Steam-Powered Car Breaks Century-Old Speed Record

mcgrew writes "New Scientist reports that a steam-powered car has broken the 1906 record of 204 km/hr (127 mph) for the fastest steam-powered automobile, the Stanley Steamer. The Inspiration made a top speed of 225 kilometres per hour (140 miles per hour) on August 26. 'The car's engine burns liquid petroleum gas to heat water in 12 suitcase-sized boilers, creating steam heated to 400C. The steam then drives a two-stage turbine that spins at 13,000 revolutions per minute to power its wheels.The FIA requires two 1.6-km-long runs to be performed in opposite directions — to cancel out any effect from wind — within 60 minutes.'"

And slope

[seifried]

"to cancel out any effect from wind" - and any slope, otherwise we'd have people dropping cars off cliffs claiming speed records like nobody's business =).

Re:All oficial times

[couchslug]

The Stanley Steamer record is vastly more impressive. Tires, brakes, and suspension in 1906 were primitive, materials were not nearly as reliable, and design was done on a drawing board.

"That smashes the previous official record of 204 km/hr (127 mph) set in 1906 by Fred Marriott of the US in a modified version of the then-popular steam car known as the Stanley Steamer."

Sorry, but only going thirteen (13) miles an hour faster than a record more than a _century_ old is shit. He might have done better by using a replica Stanley engine made from modern materials (to allow heat increase without a boiler explosion) instead.

Re:All oficial times

[DJRumpy]

If it was that easy, it would have been broken before now. You belittle the achievement without understanding the challenges involved.

Another thing to consider is that during speed runs, brakes, and suspension are not really a factor. The car is driven in a straight line at maximum speed. It's not taken on a touring expedition to test is comfort and handling performance. The tires need only be capable of not blowing at high speeds.

Re:All oficial times

[Kral_Blbec]

Is there really anything scientific or technological that we cant do vastly better now that 1906? Its like the captain of the senior football team boasting about stealing lunch money from a 7th grader.

Re:All oficial times

[Carnildo]

Tires, brakes, and suspension may have been primitive, but in 1906, steam propulsion was a mature, well-understood technology.

Re:All oficial times

[Michael Woodhams]

I was thinking the same: 100 years of technology and only 10% faster? However, at the end the article says "... the team is planning another run on Wednesday, to try to get even closer to the car's theoretical top speed of 274 km/hr (170 mph)." My interpretation is that they didn't want to go flat-out right away so that any engineering problems could show up at lower speed first. So they are doing progressively faster runs, and this just happened to be the first that was faster than the old record.

Re:All oficial times

[Anonymous Coward]

In 1906 you'd be lucky to be able to get the chance at knowing how to do 7th grade math. Count yourself lucky that you can have a machine assist you now.

Re:All oficial times

[Anonymous Coward]

Quite a bit. Nuclear powered navel ships use steam engines in the exact same manner as coal-fired ships.

Re:Check that off the obscure to-do list

[beav007]

Even going downhill, the penny farthing rider is limited to how fast they can pedal

Until the bike picks up enough speed to throw your feet off the pedals. Then there is no hope of stopping without losing skin until you reach the flat again.

Re:All oficial times

[doug141]

"If it was that easy, it would have been broken before now."

An economist and his son were talking a walk. "Look Dad," said the boy, "There's a $20 under that bench over there." The man looked down at the boy, "That's not possible son, passers-by would pick up any free money laying about."

Re:All oficial times

[evilviper]

If it was that easy, it would have been broken before now.

No. There are a vast number of things which are easy to do, but NOBODY cares enough to bother with... Steam-powered vehicles being one of them.

Even if some new million-dollar racket could guarantee you'd win every round of badminton, do you really think anybody would buy one? Even at the Olympic level... who cares?

It isn't steam powered at all

[Colin Smith]

The steam age never ended because it didn't exist. There was the wood age, the coal age, the current oil age and i'm guessing the next age will either be nuclear, or wood again, depending on how the coming resource wars go.

 

Re:Out of steam

[u38cg]

Yes, but none of that was true for quite a few years *after* petrol engines were invented. The only advantage petrol had was the instant-on factor, but given that this was an era when you stabled a horse and had it looked after 24/7, it's not such an advantage in 1900 terms.