What a drag.

I've just finished adding the section on aerodynamic efficiency to the Hybrids bible and it was a bit of an eye-opener doing the research on drag coefficients. I know we all poke fun at the Hummer for being such a ridiculous vehicle, but did you know just how bad it is? In the grand scheme of things there are really only 2 vehicles ever made that have a worse drag coefficient than the Hummer H2. The Bugatti type 51 (which was made in 1933) and the Caterham 7 racing car, which is largely unchanged from it's 1950's design. Way to go GM - and they wonder why the company is failing.

Please don't race me.

You're going to lose anyway, so what's the point?
As a motorcyclist and a car driver, it never ceases to amaze me the number of car-only drivers who don't understand power-to-weight ratio. This lovely, clear sunday morning, I was out for a ride and at one set of lights I came to, a gold Subaru pulled up behind me, then backed up, and moved over to the empty lane to my left. The lovely little thing inside gunned her engine, and I could hear the big bore exhaust, and I thought "Do I let her win, or do I teach her a lesson". Obviously, being a testosterone-fuelled male, I went for option B and smoked her off the lights. The difference is that I settled at the speed limit whilst she went tearing past a good 20mph over it. At the next set of lights, there she was again, gunning her engine, looking over at me. Again, I smoked her and again she took off way over the speed limit. This could have gone on all day as far as I was concerned, because as well as she was driving the car, and as modified as it was, the combination was still singularly incapable of out-dragging a totally stock 1 litre motorbike, complete with lardy rider.
By all means race other cars, if you feel you must, but please don't try it against a motorbike - you'll only look silly.