Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by GuB-42 1 day ago
While I agree with the idea, the math is misleading.

Going 1mph faster on the 100-foot turn may be faster overall than going 1mph faster on the 1/4-mile straightaway if the speed difference is large enough.

Ex:

- 1/4-mile at 100 mph takes 9s, at 101 mph, it will take 8.9s

- 100 ft at 20 mph takes 3.8s, at 21 mph it will take 3.2s

It means that overall, in this situation, it is better to go 1 mph more on the turn (8.9 + 3.8 > 9 + 3.2).

2 comments

It is a metaphor.

Getting pedantic about the simple math laid out in the metaphor seems like you have lost the plot.

hmm... this is all my remembering old stuff. I thought there was better math when you go faster on the long parts vs trying to go faster on the short difficult parts?

better instead to use the short stuff to set up for better speeds on longer parts.

oh whatever.