Cannonballing should evolve

"Spanfeller is a twat" (theaspiringengineer) 08/20/2020 at 13:47 • Filed to: None

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I don’t need to explain the reasons why Cannonballing has become irrelevant. From a beginning it was a careless, mostly pointless endeavour. But now it’s even more apparent that it focuses on the wrong things.

If cannonball is to become a glorious, useful endeavour, it should focus on

1. Reliability
2. Fuel efficiency and range.

Cannonball should stick to -5mph of the speed limit. There should be five drivers, preferably 3 or 4 inside the car at the same time. Tanks should be modified to carry 100 L of gasoline to standardize the effort.

EVs should also try to have a standard capacity. Though I understand this is harder. 

I think that a cannonball based on those two points would actually serve an engineering/ innovation purpose, rather than just a cheap, meaningless thrill.

I understand cannonball times have continued to fall, which is an interesting metric in and of itself... However, isolating the amount of variables to determine whether a cannonball run nowadays serves a purpose is harder when focusing on outright speed since it is carried out in public roads that have traffic, police, construction areas, and multiple climates. So, a cannonball time during the summer time, or during a pandemic, or whatever is just a pointless collection of numbers.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Spanfeller is a twat 08/20/2020 at 13:59

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I don’t disagree that cannonballing is dumb.

But from a factual standpoint, it isn’t pointless. It’s a competition to see who can do it the fastest. Just because the point is deemed stup id by most, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have one.

I do like the idea of having a competition o see who can cross the country with the highest mileage average though. seems like those college solar powered cars would win though......

ranwhenparked > Spanfeller is a twat 08/20/2020 at 14:07

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Reliability is the kind of metric that would have only made sense before WWII, before the 1930s, really. Any car made today is going to drive across the continent and back as easily as driving to the corner store, and would barely need an oil change on the way back. The longest coast to coast route in the US is barely 3500 miles end to end, the shortest is less than 2,700. Even a BMW or an Audi could handle 5200-7000 miles without breaking.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Spanfeller is a twat 08/20/2020 at 14:10

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I wouldn't call efficiency and reliability as "glorious" and cannonball was never about usefulness either. I do agree that it would be interesting to run a reliability/efficiency race tho.

Spanfeller is a twat > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 08/20/2020 at 14:12

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My issue with Cannonballing, as is currently, is the consent. As a society, Americans agreed that no one has the right to go beyond the speed limit. To do it constantly, over dozens of states, through congested highways is immoral. If cannonball was carried out in private roads, or in a country where driving like that was legal it would be a wholly different situation.

I recognize that the idea of time is still a valuable metric since it hasn’t plateaued; cars still go faster and faster. But given the issues with consent, I think it’s better to focus on things more aligned with an effort the general public consents, like gas mileage.

As for the college cars... My opinion is that if there is a hypermiling cannonball it should be with road legal cars. 

HoustonRunner > Spanfeller is a twat 08/20/2020 at 14:12

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I agree, something along those lines would be interesting from an engineering standpoint, but I think it would be hard to get any sort of interest unless there was some sort of sponsorship (like Tesla).

In fact, Tesla could do it, and theoretically enforce the speed limit rules because they can access all the data (from Tesla vehicles). One Elon tweet could bring this to life!

Anyone on twitter want to suggest this and see if we can tweet it into reality?

Spanfeller is a twat > ranwhenparked 08/20/2020 at 14:15

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I think you’re right. I considered reliability because it is often important in other endurance challenges... but given cars wouldn’t be necessarily stressed by following the speed limit down interstates, I think it’s moot as you say. 

kanadanmajava1 > Spanfeller is a twat 08/20/2020 at 14:28

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Maybe the fuel consumption could be divided by the passengers + cargo load ?

ranwhenparked > Spanfeller is a twat 08/20/2020 at 15:22

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Maybe make it a challenge for homebuilt cars under a certain budget - kit cars, hot rods, or other customs? Or, say every car has to be at least 50 years old - people might have criss crossed the country regularly in a 1970 Cadillac, in 1970, but 5 decades of age will add a bit of challenge.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Spanfeller is a twat 08/20/2020 at 15:28

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I totally get it, and I respect your view. There’s no good argument for speeding across the country other than “for the lulz”  

That said, I agreed to pay the penalty for getting caught going over the speed limit, I didn’t agree to never do it.

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 08/20/2020 at 16:34

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I didn't agree to any of it. It's just the card we've been dealt.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Spanfeller is a twat 08/20/2020 at 16:37

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What about timed EV endurance racing?

That way both frequencies and duration of charging stops are big factors. There would need to be a weight limit or weight classes so that people can’t just load up with batteries.