New Mythbusters Episode Tonight at 9 Eastern

I was watching the Discovery channel and in the preview for the new episode they show what looks like a WRR or X. Its just a glimpse so I'm not sure if it is for sure. I think the myth has something to do with the efficiency of a motorcycle vs a car. Might be interesting to check out if you're looking for something to watch on tv tonight.

It is an R have not seen recorded it watching it now.

I feel so guilty that I'm a polluter.

I think I'm gonna sell my WR and my Vette and buy a Prius and a Chevy Volt.

I haven't watched the show but It sounds like it's emissions related. Please tell me they took into account the volume of pollutants created during the manufacture of the vehicles and added that to the expected emissions over the vehicle life time. From the numbers I've seen a Prius is really not an environmentally friendly vehicle. About the time it starts getting close you need a new battery pack and start at the bottom again.

Arkmage wrote:

I haven't watched the show but It sounds like it's emissions related. Please tell me they took into account the volume of pollutants created during the manufacture of the vehicles and added that to the expected emissions over the vehicle life time. From the numbers I've seen a Prius is really not an environmentally friendly vehicle. About the time it starts getting close you need a new battery pack and start at the bottom again.

Nope.

They took raw numbers of pollutants (NOx, CO and the like) and compared them against a car. Cliffs: bikes need additional regulation since they are polluters as compared to "zero emissions vehicles" like cars.

And they compared the fuel consumption of the bike (consumption versus weight) and compared it to a car. The old "if a bike weighed as much as a car it's engine is so inefficient it would only get 15 mpg".

ugg... I knew there was a reason I stopped watching that show.

I saw it and thought it was not too bad. I knew you folks would be talking about it today. They did say that it was one of the lowest emission motorcycles available if you want to go "green". Someone with a DVR will surely be able to come up with the exact output of greenhouse gasses and whatnot that they tested for. That WR did look nice on tv though even with an egghead riding it and a plastic dome built around it. They would have gotten some very different results with the little feller or the girl riding it.

I have not watched the episode yet (actually haven't watched MB in a while). Don't know who was riding the bike but both Jamie and Adam ride. Not too long ago they were guest reviewers in Popular Mechanics reviewing different trail bikes (can't remember if they were dual sports or not).

I've only watched part of it, and I wonder if they will mention that the WR has a catlytic converter, wheras the older bikes didn't...

Watch the aftershow clips-bikes vs cars. They describe how they went about the test. Clip 2 shows the WR Bubble bike.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-bikes-and-bullets/


-smitty

Go all the way down to the bottom... the bubble bike clip is down there, minus the results... of which I for one would like to know.

Jamie DIGS it is another clip. Lol he stalls it on take off. But holy shit that must be uncomfortable with no seat!!

Hi All:

When comparing emissions from a Prius, you have to be really careful. Even the WR with its TWC is a poor solution when it comes to NOx compared to a PZEV automobile of any sort including the emissions to build it. That said, most WR's will probably never see 7,500 miles whereas most Prius will see 100K. That evens it up a bit but those 100K miles are moving people back and forth to work, errands and vacations year round.

Anyway, here is an LCA from mining the ore to final disposition and recycling of the second gen Prius compared to a standard 2.0L car over the same number of miles.



I hope that helps.

Wayne

There's also the added part in that a prius can transport 4 people at a time, and motorcycle only two.

And if you want to talk dollars per mile, my buddy in Austria pays more per mile with his Focus than I do with my Expedition.

And if I pile 8 people into my Expedition, I'm getting better mileage per person than a Miata could ever dream of.

And while a cruise ship uses 1 gallon per foot, that's amazing mileage when you try to move 5,000 people any other way.

There's just sooo many different ways of measuring things...

If I lived in a tight city like SF or NY, I'd ride the WR around just for the parking ability.

Hi GusinCA:

You always haul 8 in your Expi? If so, Prius carrying 5 is far more fuel efficient. Few drive with a Prius loaded with 5 but it does happen occasionally just as I am sure it happens in your Expi.

Wayne

No, of course not.

My point was that if you apply the right metric you can bend numbers in any direction you want. Like the Mythbusters episode, for example.

If you look at the episode without analytical eyes, you'd come away thinking the motorcycle was worse than a normal car, just about any newish car.

But what they didn't mention, of course, was the environmental cost of building one, or the space they take up, the infrastructure required to support them, etc...

I love my Expedition, because I use it. i tow a big boat, sometimes with 8 people inside at the same time. I camp in it, I take the whole extended family up into the mountains with it regularly.

HOWEVER

If i had to commute and only used it to drive myself around, I'd feel peculiar driving it.

THAT SAID

I went to the Ford dealer the other day, and asked if they had any new Expeditions for me to look at. The sales guy said "one, we just don't sell them anymore, except to people who really need them, the days of having them as status symbols seem to be over". So, the public is getting wise to the folly of a 6,000 pound machine to carry just a few people...:)

Hi GusinCA:

If you really do need a new tow vehicle, might I suggest the new F-150 SuperCrew with the 3.5L EcoBoost?

2011 Ford F150 EcoBoost Fuel Economy Adventure Challenge

I took a group of Journalists and some of my forum members across the country in it and averaged 32.281 mpgUS while loaded up to 20 pounds over its GVWR. The last tank and a half were over 34 mpgUS! Take it easy on one of these and it will beat a Yaris ;)

It is also ULEV-2 which is far better than a bike other than the electrics of course.

Wayne

I like that system, the numbers seem really good.

They don't offer it in the Expedition (yet) but I'm sure they will.

My only question is this:

Yes, I'm sure the Ecoboost engine can make the same numbers as a V8, but does it have to work much harder?

I know it uses regular unleaded, so that's good.

But does a smaller displacement motor with a turbo or two get hotter and wear out faster than a slow moving V8, leading to more (and more expensive) repairs earlier and more often?

Saving gas is one thing, but at the cost of reliability and repair costs later, there might not be as much savings as one might think. Time will tell...

Hi GusinCA:

You asked the right questions and let me give you the right answers and you are going to like it too :)

Quote :

Yes, I'm sure the Ecoboost engine can make the same numbers as a V8, but does it have to work much harder?

I know it uses regular unleaded, so that's good.

But does a smaller displacement motor with a turbo or two get hotter and wear out faster than a slow moving V8, leading to more (and more expensive) repairs earlier and more often?

Saving gas is one thing, but at the cost of reliability and repair costs later, there might not be as much savings as one might think. Time will tell...

Ford’s 3.5L EcoBoost #448AA is back in the Spotlight Again

The baddest truck engine on the planet receives more air time long after its “heroic” feats on the battlefield have been completed.

Watch all the vids and follow back through all the links provided and you can decide for yourself ;)

I have even more interesting write-ups on this 3.5L bad boy including its day at the drags up aginst RAM's 5.7L Hemi and GM's entire engine lineup in its LD Silverado lineup. The reults were not pretty for the competitors.

Wayne

Looks very promising. I know I'll take a serious look at it when I replace my Expedition in a few years. By then they should offer it since the Expedition is really just an F150 from the A pillars forward.

And when I replace my Mustang GT (also a V8)?
I don't know, something about that V8 sound and torque. The new 5.0 engine is amazing. Well see what's available in 2017 when I'm ready to replace the car...

I watch it just to see Kari.......she be a hot momma!

Yeah, she revs my motor. And now with the baby she's even more, um, 3D...