Re: Getting 110 miles to the gallon (News 8 Austin)On Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:33:35 -0400, Michael Johnson <cds@erols,com > wrote:
:>Sarah Czepiel wrote:
:>> On Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:44:08 -0400, Michael Johnson <cds@erols,com > wrote:
:>>
:>> :>Sarah Czepiel wrote:
:>> :>> On Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:58:13 -0400, Michael Johnson <cds@erols,com > wrote:
:>> :>>
:>> :>> :>Sarah Czepiel wrote:
:>> :>> :>> On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 07:52:04 -0400, "C. E. White" <cewhite3@mindspring,com >
:>> :>> :>> wrote:
:>> :>> :>>
:>> :>> :>> :>
:>> :>> :>> :>"Bob Willard" <BobwBSGS@TrashThis,com cast,net > wrote in message
:>> :>> :>> <snip>
:>> :>> :>> :>
:>> :>> :>> :>I am sure these claims are total BS. What I don't understand is the
:>> :>> :>> :>motivation for making them. Is he looking for investors? Or does he just
:>> :>> :>> :>want his 15 minutes of fame (infamy)?
:>> :>> :>> :>
:>> :>> :>> :>Ed
:>> :>> :>>
:>> :>> :>>
:>> :>> :>> You're sure? See the last paragraph. I guess we'll see soon enough.
:>> :>> :>
:>> :>> :>Heck, I've seen people kill their spouse for $25k of life insurance. It
:>> :>> :>isn't a stretch at all for this numb nuts to think he can fleece
:>> :>> :>Progressive out of $10 million with a scam he invented. I guess just
:>> :>> :>the fact he registered makes him legitimate?
:>> :>>
:>> :>> With you logic it's a good thing you don't work for Progressive Ins.
:>> :>> Company. :)
:>> :>
:>> :>You're a trusting soul, Sarah.
:>>
:>> You assume quite a lot, Michael. Trust but verify is my motto. IF I had
:>> $10 million dollars to give away I'd listen to all sorts of people and
:>> their ideas. Listening is free.
:>
:>Two things come to mind. First, these people that are going to enter
:>Progressive's contest are likely to be wannabes with a magical black box
:>that the judges are going to crack open and then laugh their asses off
:>at what they see.
It's going to cost them $5K each as an entry fee. That seems a bit steep
for a cheap laugh.
:>Second, Progressive knows the odds of them losing
:>their $10 million is slim to none.
Actuarial's....
:>It is an advertising gimmick.
And so? But what if it isn't?
:>> :>I have lived long enough to hear
:>> :>thousands of miracle invention claims for just about anything
:>> :>imaginable. Maybe because I'm an engineer it makes me cynical when I
:>> :>hear someone had an epiphany occur to them in their garage that lets
:>> :>them skip all the R&D a company like Toyota does year after year to
:>> :>bring a 55 mpg hybrid car to market for $20k-$23k. If getting 100 mpg
:>> :>from an old Mustang was that easy it would have been done by now.
:>> :>Progressive doesn't have to worry about losing their $10 million anytime
:>> :>soon. ;)
:>>
:>> Plenty of engineers in my family Michael, all IEEE members, as well as two
:>> who graduated from GMI, and I can't say there's a cynical one among them.
:>> My father was an engineer at GE, an Elfun member, and when he retired the
:>> QC Manager for the WD Division, US. When he died his design work for GE
:>> during WWII and the subsequent Cold War years was still classified. My
:>> background therefore gives me a different opinion of engineers as not that
:>> of cynics but of skeptics when evaluating wild claims or seemingly
:>> impossible events. YMMV of course.
:>
:>Skeptical is a better term.
Ya see? I've never thought you were a cynical person Michael. :)
Either way, I, or your engineer relatives,
:>aren't holding our collective breath waiting for a 100+ mpg ICE.
:>Especially, one conceived by a mechanic using a low tech Mustang. I
:>guess since he was featured by a TV station he has instant credibility.
:> Here is a quote from the WGAL web article:
:>
:>"Pelmear told television station WNWO that the car hasn't traded power
:>for miles per gallon. Pelmear said the car has 400 horsepower, goes well
:>over 100 mph and can go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds."
:>
:>What are the odds this mechanic has a 400 hp, 100+ mpg, 0-60 mph in
:>three seconds Mustang siting in his garage? The very claim is beyond
:>being laughable. It is clear that the reporter that wasted their time
:>on this story has about as much knowledge of mechanics as my cat.
I guess we'll see if Pelmear plunks down his $5K entry fee. :)
Cheers, Sarah
Burning up the gas.....
2004 Mach 1
2005 C6