my dad use to work for an oil company back maybe 10yrs ago and he met this guy who worked at General Motors..well today my dad and i ran into the dude that worked at GM, with all this gases pricing sky rocketing he told us that while he was working at GM he worked on this special car (about 15yrs ago)... being one of the engineers he got to test drive the car, the man drove the car home etc. for a whole week without filling it up.. he told us that his commute was easily 45mins each way... after a week GM pulled the car and redesigned the engine ... after that day the car was never the same... the man told my dad that most ppl that worked with him knew what happened and despised what GM did.. the man told us that they had built an engine that conserved so much fuel that the oil industry would have taken a huge loss if they had mass produced this vehicle.. i plan to do some more research but as for right now what a good teaser eh?

It's believeable. I read an article about 10 years ago in one of those science magazines about how they had designed cars that therotically could run forever with minimal maintenance. The article also said that the car would never be mass produced due to the affect it would have on the automotive aftermarket industry as well as OEM parts sales.

Same theory is why people die from diseases. It's like funding anything isn't worth it anymore. The drug company scene is even higher up in the food chain than transportation. If you don't stay sick, they don't get paid.

We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's most fuel efficient car.

This is a Urban Legand that's been around almost as long as the automobile itself. Try Googling "Fish Carburetor", "Condensator", or "Vitalyser" for some of the earliest versions of the same story. Some guy working the late shift in a prestigious research department (or an oddball tinkerer working in his wife's kitchen) discovers the equivalent of cold fusion for the automobile - but the evil oil companies, auto manufacturers, or government hushes him up and destroys the documentation.

The same story seems to surface about every ten to fifteen years - whenever there's a price spike at the pump. Huge increases in power are reported, along with fantastic fuel mileage - the result of a relatively simple gadget with a lot of voodoo science behind it.. You may recognize some of these products still being hawked today in late-night infomercials.

Think about it. If GM (or any other automaker) really developed a technology that would dramatically improve fuel economy, don't you think they'd put it on the market? GM could literally have a monopoly in automobile and light truck production, putting not just the other US manufacturers, but ALL other manufacturers out of business in a matter of months. Considering the present position of GM stockholders, I'd think they'd lynch the first individual who withheld the vital information on a corporation-saving technology like this. The owners of the small "one-man shops" that are also connected to these amazing discoveries could have retired billionaires - if their inventions had actually worked - instead of making fools of themselves on cable night after night for mere "pennies". :egads:

well, Honda has it now. But the only problem is that these thing costs so much to make and they have to change the entire infrastructure to make it more pratical.

http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/

Think about it. If GM (or any other automaker) really developed a technology that would dramatically improve fuel economy, don't you think they'd put it on the market?

No, there are plenty of other factors that can halt production.

No, there are plenty of other factors that can halt production.

Exactly.....And while there are many Urban Myths floating around for various reasons on array of topics, business is business and that is why any fuel efficient/super low maintenance car has not yet made it to the consumer. As was also stated that is why we stilll have various diseases/ailments today as it spurs the economy. Look at America's "war on drugs", crime is great for business as it benefits both the private sector and government.

Well it's a different reason though.

This proposed super engine would rock, they wouldn't make it because of the infrastructure. What the hoax is trying to hint at isn't a lack of infrastructure but just because of another companies profits.

GM actually manufactured this car... it was the Prizm, an American counterpart of the Corolla :D j/k

GM actually manufactured this car... it was the Prizm, an American counterpart of the Corolla :D j/k
so true
the prizm and corolla (93-96) were indestructible

Wasn't the prizm an exact rebadge of the Corolla? (same engine, chassis, body)
Just with blacked out tails...

Wasn't the prizm an exact rebadge of the Corolla? (same engine, chassis, body)
Just with blacked out tails...

Yes, but it was lighter due to use of less sound deadening material... for all those auto weight super anal people. :D

I don't know too much about the details, but my grandfather who reached the rank of Sanitary Engineering Director (equivalent to Captain in the Navy) in the Public Health Service told me about his involvment with a project that was never published, where they could make a car run sufficiently and efficiently on coal. The coal could be used in a liquid form, or granulated I believe, but due to reasons I can't remember, it was shut down and never developed further. Next time I see him, I'll make sure to ask him so I can fill you in on the details such as what year, what company if any, mileage, etc.

