Does the weight of the passengers affect a car's performance?
374908
yes.  espeically gas mileage.
698962
Dude, weight in Newtons is just mass times the acceleration due to gravity.  m*g         ex> 50kg*9.81m/s^2 = 490.5N\n\nHeadrests.....Law of Inertia.....Head wants to keep going, but car stops = whip lash....when head finally stops and rebounds, the headrest prevents u from breaking your neck\n\nRelativity:  Relative to the ground, the ball is in the same position, b/c of the law of statics...the wagon is accelerating under the ball, while the ball wants to stay where it is\n\nElephants mass.....More Mass is more inertia, therefore it is harder to stop and or change direction\n\nSponges....\n\nInertia and weight change.....The actual sponge has the same mass, but weighs less b/c of the loss of the water....the lesser amount of water = less interia
607432
While increasing flow of fuel u r increasing the speed of the driver unit (eg. increasing the speed of diesle engine which drives the alternator) bu thus more RPM and more power (however it will not increase more than the rating)
1159240
You got it!  A tall vehicle makes up for what they lack in their pants and IQ.  Good one!
1065167
Formula 1 cars may have loads of power, but they also have weight. The winning combo is the best power to weight ratio. in this case, i think the motorcycle would win, only because they can take turns at up to 150 mph well a formula 1 sometimes hase to slow down up to 80 mph. Also since the light weight of a motorcycle their giddy up gets em more acceleration. It would be pretty close... but i think the motorcylce would win.
611670
It doesn't make the car faster; it decreases the frictional force that is slowing the car down.\n\nAn object has to move the air out of it's way for it to pass through.  Buses, for example, have a big, flat front end that sorta traps air in front.  You really want to cut through the air, like a sports car.  Also, the air flowing over the body can create drag.  Hence, a nice smooth surface with little variation is good.  Finally, the back side of a car makes a difference.  Again, the bus will create a low pressure area as air has to fill the space that it leaves.  This is bad.  It's much better to slowly close the space behind the vehicle.
951702
Weight, strength, and speed are the factors.◘
697205
Yes, but to a smaller degree than when on the ground.\n\nThe inertia  and the weight of the wheel will have an effect as you change speed and gears.  This is not real "rolling resistance" but has a similar, but smaller effect.\n\nIf you are on a bike stand and rotate the pedals at 60rpm in the lowest (speed) gear, then change to the highest gear, you will see more   "resistance" until the wheel is at its new higher speed.  Then you will see some resistance to maintaining that speed and cadence.  This will be more than resistance in the lowest gear, and more pronounced the heavier the rear wheel.
845823
the speeds are too small, so classical mechanics should be fine:\n\nthe speed of the car is 45-10 = 35mph
1054432
I don't remember very well I but I red somwhere about a F1 car beating a F16 fighter on a 2km distance.\n\nLet's take an example: \nRoughly a 747 weight about 400tons and has 4 engines of 25tones of thrust. This would lead to a maximum acceleration of 0.25Gs at take off. I'm sure a fast car can do better than that
1014604
Seriously, it ALL depends on the driver.  I used to do quarter mile racing and could beat people in their own cars that couldn't beat me.  The car is important too, but the driver that knows how to push the car just right, usually wins.
659681
One of the other responses is correct in one sense that the ultimate efficiency of an internal combustion engine is determined by its compression ratio and operating temperature.  However, those things being equal, the engine with the lower amount of rotating mass will produce more output power per unit of fuel.  As one of the responses mentioned, lighter pistons can affect the efficiency, as can the design, e.g., a roller cam, overhead cam designs vs. rocker arms, a shorter stroke (sometimes), can all affect the comparative efficiency.  One glaring example of how rotating mass and internal friction can affect such is that better oils can improve fuel efficiency by reducing internal friction and lighter pistons can as well by reducing the amount of internal poser usage to accelerate and decelerate the pistons as they travel.
1112439
No, as long as you have people driving at 200+ miles per hour in a 3500 pound (1500 for IRL) machine with the aerodynamics that they run, then no.  No matter what you do, someone can always get killed.  \n\nThey have made things a lot safer (i.e. HANS device and safer barriers) but accidents and crazy stuff happens all the time.
564626
Which depends on the stres acted on the load and material used
486362
Minimum weight allowed is 600kg, but some weigh as little as 440kg to allow the teams to add ballast they can move around in the car to help fine tune the handling / weight distribution, etc.
883688
Not exactly, since your butt would stay on the outside and your head would be wound somewhere around the steering wheel! Perhaps things would be the same as a bug if you weighed a little less than a kilogram! Hey, let us know what happens the next time you do it! :)
797516
A 'Restraints System' is what the car companies call the combination of Seatbelts and Airbags in a car. When a car gets in a crash, the Seatbelts help restrain, or keep the people in the car in their seats, and the Driver and Passenger Airbags help 'cushion' the upper body against hitting the steering wheel and dash. \n\nSeat Belts have mechanisms that ensure that the belt, once buckled into properly, will 'hold' and not 'pay out' in a crash. Some belts even have 'crash sensing' that will fire a 'pre-tensioning' mechanism that will actually tighten and take up the slack in a belt, all in a fraction of a second. Some will also actually manage the loads on the chest by 'paying out' the belt in a controlled manner. Seatbelt mechanisms work by using the 'inertia' of certain components, to manage the 'inertia' of the occupants. Inertia is explained a little later. \n\nAirbags are classified as Front, Side, or Curtain. Front airbags are in the Steering Wheel (for the Driver), and on the Passenger Side, in the Dash. Some cars have Side Airbags mounted in the side of the upper Seat, or the Side Door, or the Pillar behind the side Door. Curtain Airbags, also known as Rollover Bags, are mounted above the side doors, and come down and out like a continuous curtain from front to back covering the heads of all rows of occupants the vehicle is designed to carry, from hitting the roof or sides of the vehicle.\n\nThe Seat Belts and Airbags work in combination to help reduce injuries in a crash, but only upto a certain impact speed for which they were designed to work. \n\nDo you know? Airbags only work as designed when you have the seatbelts on.\n\nAll of the above comprise of a 'Restraints system' in a typical automobile.\n\nInertia is a something any physical object has because of its weight and speed. Inertia would cause something to keep moving even when whatever was pushing it along it not doing so anymore. \n\nSo, when you are sitting in a moving car your inertia is directly proportional to your weight and the speed at which you are travelling. So when the car comes to a sudden stop, because of a crash for example, you tend to continue moving because you have 'inertia'. That is why people get thrown against the windshield or dash, or even out of the car. If somebody who is heavier than you is also travelling with you in the moving car, they would have more inertia than you. \n\nIn the same way, inertia is why it takes more force to start moving a heavier object than a light one. Imagine trying to push a car. It is so difficult at first, because the car is stationary, but once you get it moving, it becomes easier because the car's inertia helps keep it moving.\n\nSo you see how the seatbelts and airbags in a car help 'restrain' the occupants who would otherwise tend to get thrown due their 'inertia' in a crash.