its like riding a bike - Saab 900 Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
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its like riding a bike
Posted by nt moore (more from nt moore) on Thu, 8 Jan 2004 14:05:49
In Reply to: Why is my Saab so slow?!, jani, Thu, 8 Jan 2004 13:09:55
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the force of air resistance is proportional to the square of the speed you're traveling at, so if you double your speed the resistive force is 4x as strong. this make driving your car at high speed like riding a bike up a steep incline (instead of on the level).
The transmission is geared like a bike as well. You want the engine to turn a few times for each revolution of the wheels in low gears (1st and reverse) so that you have the mechanical advantage (similar to opening a door by pucshing on the handle rather than really close to the hinge). At high speeds you want the engine to move at roughly the same rotational speed (2k-4k RPM) so you need a "bigger" gear - just like you want a big gear when you're riding downhill on a bicycle.
What you're experiencing then is the automotive equivalent of riding up a hill in a big (ie hard to pedal) gear. As most people know its easier to ride uphill in a low gear (but your legs end up spinning really quickly) - you downshift into 4th to get up to cruising speed for the same reason - although the engine has to spin faster, its easier for the engine to do, so you get up to speed fatster.
nt
posted by 128.101.22...
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