NationStates Jolt Archive


Hurricane driving

I V Stalin
08-01-2005, 13:09
Hypothetical situation:
You're driving along in winds of 100 mph. You're current speed in the car is 100 mph. If you drive straight into the wind, would you just be standing still? If you drive with the wind directly behind you, will you be going at 200 mph? Secondly, if you stick your head out the sunroof, when the wind's behind you, would you feel nothing, as you'd be keeping up with the wind? And what about if you were driving into the wind, what would you feel then?

Answers on a postcard, please. Alternatively, just post them on this thread.
The Tribes Of Longton
08-01-2005, 13:20
Hypothetical situation:
You're driving along in winds of 100 mph. You're current speed in the car is 100 mph. If you drive straight into the wind, would you just be standing still? If you drive with the wind directly behind you, will you be going at 200 mph? Secondly, if you stick your head out the sunroof, when the wind's behind you, would you feel nothing, as you'd be keeping up with the wind? And what about if you were driving into the wind, what would you feel then?

Answers on a postcard, please. Alternatively, just post them on this thread.
It's not so much the speed of the wind as the force it exerts on the car. I know absolutely nothing of how they agreed the wind was going 100mph (not being solid or liquid, it befuddles me), but since most modern cars (not 4x4s etc.) are streamlined to a decent extent, it's possible that the wind would not stop you dead or push you along faster by a large amount. Oh, forgot the obligatory IMHO
Robbopolis
08-01-2005, 13:21
Well, most of that stuff doesn't work, as car speed is generally measured as ground speed. Try airplane and see what happens.
Nova Gothia
01-03-2005, 08:28
Wind doasn't move in a straight line, but is subject to constant readjustment and "gusting", with precise direction varying at height from ground. There's also the small matter of the vacuum you'd create behind the moving vehicle (in the sheltered "shadow" of the car) creates a futher fudge factor in the whole thing. Add to this that you wouldn't get 100% transference of wind power to the car and the result is undeterminable.
Dresophila Prime
01-03-2005, 08:31
Let's change the story. Your are driving through a city, with light winds of 10 mph. Your car (by your hypothetical) would be thrown sideways (in this case) into an innocent child. See what you did!
Kelleda
01-03-2005, 08:38
Planes, maybe. Cars aren't as affected by wind, thanks to this thing called traction.
Nova Gothia
01-03-2005, 18:09
Plus I don't really decide to go driving during a hurricane, anyway. Not the best time for a jaunt in the country.
You Forgot Poland
01-03-2005, 18:13
It's not so much the speed of the wind as the force it exerts on the car. I know absolutely nothing of how they agreed the wind was going 100mph (not being solid or liquid, it befuddles me), but since most modern cars (not 4x4s etc.) are streamlined to a decent extent, it's possible that the wind would not stop you dead or push you along faster by a large amount. Oh, forgot the obligatory IMHO

Yeah, I'll throw in with Longton on this. The comparison is between the friction of the wind on the car body vs. friction of the wheels on the road, not the speed of the car vs. the speed of the wind.