Business: Drive-Through
every drivethru should be downhill   (+14, -1)  [vote for, against]
Put up a sign indication the downhill grade

and ask people to be green and turn their engine off. This way all the idling done in line by drive thru's is Elminated!
-- evilpenguin, Aug 15 2011

RAT http://en.wikipedia...iki/Ram_air_turbine
Pray you never need it. [8th of 7, Aug 15 2011]

Definitely impractical for retrofits, borderline for new construction (the downhill would have to be relatively steep), but a great idead [+].
-- MechE, Aug 15 2011


[+] except it won't work because all modern cars are equipped with engine-run power steering and brakes.
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 15 2011


What a good idea. You should tell Boeing and Airbus about that ...
-- 8th of 7, Aug 15 2011


// how they're expected to deal with an all-engine power loss //

By using batteries, and deploying a device called a "Ram air turbine"; basically, a ducted windmill that pops out from the fuselage and converts airflow to electrical energy.

Of course, if the solenoid which deploys the RAT doesn't get quite enough juice to operate it, well ... that's just bad luck.

Oh, by the way, don't bang too hard on the rudder pedals if you hit someone else's jetwash - the tail might just fall off ... carbon fibre, you know ...

"Nothing is ever foolproof, because fools are so ingenious"

"Never rely totally on software in a mission-critical application"

Die By Wire ? No, thanks.
-- 8th of 7, Aug 15 2011


I've heard somewhere that turning off and on an engine burns as much fuel as sitting idle for 5 minutes.
-- daseva, Aug 15 2011


I've heard it, but have never seen the numbers to back it up.

I've heard the same thing about turning lights off and on, and I know it to be false for incandescants and newer fluorescents. (There is some evidence that it is true for older ballasted fluorescents)
-- MechE, Aug 15 2011


That was the case 20 or 30 years ago. With modern vehicles, starting the engine burns less than the amount of fuel used in one minute running at idle. A lot less, typically.
-- Alterother, Aug 15 2011


Very good point.
-- Alterother, Aug 15 2011


It depends on the vehicle that you drive. Some older cars to start while cold use a rich fuel strategy. Older cars than that that don't sense operating temperatures use this rich fuel strategy all of the time to start, and older cars than that, well, they used a choke. Warm-starting doesn't consume that much in a modern car.

Computer failure is more common than engine failure, and so redundancy is a good idea.
-- RayfordSteele, Aug 16 2011


I like this idea. In my car one click of the key to the left turns off the engine but leaves the electrical system on. After I read this earlier today I tried it out on my downhill driveway and IMO it would work fine, although steering was *significantly harder. It would also be great for new hybrids and electric cars turn their engines off when not needed and don't take extra fuel to restart.
-- DIYMatt, Aug 16 2011


accidents through the wazoo. Really think about these things people.
-- WcW, Aug 16 2011


"Extra fries for my friend in the steamroller, please."
-- pertinax, Aug 16 2011


you could do the car wash thing to pull the car.

But to truly save money and time, use NFC to have my daily order transmitted, billed, and delivered as I pull up to the window.
-- theircompetitor, Aug 16 2011


Maybe, like some automatic car washes, the cars could stay still and the whole restaurant could move over them, on rails ?
-- 8th of 7, Aug 16 2011


Perhaps there could be a robotic arm that reaches through open windows and stuffs food directly into the customers' mouths as it passes over each car.

<sp edit; thanks borgy!>
-- Alterother, Aug 16 2011


... through the sunroof. They'd tilt their heads back and open their mouths like adorable little birdies.
-- mouseposture, Aug 16 2011


"Only in America ....."

Same amount of brain, too. What a coincidence (except that most birds never get quite that fat).

// costumers //

However you dress that up, it's never quite going to fit.
-- 8th of 7, Aug 16 2011


Actually, a comparison more in line with your prejudices would be: Americans are like cuckoo chicks.
-- mouseposture, Aug 17 2011


"engine-run power steering and brakes"

Some people in the US ride their bicycle for exercise, but there's generally a stigma in most of the country that only poor people ride bicycles for transportation. Wealthier people, however, can afford the luxury of muscling their BMW 7-series downhill, getting arm exercise to steer it and leg exercise to stop it. The hill should be near a lake to hand out Darwin awards to the particularly arrogant people who overestimate their abilities.
-- kevinthenerd, Nov 11 2017



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