3 ms·

> how does a well made car burst into flames so quickly? I always wonder about this, it's not like a car fire is anything like hollywood makes it out to be.

• jlgreco 13y ago
  Cars can catch fire in real life: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=54e_1333912420 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=54e_1333912420 See also: Ryan Dunn's 911, post-tree. Hollywood may exaggerate the rate at which that happens, but not much more.
  • wavefunction 13y ago
    Ryan Dunn was driving at 130mph when he hit that tree. Not a great example for your position...
    • jlgreco 13y ago
      What makes you think his case sets a lower bound on the speed required to start a fire?
      • fredoliveira 13y ago
        Well, physics.
        • fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
          Physicists tend to like to repeat an experiment lots of times before attempting to make conclusions based on empirical observations.
    • JshWright 13y ago
      Given the distance the drive train was tossed in this wreck, I don't think there was any shortage of kinetic energy being dissipated into the vehicle.
• anigbrowl 13y ago
  The fact that movies prefer to show a big dramatic explosion in a fictional context does not mean that cars can't catch fire in real life. http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/reports/vehicles.shtm http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/reports/vehicles.shtm
  • coldtea 13y ago
    Sure -- but a small percentage of them does it in a crash. Of course, if you are so inclined (either way), you can explain away any coincidence. We had the "conspiracy theorists", not we have the "coincidence theorists".
• deleted 13y ago
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