Rapid Acceleration

2, 3 or 4 wheeled petrol heads in here.

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Claw
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Post by Claw »

My thoughts on rapid acceleration has always been that it is a waste of fuel, but a friend visiting from Slovakia says that it is a common thing there. The view is that rapid acceleration within the capabilities of the vehicle, and it not being not loaded, (as in max'd out with passengers, or excess weight, etc) has either no detrimental effect on fuel economy, or is better fuel economy than pulling away slowly.

The analogy he applied was very thought provoking, but I will relate that later.

Thoughts anyone? :unsure:
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Myocardial Infarction
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Post by Myocardial Infarction »

It's better to accelerate fast to the desired speed and then cruise in a higher gear than accelerate slowly as it uses less fuel, but it's not always safe to do that on our crowded roads ;)

Similarly each car will have a prefered cruising speed at which it will consume the least fuel, my defender is leanest doing about 60mph so if I'm wanting to reduce fuel consumption I just use the first lane and trundle along with the lorries but my missus Audi A4 uses less fuel a little above the current national speed limit.
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Post by Claw »

My analogy for him was that if you have a log fire and intensify the heat output using airflow, etc, basically intensifying energy output must require more usage of fuel as the wood will be consumed quicker.

So, he replied with... a man who can ordinarily lift 200KG was asked to lift 50KG could do so quickly with no adverse effect. In fact, if was asked to lift 100KG he could also do that quickly, without any real toll on his energy output. However, if he was asked to lift 250KG, that would be a strain and impair how quickly he could or should lift it.

Car mechanics is not my strong point, but his analogy had me thinking, and it's interesting that you're suggesting the same line of thought Myles. :unsure:

Edit: Myles??? Man that dictionary word guessing phone feature contraption can be embarrassing. Sorry Myo... I typed Myo, but my phone thought it knew better...
Last edited by Claw on Fri May 04, 2012 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Trig
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Post by Trig »

I tend to accelerate thru 1st and second then drop straight into 4 or above depending on which car I'm in..
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Eagle
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Post by Eagle »

I don't pay for my fuel so I just rev the nuts out of it and don't give a toss
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Post by Hammer »

Eagle wrote: I don't pay for my fuel so I just rev the nuts out of it and don't give a toss
:lol:
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Post by andrew »

Eagle wrote: I don't pay for my fuel so I just rev the nuts out of it and don't give a toss
Yep seems to be the main practice for our crowd when driving vans, fuel economy is never questioned which is odd...


My own vehicle.... make away reasonably quickly through all the gears and then cruise engaged. I've tried all manners of driving and over the course of a tank this style is pretty much bang on, toddling along and accelerating slowly not braking hard only gets another 50 miles across 61 litres of motion potion, i'd rather not die of boredom !
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