Neat story! Did the car have a supercharger? Wikipedia puts the 4.5L
Bentley's fuel consumption at 15 mpg for the normally-aspirated version and 2.3
mpg for supercharged. (Wow!) With 50 gallons in the tank, he would have had
to beat 2.6 mpg to make the trip.
2000 RPM in a 4-cylinder motor is 4000 impulses per minute. I don't know
the final drive ratio or wheel size, but if we assume he drove at ~45 mph, it
would have taken 173 minutes (692000 impulses) to drive the 130 miles. If this
consumed $554 in gas, that's $0.0008 US per impulse, or about 6.25 RPP
(Revolutions Per Penny).
One could do worse things with a penny... or 55400 of them...
-Nick Wolf
'62-ish TR4
'86 Jetta TD (45 mpg)
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:44:53 +0100
From: "John Macartney" <standardtriumph@btinternet.com>
[...]
> Just as I was snapping the filler cap closed on the Spitfire,
> alongside me comes a beautiful 1926 4.5 litre Bentley. The same type that
> raced so successfully at Le Mans all those years ago. Driver was a most
> engaging individual, very friendly and responded with humour to my comment
> that it would cost him the UK defence budget to re-fill. With aplomb and a
> cheery smile, he loosened the Bentley's fuel cap to reveal a hole about 6
> inches in diameter and a *fairly* empty (I'd guess just under half full) but
> massive slab tank. In went the nozzle and while he kept the fuel flowing, we
> had a pleasant chat. First time I've seen a Bentley refilled from empty
> and it didn't happen in a few moments! :) Eventually, the tank was full and
> I looked at the pump meter. GBP 143.00 (equal to about US$286.00) and I
> commented that I hoped it would get him home. "I hope so too. London's about
> 130 miles? With a bit of luck and if I keep the revs below 2000, we
> ought to do it." How much did he take on board? My calculator tells me about
> 25.8 imperial gallons and there were probably about another 20 gallons still
> in it. So, say 50 gallons at GBPUS$554 for the full tank and 130 miles to
> eat it all up, it would have cost him somewhere in the region of US$4.26
> PER MILE! Jeez, at that consumption, I guess you could work out the cost per
> firing impulse. Anyone care to do it? I'm too tired.....
> Jonmac
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