SPM and Turbo Boost

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aussieknight
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Post by aussieknight » Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:49 am

Rockatteer wrote: OMG! Makes me wanna bitch-slap them! :mad:
Dude! Settle! They can be completely up the wrong tree if that's what makes them happy. Just step aside when they fall out :-)
:spmgo:
Last edited by aussieknight on Fri Sep 05, 2003 3:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Rockatteer » Fri Sep 05, 2003 1:25 am

It's a wonder someone hasn't tried explain the fast walkers with some warped out theory of relativity.....like if your travelling fast then everything else looks like its going fast as well.

:lol:
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Post by Ghost-Unmade » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:55 am

Well if space and time are interrelated then if you travel at a certain speed through one, erm wait....


what about this; If you create a big enough gravity field behind and object so that the universe expands behind it while contracting....um no that's not either.


Ok...Time is like a string rolled into a ball......

Oh, forget they just sped up the tape. ;)

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Post by Ghost-Unmade » Fri Sep 05, 2003 11:25 am

Well seriously, I think the question that should be asked isn't CAN KITT use SPM and Turbo Boost at the same time, but does he really wan't to do that. I mean if he's somewhere where there are going to be obstacles coming up in his path, he probably shouldn't go so fast.

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Post by CB2001 » Fri Sep 05, 2003 2:14 pm

To be honest, it would be a bad idea to use Turbo Boost and SPM at the same time. I bring up an actual case of a real car wreck.

A while back, I was looking for an actual car wreck video for something I was working on. I used WinMX and came across a video of a RX-7 being test driven out in the desert at a high speed (well over 200 MPH). When the car was at 217 MPH, the car's front shot up off the ground from the wind and caused the car to flip backwards (while still going forwards). The same thing would have to come in mind with KITT and SPM.

I think the reason for the fins were not only for the means of friction, but a means of using friction to keep the car down on the ground. And from what I've seen of Turbo Boost, when you use it, it goes up and forward. If you were to Turbo Boost while in SPM, to make a long story short, KITT would be doing summersalts.

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Post by neps » Fri Sep 05, 2003 5:39 pm

Yea, but your car didn't have an MBS.

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Post by cloudkitt » Fri Sep 05, 2003 7:39 pm

Army_F_Body wrote: I seen some "pop out" of some riced out Hondas. But I don't think it was intentional :)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I don't think it's the fins that "make him go faster" I think it's those little rocket-type thingies on the back of the rear spoiler.

I'd like to see KITT to somersaults :twisted:
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Post by Rockatteer » Fri Sep 05, 2003 9:50 pm

Didn't StreetHawk do a summersalt, when they used the vertical lift (same as turbo boost) with the Air brake flaps?
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Post by Michael Pajaro » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:16 pm

Yes, he did back-flip the bike in mid-air by applying the brakes. But the geek-engineer Norman didn't believe Jesse actually did it, because he "proved" the bike would tear apart under that kind of stress.

Lose 1 for the engineers.

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Post by CK » Sat Sep 06, 2003 7:58 pm

Now those "rocket thingies" on the back above the taillight......are they really rockets? I always thought they were more lights. Besides I've never actually seen anything come out of them.

Cheri

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Post by Knicks4973 » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:21 pm

In my opinion, the reason why KITT never used Turbo Boost and SPM together was because his structure couldn't handle it. I don't ever recall KITT going through a wall in SPM. For example, in KITTnap, KITT exits the building by opening the garage door while he was in SPM, instead of going through it. In regular mode, he would have just gone through to save time. SPM was created to give KITT extra speed and maneuverability when he didn't have his MBS. It isn't stable enough to withstand going through a wall, as well as Turbo Boosting. And Turbo Boosting in SPM at 300 MPH shouldn't be a problem if it were stable, because KITT Turbo Boosted at about 300 MPH in Knight Strike, when he was trapped in the tunnel.

Yes, it probably was cheaper not to combine the two (Turbo Boost and SPM), but I would think KITT is weaker in SPM than in his regular form.

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Post by Allen » Sun Sep 07, 2003 12:00 pm

The SPM mode was apparantly creaed by Bonnie, who apparantly has background in aerodynamic engineering along with all her other talents. She said in part two of Juggernaut that she was incorporating some ideas of hers into KITT to give him a 40% increase in speed (also to overcome the lack of MBS that they didn't have on hand in the Chicago garage). My two cents here is that the pop-out systems installed on KITT were created by Bonnie. Bonnie dreamed up the pop-outs, and she apparantly didn't consult any aerodynamics experts. It's possible that she didn't have everything "right," even though in television land, it all worked perfectly!

My problem with this whole scheme is that the Chicago gang had only a couple days to reassemble KITT while Bonnie worked on the electonics and other systems. If RC and company were busting their butts to rebuild the Transam's body, how did they have time to install all the pop-outs, each requiring its own design and structure, as well as motors to make them all pop out and retract? And then, they didn't have time to test any of it: Michael called and said they had about a half hour because he was on his way. Talk about deadlines!

allen

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Post by tkr9 » Sun Sep 07, 2003 8:29 pm

PLOT!!!! (assuming the worst, that KITT wasn't real, and it was TV show). Devon would have been blown up by those nasty people if they hadn't fixed KITT in time, and that wouldn't have been very nice. Sod the flippin' dangerous whatever it was they were trying to nick, KITT had to be in time to save Devon so all the British viewers could all be happy bunnies.

