#1427: The Beemer Smell

Jul 05, 2014
This week on Car Talk, do BMW’s really have a unique aroma, and if so, how come Diane’s husband can smell it while she can’t? Is it only discernible to men on the verge of a mid-life crisis? Elsewhere, Ed’s having trouble shifting his car out of Park, and his solution may give his insurance company an ulcer; and, Tom and Ray try to stop Steven’s mirrors from twitching before he drives into a ditch. Also, how one student’s GPA plummeted after she listened to a single episode of Car Talk; and in an effort to improve inter-species communication, Tom and Ray translate mechanics’ grunts into English. All this and more, this week on Car Talk.

Show Open Topic

Inter-Species Communication: Grunts in Translation.

This Week's Puzzler

Free Anniversary Dinner: Why did the restaurant owner not believe the couple was celebrating their anniversary that day?

Last Week's Puzzler

A Pound of Retention: What German engine invention saves a pound of water for each pound of fuel that's burned?


1 Comments

no it ain't

Eighteen pounds of water per pound of gasoline (octane) burned? Wow, you got that wrong. It would be 1.42 pounds of water. See Edward F. Obert, "Internal Combustion Engines and Air Pollution", 3rd Ed., page 351, Example 10-4. Still enough for the purpose, so the aeronautical engineers weren't wrong.
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