Woolsey drives a Prius. Can't find a link to the Frontline(?) documentary I saw which interviewed him but here's a link I did find.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2008...ey-hybrid-hawk

cdynaco

I don't. We're substituting one flaw for another flaw and a whole new set of enviro problems. And it will be outdated and discarded. What a waste of focus.

Plus it doesn't address the failing power grid or the massive increase in power generation that would be needed for a sizeable electric fleet and the 'recharging stations' at every parking lot.

Any electric vehicle is limited to city slickers. It doesn't apply to cross country goods transportation or the millions/billions living away from population centers. The electric vehicle is not 'portable' enough. And any electric vehicle with an onboard generator (like the just announced 3 cyl by Lotus) still requires fossil fuel.




I think the answer to the future is in the ocean. Both with desalination and conversion to hydrogen. We don't have the tech or incentive yet. But that is a limitless supply of two huge resource issues for an ever growing population.

Batteries are fine for stationary purposes like solar roofs on every home & building.

orange3.9stang

So with the 3.31 gears, 41-42 MPH is around 1200 RPM in O.D. ... once shifted into O.D., how slow can you go before it will down shift back into 5th ??

Apply this same 1200 RPM to a V6 with the 2.73's and it should not go into O.D. until around 51-52 MPH !!

Makes me think they may have actually been running the 3.31 gears in this car to get the RPM's just right for the 45-55 MPH that they figured to be the most efficent speed range for maximum MPG's.

Doug

David Young

Doug, i'm not sure when it will downshift to 5th gear. Under very slow, on a flat road acceleration my car doesn't go into 6th gear until 41 or 42 m.p.h. Its such a smooth shift, i can only tell the transmission has shifted into 6th by looking at the tach. Under normal driving and normal acceleration, i can 'feel' the 6th gear shift at 41 or 42 m.p.h.

Maybe they took their time changing drivers, making the average speed lower than expected. I don't know.

I don't think Ford would have messed with the computer to make it shift into 6th gear at a lower speed than a normal V-6 automatic Mustang?

Double-EDad

+1.

I am grateful the new 2011 V6 is enabling Ford to position the Mustang as a fuel saver so that I can romp-&-stomp with my 5.0 under the radar of most of the enviro-weenies who completely ignore the 2nd Law of thermodynamics & think we need to be controlled to "save the planet". Thank you Ford, for the new V6!

David Young

The automatic shifts up and down the gears so smooth. Its hard to tell what gear it goes in. I thought my transmission had gone into 5th gear while slowing down, it went into 4th LOL!!! I can't figure out what speed it down shifts into 5th.

I hope Ford will soon show a video of this record breaking event, so we can get a general idea on how they drove the Mustang around the track.

Ltngdrvr

Video from the car with the engineer talking about the car and what they did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-y25rX87vo

Says cruise was set between 45 and 55, must not have been set close to 55 very long.

jacostang

Wait, wait wait.. There is actually a Prius Forum?????

tmclaugh

Good points about our power grid. It is in certain areas rather shaky. (Much of our infrastructure is scarily shaky. :-/) I still think with the recent investments in battery R&D they will only continue to improve in both capacity and environmental impact. I'll agree with you about hydrogen. Where we differ I think is I see the conversion to battery to allow energy production advances to take place on the backend at the power station while the car's refueling mechanism and infrastructure remains standard. I think if we focus on delivering specific fuels (gasoline, ethanol*, hydrogen, etc.) to cars we slow down the eventual adoption of the best fuels and keep us on oil longer.

*Anyone who touts corn based ethanol as a replacement for oil doesn't know what they're talking about. It's energy yield isn't that great as other sources and diverting corn to fuel affects our food supply. Switchgrass on the other hand is interesting.

tmclaugh

Everyone should have a hobby and likes what they like.

orange3.9stang

There are even very well oganized and run Chrysler Minivan Forums ... and there are guys on these forums as knowledgable and passionate about these vehicles as the guys who hang out on Mustang Forums !!

Doug

Gene K

There is even a hypermiling forum.

krnpimpsta

Not to nerd up the discussion too much, but I had to chime in. Converting water into hydrogen and oxygen actually costs energy. When you get hydrogen out of water, and then use that hydrogen to power something, you're not actually generating energy from water. Getting hydrogen out of water is literally the same as charging a battery - you need a power source to supply that energy. Then it's "stored" as potential energy. You get that energy back when that hydrogen bonds with oxygen again.

So you can use water from the ocean as a battery, but you still need to generate electricity.. from a power plant somewhere.