LTTE in local paper: NASCAR with hybrids? (As if!)

I predict that things like the hybrid vehicles are just another passing fancy. People will get tired of getting blown off the highway (figuratively speaking) by the big internal combustion engine Belch-Fire eights like my 5.4 liter Ford Triton in my F-150 and the Chrysler Hemi, for example.

Many American males still love their wheels. Who would support NASCAR racing done with hybrids? This is just one of the many contradictions of our modern society.

Al Gore notwithstanding, the internal combustion engines have been improved so much over the years that it is a joy to own and drive with these new engines. One shame is that wonderful piece of machinery covered up with all of the junk that makes it look like an intensive care patient in a hospital ward. It's a wonder it can take in enough fuel and air to generate the horsepower it needs.

I just bought a bigger pickup (F-150 to replace my Ranger) primarily for safety.

In addition to being safer in a collision I want the acceleration and speed to avoid being at the scene of an accident in the first place. Not only do I not get this with the hybrid, but I don't like the idea of wearing the battery pack and electrolyte if I get rear-ended by a careless driver like happened to my brother in his Blazer. The Blazer looked like an accordion in the rear and if it had been loaded with hybrid batteries my brother would have suffered more than muscle trauma.

Also the emergency first responders have another problem to deal with because of the large battery pack that may have been ruptured in the crash. Charged batteries can also become arc welders if shorted.

Time will tell, but I can't wait.

Orin Lowe

Holden

http://bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=125339

Never mind that bigger trucks and SUVs are 15 times more likely to roll over in an accident. Or that anyone he hits is more likely to be seriously injured.

large, safer vehicles.

Hybrids recharge their batteries when you stop - there's not a lot of stopping in any kind of auto racing, so you'd derive no fuel benefit from using them.

Regenerative braking charges up your batteries every time you step on the brake. You don't have to stop completely. The idea is that the energy needed to slow down a car can be collected to be used again from a battery, instead of being used to create heat on a brake pad.

And there's a lot of braking during a race.

If you brake in NASCAR, you are either wrecking, about to wreck, or going into the pits (or on a road course, but there are only two in NASCAR).

I suppose you could use that argument for F-1, Grand Prix, but for any kind of speedway or superspeedway racing, they won't work.

Dover and Bristol come to mind. Check out the glowing rotors next time they race at night.

Most of the major races and racing organizations were organized to do one of two things: Promote the superiority of a particular maker of autos or to provide a test bed for improvements in performance.

NASCAR does neither. The cars are all cookie cutter and bear no resemblance to the vehicle they supposedly represent.

Indy is a little better. The vehicles reached a point that they were basically unsafe because they were simply too fast. Keep adding restrictions and the racers keep improving the machine to maintain the fastest possible speeds but still they don't reflect the changing trends in modern automotive evolution.

The solar race is nice, but hardly a pulse raiser.

Maybe it's time for a new division of NASCAR or SCCA. Check this site out:

http://www.acpropulsion.com/tzero_pages/tzero_home.htm

Is that if we are in a fuel crisis WHY are having races where 50 cares run around a track at high speeds burning up fuel and tires and equipment all manufacutured by fuel?

Its like standing around a bleeding man and saying "I think we should use band aids" and another "I think we should use gauze" and another "have you tried this new soda? it is great".

Sheesh.