Pulling a G on Sand Hill Rd

12 responses to “Pulling a G on Sand Hill Rd”

1. 

   osakasteve

   Jan 5, 2006 at 11:48 pm

   Man that looks like fun! Any chance us Flickr locals can pay to get rides?

   Reply
2. 

   sweet thing

   Jan 6, 2006 at 12:47 am

   Ok, three guess to everyone on what vehicle the G force was felt in…

   My guesses are:

   1.) A Caterham Super 7 or other similar flyweight british roadster

   2.) The new "Sillicon Valley Start-up Stock" roller coaster ride at Six Flags, Sand Hill Rd.

   3.) A very large particle with racing harnesses, taking laps around the SLAC.

   Reply
3. 

   sweet thing

   Jan 6, 2006 at 12:49 am

   Do’h. I just noticed the tags. The mystery is over. I guess the auto looks something like this one on the right:

   
   credit: wrightspeed.com/pages/1/index.htm

   Turns out that the car on the right beat the car on the left in a drag race at Infineon raceway:

   http://www.autoblog.com/2005/11/19/electric-car-thrashes-ferrari...

   Reply
4. 

   jurvetson

   Jan 6, 2006 at 1:29 am

   Billy – right you are! At Sears Point (seen in your comment photo), the X-1 smoked that Porche Carrera GT as well as a Ferrari 360 Spider. Not bad for a cleantech car getting 170 MPG equivalent… 😉

   One of our fellow passengers said that he had only felt acceleration like that when being launched from an aircraft carrier.

   I just posted a video of my ride
   on Revver.

   Reply
5. 

   benjiman

   Jan 6, 2006 at 1:47 am

   BADASS. Not to get on a soapbox or anything… But Detroit needs to get their sh*t together and start making cars with clean hi-output tech like this. Americans and folks worldwide will always want fast cars and the sooner they get to work on it the better the world will be.

   Reply
6. 

   sweet thing

   Jan 6, 2006 at 3:24 am

   Awesome video! You don’t really get a feeling for how fast this is going until you see it quickly scoot across the parking lot like an RC car on steriods.

   Assuming this is not a hybrid, does the 170MPG desgination referr to the amount of gasoline required to create the electricity that propels the car for one mile?

   Reply
7. 

   osakasteve

   Jan 6, 2006 at 3:28 am

   From the look of things, it appears to be build from an Ariel Atom. I’d much rather have one I can refuel with an extension cord…where do I send my deposit?

   Reply
8. 

   AndrewNZ

   Jan 6, 2006 at 4:19 am

   I especially liked the nonchalant way Ian took his hands off the wheel to gesticulate about something during your return trip. 🙂

   Reply
9. 

   jurvetson

   Jan 6, 2006 at 5:42 am

   OsakaSteve: Right you are. It’s an Ariel "pimp my ride" conversion. I think they should paint them green after swapping out the gas guzzling supercharged engine for the electric drive train. =)

   Andrew Down Under: made me chuckle too. I also like the way his hair blows in the wind.

   Billy da psychotic penguin (ask the benjiman if the reference doesn’t make ya chuckle): I agree! The video from in the car doesn’t do it justice. It’s MUCH more acceleration than a Ninja motorcycle or rollercoaster or anything I have ever experienced. The MPGE is based on a conversion ratio of 33.7 kilowatt hours/gallon, if memory serves me right.

   Reply
10. 

    Azulina

    Jan 6, 2006 at 3:04 pm

    Just watched the video…fun!!!

    Reply
11. 

    Vanita

    Jan 6, 2006 at 4:59 pm

    After watching the video.

    *grin* You must be this … tall to drive that car.

    The wind noise sounded like a shuttle liftoff. Plus the wind was kind enough to help him keep all the secrets he shared with you on your little excursion.

    Reply
12. 

    schoschie

    Jan 30, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    I want a car like this, and I want it to have an accelerometer.

    Reply