Convertible cars as fast as motorcycles?

[Bruce B]

I would imagine a car to achieve greater terminal velocity than a bike...
Perhaps, I should have advanced Newton's Law in terms of acceleration

Yeah, I think my bike "only" goes 192! There are plenty of vette's and such that do over 200

 

[c1ferrari]

Yeah, I think my bike "only" goes 192! There are plenty of vette's and such that do over 200

Bruce,

What's the greatest speed you've taken your bike? I'm thinking it would be easier to integrate effects with a car to keep it on the ground.

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce,

What's the greatest speed you've taken your bike? I'm thinking it would be easier to integrate effects with a car to keep it on the ground.

This bike I've gotten up to around 165 on I-90.... that was plenty fast enough for me!

 

[c1ferrari]

This bike I've gotten up to around 165 on I-90.... that was plenty fast enough for me!

Yeah, that is FAST! I've driven around 140 mph, but the car was feeling light...I didn't take it to the red line

 

[repman]

The entire post:

Probably not...
bhp/weight, F =ma

I would imagine a car to achieve greater terminal velocity than a bike...
Perhaps, I should have advanced Newton's Law in terms of acceleration

It's not only weight but more importantly aerodynamics as they come into play as speeds increase

 

[kach22i]

So are there cars as fast as bikes?

Most sports cars are faster at deceleration (braking) than motorcycles. Cars just have more tire contact surface area.

There are more than a few videos out there which illustrate this on closed track conditions. The bike is ahead until the first turn, after that the bike fall behind as it requires additional braking distance prior to each turn.

Yesterday on the local metro Detroit area news there were two reports of motorcycle deaths. In one case the 24 year old on the bike rear ended a mini van. In the other case a 49 year old rear ended an SUV. I have to think these larger vehicles did not see the motorcycles and pulled out in front of them. However, there is an equal chance the bikes were just going to fast to stop safely because the riders just switched from their cars were used to shorter stopping distances.

Our new governor said he is going to repeal our 40 year old helmet law in Michigan. Big mistake in my opinion, we already have the most expensive car insurance.

http://www.voicenews.com/articles/2011/04/15/news/doc4da5a9888453a786417611.txt

Live longer, drive a convertible.

 

[kach22i]

There are several crotch rockets that can do 0-60 in less than 3 seconds. You won't find many cars that are capable of that however the Bugatti Veyron will get you from 9-62 in 2.5 secs...at a mere $2.6MM. But can you imagine the pair of loudspeakers you could get for that kind of bread??

The new Porsche 911 turbo is less than three seconds, 2.7? I was at a dealership this weekend for a parts swap meet and that's what the salesman claimed. Only $120,000.

EDIT: I did 110 mph on my old Honda Hawk back in 1981 (I weighed only 125 lbs back then), and did 140 mph with the top off in my vintage 911 Targa testing out the chin spoiler six years ago. Both were equally stupid things to do, neither felt faster or safer.