I know what you’re thinking. I have a new car, if I drive it fast enough and drift it in the college parking lot in front of my crush, she’ll finally unblock me on instagram and then fall in love with me. I’ll be the most charming person in my college.
I’ll be the number 1 player.
You’ve been watching too many movies, get your head out of the screen. With so much content available, it’s easy to sort of get carried away with what we’re watching. We sometimes believe things that are absolutely ridiculous. Like how you can drift easily just by pulling your handbrake only for you to end up crashing into Mr. Ramamurthy’s special Maruti 800. He’s gonna go straight to your parents and also rat on you about how you smoke up on the terrace everyday.
Don’t be that guy.
It’s not just movies, sometimes people are too lazy to even check up on certain facts and just accept it as the truth and That’s why there are so many myths regarding cars out there today.
Worry not fellow “I got a license, I can now drive like Dom from fast and furious” person, we’ve got you covered. Let’s go ahead and debunk these common myths and hopefully avoid you getting screwed by Mr.Ramamurthy.
Myth number 1: Fuel tanks and bullets.
Alright, you’re involved in a high speed chase and there’s a huge hairpin but then you crash into the divider. You get out of the car, see the villain escaping, what do you do?
Take out your gun with one bullet and aim at the petrol tank and boom.
Nothing happens.
Firstly, for an explosion, we require fuel and oxygen, but most importantly in the right proportions. A fuel tank cannot offer the required amount of oxygen for this.
And on top of that most tanks today use composite materials and not metal. So a gun striking it would not produce a spark, thus no ignition.
Also most tanks these days are built sturdy with heavy reinforcements.
So good luck destroying your enemy with that single bullet. I would rather focus on improving my driving.
Myth number 2 : Hiding behind cars during gunfire will protect you.
Consider this scenario, you’ve got the Libyan army shooting at you after they caught you smuggling contraband into their country.
I know, I know, it’s a far fetched story, Libya already has contraband, but this makes for engaging and informative writing.
Anyway you find this car and decide that you’ll go hide behind it to protect yourself.
Yeah, you’re gonna get shot. Most cars are not bulletproof. The materials used to make them cannot stop a bullet. Bullets can easily penetrate the car and come out the other end.
One good thing is that the bullets will be deflected and exit from another direction and aiming directly at you will be tough.
However if there’s no other option, then hiding behind a car, especially behind the front wheel is better than just going Tom Cruise and making a run for it. Hide behind the two front wheels. In this case there’s also the engine providing you cover.
Myth number 3 : Riding on the outside of a fast moving vehicle is easy.
Ok, I blame Fast and furious for this.
They make it look so easy, when the actors are just sitting on the hood, roof or on the rear of a car, ready to jump onto the next car.
This is ridiculously tough to do, even with a harness. Forget about doing it without one.
Firstly most car bodies offer very less friction for you to maintain any sort of balance and the wind itself is enough to make you lose your footing.
And the force acting on you, especially during a curve will knock you right off the car.
So next time you wanna play Batman and hang on the roof of a car, make sure you secure yourself with 24 hooks and belts.
It won’t look cool but guess what else doesn’t look cool,a broken back.
Myth number 4 : Driving off a cliff causes an explosion.
You know that scene in Indian movies where the car falls off the cliff and you see a slow motion shot of the car falling towards the bottom, hits a few rocks here and there and then boom.
Instant explosion.
Yeah, that does not happen.
For a car to explode, we need a spark and there’s a very, very slight chance, maybe 1 in 100 that a car falling off a cliff would catch a spark to cause an explosion.
The most ideal scenario is the car is smashed and crumpled into pieces. It just lies down there at the bottom of a cliff, just like your dreams.
Myth number 5 : Cars landing with a parachute.
Yeah, we’re looking at your Fast and Furious. This not only defies laws of physics but even manages to surprise god himself. I called him yesterday and we had a lengthy conversation about it, but that’s a story for another day.
It’s impossible for the car to land straight for several reasons, one including the weight imbalance between the front and back depending on the engine placement. But even if you do manage to balance the weight, the sheer impact of the force, even with the parachute, can easily kill an engine and destroy the suspensions. No way can you just land the car and drive away like you just pulled it out of the garage.
Now there are several other myths regarding cars that we need to debunk. But too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. And 5 shocks in a day is more than enough. If you want something else to read about, regarding automobiles, go check out our other blogs here.
Stay tuned to read more such stuff.
Don’t try a wheelie with your car.
