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High Speed Stuff Wrap-up: Signs of Engine Trouble and the Bloodhound SSC

November 6, 2009
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I intend to keep it a little more brief than usual today, so here’s what Ben and I have been talking about on our High Speed Stuff podcast over the past week…

On Tuesday, we discussed car engine trouble. To be more specific, we talked about a few common signs of engine trouble that you should be on the lookout for at all times. After all, if you know the signs of imminent engine failure, you just might be able save yourself the anguish of being stranded on the side of the road somewhere (or even worse, nowhere). And who knows? Depending on the severity of the approaching problem, you just might even save yourself a few bucks by diagnosing it early. Anyway, listen to this episode if you want to know a few telltale signs of impending engine trouble.

On Thursday we talked about the fastest cars on the planet. No, not the Bugatti Veyron and the SSC Ultimate Aero. We’re talking about supersonic cars here — cars that actually break the sound barrier. And if you thought the Thrust SSC was fast, just wait until you hear the details about the Bloodhound SSC. I’m not going to tell you the exact top speed the Bloodhound SSC team is shooting for (you’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear that), but here’s a hint: They plan to go nearly 300 miles per hour faster than the current record held by the Thrust SSC! If you truly love speed, then you definitely don’t want to miss this episode. It’s packed full of amazing facts and figures relating to the Bloodhound SSC’s upcoming record-breaking attempt.

So there it is. That’s what’s happening on the High Speed Stuff podcast this week. And here’s my advice: Go to iTunes and give it a listen — as always, it’s completely free. While you’re there, just don’t forget to take the opportunity to browse through some of our older episodes and give us a little feedback. You can also let us know what you think in the comment section below, or if you’d rather send us an e-mail, you can do that, too. Ben always reads the address at the end of each podcast.

Comments

One Response to “High Speed Stuff Wrap-up: Signs of Engine Trouble and the Bloodhound SSC”

Evan Guarr says:

November 17, 2009 at 5:51 pm

You said in the podcast the the Bloodhound will travel a stretch of 1 mile in around 3.6 seconds. If 1 mile is 5,280 feet, the car traveling at 1,050 MPH, like you said, the time for 1 mile will be just over 5 seconds. If the Bloodhound makes a mile in 3.6 seconds, the speed works out to over 1,450 miles per hour, a lot faster, but still a blur at that speed. I also find it funny that the Bloodhound needs 3 engines to get downtrack.