It's also to highlight the skills of people living in ghetto areas and encourage the viewer to reassess their prejudices. Something along the lines of...If they can do what scientists from MIT can do then they must be employable jolly old people etc...

Assuming KITT WAS real however, which we all know he was *coughs* then he probably never used SPM and Turboboost together because he had no need to. The added impetus added by turboboost would only add a quick input of speed, but over long distances the SPM would have to run under its own power for most of the journey. As SPM was only intended to be used over long distances then it using turboboost would not be of much use to them.

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Post by Knicks4973 » Sun Sep 07, 2003 9:01 pm

I think you got what we we're talking about mixed up? When we mean turbo boost, we mean jumping through the air, not giving KITT an extra boost in speed, which you were talking about. Your point is correct. When turbo boost is used for an extra boost of speed, there's no need for it when in SPM since you are going extremely fast anyway. I think the original question asked was why didn't KITT turbo boost (jump) while in SPM?

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Post by knightshade » Sun Sep 07, 2003 9:04 pm

Allen wrote: My problem with this whole scheme is that the Chicago gang had only a couple days to reassemble KITT while Bonnie worked on the electonics and other systems. If RC and company were busting their butts to rebuild the Transam's body, how did they have time to install all the pop-outs, each requiring its own design and structure, as well as motors to make them all pop out and retract? And then, they didn't have time to test any of it: Michael called and said they had about a half hour because he was on his way. Talk about deadlines!

allen
It's the same problem that pops up from time to time when Kitt is injured and due to the corner the writers have backed themselves into, some non-qualified person has to fix him. Michael has magically morphed into an electronics/mechanics expert from time to time (in the desert with Goliath, in KR2K). And I think in Voo Doo Knights there was some comment about Devon doing something computer related (although I might be confusing about that since no one has tied me down and forced me to watch that painful episode recently ;)).

Just little writing inconsistencies I'd say.

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Post by tkr9 » Sun Sep 07, 2003 9:05 pm

Ooops. :oops:

Still, gotta bit of it right. I thought he did use turboboost once whilst IN SPM?

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Post by KnightAvenger77 » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:34 pm

how much money would it have been to hook up the T/A to a crane, and haul it while it was decorated with SPM and just play the slow tape really fast!

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Post by knightimmortal » Mon Sep 08, 2003 12:01 am

He never did use turbo boost while in SPM, and I would tend to agree with the others that he couldn't. In simulations, when you are going that speed, you would technically go up, and loop right around, and if you were lucky, he would land on his wheels.

As for the money it would take to hook a T/A to a crame, and haul it around is still quite expensive, especially on the insurance for a production like that, specifically with that specialized car, sort of the same concept as why we didn't see the tomato mobile in KR2K turbo boost, there was only a limited amount of vehicle to play with, and they couldn't risk too many accidents.

KI

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Post by Ghost-Unmade » Thu Sep 11, 2003 11:40 am

But with digital editing at the level it is today, wouldn't it be conceivalbe that they wouldn't have to hook a TA to a crane?

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Post by K.I.T.T » Thu Sep 11, 2003 12:49 pm

Back then they didnt have that sort of tech.... hence why K.I explains the way they would of had to! But yes. as you say , today if they were making that sort of sceane then some computer graphics would come into play.

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Post by Miked » Fri Sep 12, 2003 1:03 am

Whenever I hear people shoot the breeze about doing car stunt footage, on any message board, or in real life, I hear the same misconception about doing it:

Everybody thinks they would try to save the car.

To a studio, the price of a car is petty-cash.
What would it cost to set up an area to keep a crane out of the camera's sight? What would the crane cost to rent, set-up, and fuel?

A totalled T/A is a heck of lot cheaper, even after paying to put the SPM stuff on it.

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Post by knightimmortal » Fri Sep 12, 2003 2:11 am

Actually, for the SPM car, they DID try to save the car. That is why you see recycled footage of the same SPM shots, because yes, the price of an average car would mean snot to a studio, but remember, the whole SPM/Convertible set-up cost them a little more than an average car. Right around $250,000 for just the car models, the four of which didn't have all of the goodies in one single unit.

So I am guessing that it is a huge misconception that you can just take super glue and stick some wings on a car. It actually took George Barris time and effort to put that car together, and a whole lot more than super glue. (Read the Knight Rider Legacy, it's rather informative on the subject.) And $250,000 back in the 80's wasn't a drop in the bucket for any studio, and specifically for a weekly TV show.

Once again, the same occurrence happened to the Knight 4000. As a Dodge Stealth, yeah, not a problem. The moment they started to bondo things onto it, it changed the whole scope of the concept, hence, the reasoning behind not having any Turbo Boosts or any of the more spectacular stunts in Knight Rider 2000.

In short, when it is specialized, they do try to save the car.

KI

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Post by Army_F_Body » Fri Sep 12, 2003 2:38 am

I think Jesse James needs to have a KR themed episode of Monster Grage. You could have Mark, Don and maybe even George on it as the subject experts.

Maybe Jesse could pick up an old junked 3rd gen and turn it into a fully functional SPM car! That would be cool :)
KITT project is on again!

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Post by aussieknight » Fri Sep 12, 2003 2:54 am

Here's a bit of info for anyone wanting to know about the KITT SPM and convertible design and fabrication:
http://www.robertwebb.com/knight.htm
You get to see stuff like this....
Image
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Post by K.I.T.T » Fri Sep 12, 2003 12:40 pm

It dosent matter how many times i see that picture it makes me drool everytime.!! mmmmmm, Nice one aussie!!

K.I.T.T

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