Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Car exhaust inkjet printer for roads

  (+3, -1)
(+3, -1)
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The exhaust system for cars doesn't provide a simple pipe betwee the back of the engine and the back of the car. Rather, it constricts the exhaust flow in some way in order to provide some 'back pressure' to the engine. Obviously it would be a far more efficient use of the exhaust gases to provide this constriction by using the exhaust pressure to sputter some kind of printing material (such as chalk dust) through multiple, computer-controlled nozzles onto the road surface into interesting patterns, rude words, etc.
hippo, Mar 01 2011

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       1. This backpressure is a side effect of an increasingly quiet exhaust. It lowers efficiency, (performance exhausts are typically loud for increased flow, not just to be annoying). The only downside to losing the backpressure is that a large enough change necessitates a re-tune of fuel map.   

       2. Blasting out chalk dust requires quite a bit of pressure, easily enough to stall the motor if trying to do this with exhaust
AutoMcDonough, Mar 02 2011
  

       Attacking an excellent idea on the grounds of impracticality is really not the done thing, [AMcD].
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 02 2011
  

       The bone's mine: too complex.
FlyingToaster, Mar 02 2011
  

       You did say "_too_ complex"?
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 02 2011
  

       In order to get enough pressure to be useable without stalling you'd need a pump.   

       The dust would be some kind of sticky-when-hot material, I imagine, in order to adhere to the road and not just get blown off.   

       Bone rescinded [ ]
FlyingToaster, Mar 02 2011
  

       Complex and impractical? (+) Just my kind of idea. I have sketched a version of this before using troughs in the back of a truck depositing paint-filled balloons, but this would be fun. Your car would run funny and sound strange though.
normzone, Mar 02 2011
  
      
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