Well, a reply to each of the previous posts:
1) the idea that an object made with more of a material isn't any stronger than an object with less of it is just silly. That's why you use bigger structural girders when making a bigger building. Or, for that matter, why it's safe to jump on 8" thick ice on a lake, but not on 1" thick ice.
2) I have no real argument, in principle, with the idea that lighter wheels' brakes will be cooler, ceteris paribus, but again, how much cooler? The bulk of the work those brakes are doing is hauling the 2,600lb car down from speed, not in stopping the rotational momentum of the wheel/tire combination per se. This difference probably is not as big a factor as the degree to which the wheel design forces air across the rotors. Someone could calculate difference in rotational momentums (momenta?) between a 40 lb wheel at 60mph and a 30lb wheel at the same speed, and compare that to the momentum of a 2600lb body moving through space. Momentum is mv2, not mv or m2v--the speed is the bigger factor.
Enough. I'm sure everyone's sick of hearing about it; I'm going to go see if I'll be able to drive my
MCS to work tomorrow. Maybe the snow has made me cranky...
- Tom