James

This is a Urban Legand that's been around almost as long as the automobile itself. Try Googling "Fish Carburetor", "Condensator", or "Vitalyser" for some of the earliest versions of the same story. Some guy working the late shift in a prestigious research department (or an oddball tinkerer working in his wife's kitchen) discovers the equivalent of cold fusion for the automobile - but the evil oil companies, auto manufacturers, or government hushes him up and destroys the documentation.

The same story seems to surface about every ten to fifteen years - whenever there's a price spike at the pump. Huge increases in power are reported, along with fantastic fuel mileage - the result of a relatively simple gadget with a lot of voodoo science behind it.. You may recognize some of these products still being hawked today in late-night infomercials.

Think about it. If GM (or any other automaker) really developed a technology that would dramatically improve fuel economy, don't you think they'd put it on the market? GM could literally have a monopoly in automobile and light truck production, putting not just the other US manufacturers, but ALL other manufacturers out of business in a matter of months. Considering the present position of GM stockholders, I'd think they'd lynch the first individual who withheld the vital information on a corporation-saving technology like this. The owners of the small "one-man shops" that are also connected to these amazing discoveries could have retired billionaires - if their inventions had actually worked - instead of making fools of themselves on cable night after night for mere "pennies". :egads:


Lil, as usual, is correct. :agree: Snake-oil stories are a dime a dozen.

I don't know too much about the details, but my grandfather who reached the rank of Sanitary Engineering Director (equivalent to Captain in the Navy) in the Public Health Service told me about his involvment with a project that was never published, where they could make a car run sufficiently and efficiently on coal. The coal could be used in a liquid form, or granulated I believe, but due to reasons I can't remember, it was shut down and never developed further. Next time I see him, I'll make sure to ask him so I can fill you in on the details such as what year, what company if any, mileage, etc.

James

Well......liquid coal is not exactly, but similiar, to gasoline. Coal comes from fossilized plants...crude oil from animal remains, mostly dinosaurs. And we already have cars that can run on various different organic (carbonized) fuels....propane, natural gas, butane, etc......

Anyhow, Jim.....where you been? Missed you for awhile on CL. School starting early up there in Seattle and keeping you busy?

Well......liquid coal is not exactly, but similiar, to gasoline. Coal comes from fossilized plants...crude oil from animal remains, mostly dinosaurs. And we already have cars that can run on various different organic (carbonized) fuels....propane, natural gas, butane, etc......

Anyhow, Jim.....where you been? Missed you for awhile on CL. School starting early up there in Seattle and keeping you busy?

What I got from our talk was pure Carbon coal, no additives, but somehow changed to be used in an engine. Like I said, I'll check up on it.

I've just been busy with some stuff. Just finished summer school, went to CA last week, but I'm back for a while now. :)

James

In college, we studied about these urban legends in a physics class of all places. Without fail, the perfect engine myth "the so-called Carnot Engine" would come up everytime gas prices went up. The theory was usually debunked by an explanation of thermodynamics and economics. As one poster said, the person or company that created such an engine would create a monopoly in the car industry of Microsoft proportions and make the typical engine obsolete. There would be no benefit to them to keep it a secret. Secondly, my physics is really fuzzy here, there can be no engine more efficient than a Carnot engine operating between two heat reservoirs. Carnot realized that there can never be an engine that is 100% efficient termed as thermodynamically reversible. Basically, the gist of it is that any engine produces heat to do a certain amount of work and some of that heat is lost as waste. Whoever comes up with an engine like this basically defies the laws of physics by producing an engine that loses no heat whatsoever to the outside environment. I have some very misinformed friends that swear that VTEC is like a Carnot engine. :egads: By the way, VTEC is the answer to every automotive conundrum according to them. What next? Honda defies gravity! ;)

did a little search on Carnot Cycle engine.

http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Biographies/carnotcycle.htm

What I got from our talk was pure Carbon coal, no additives, but somehow changed to be used in an engine. Like I said, I'll check up on it.

I've just been busy with some stuff. Just finished summer school, went to CA last week, but I'm back for a while now. :)

James

I seriously thought you were being sarcastic :) Hahahaha....

At any rate I agree with Marshall and Lil....snakeoil