Try to guess K.I.T.T.'s mileage?

[KFCreator]

Well, for that matter, make it 5 years because most of KITT's sytems again got replaced or reworked significantly in Knight of the Juggernaut. If SPM and EBS were modifications to the drivetrain and engine and braking system, the whole engine compartment must've had to come out and be taken apart to make those modifications. If the engine had to be taken apart, it was probably cleaned if not replaced altogether. And, we also don't know what disasters might have befallen KITT in the years between the end of season 4 and 1990 so it's possible that within that time the engine was again either modified or replaced. But I think the original post specualted what KITT's operational mileage would have been in his whole lifetime, correct?

[Lost Knight]

It always kind of bugged me that at in "Knight Of the Juggernaut" that K.I.T.T. was rebuilt by apparently mechanically inclined street hustlers and was modified on the spot in Chicago with the SPM and EBS systems, meaning as earlier mentioned that the entire engine bay had to have been modified or replaced. In "Junk Yard Dog," it took a team of Knight Industries engineers to carefully reconstruct K.I.T.T. and all his systems. In later episodes (after KOTJ), we know that the Molecular Bonded Shell had been reapplied after the episode, which also may mean K.I.T.T. had been remodified once more. It seems unlikely that a bunch of guys off the street could rebuild a state of the art car like that, even with Bonnie's help I don't see where they'd get the right tools and parts?

Anyway after the last destruction, or at least the last seen destruction of K.I.T.T., that leaves the remaining 5 years. In Knight Rider 2000, Maddock says that "the car didn't exactly have fresh oil on the dipstick" so K.I.T.T. was dismantled. As what was originally projected, K.I.T.T.'s mileage starting over with a new engine over a period of 5 years probably did end up back around the original 300,000 mark, technically. For any car, even a supercar, that's a lot of mileage so Maddock made the decision to have K.I.T.T. dismantled and would be better off building a new car altogether.

[Lost Knight]

Since I got interrupted like 5 times while writing that, I lost my train of thought. I also meant to say that it's unlikely that K.I.T.T. was destroyed for a 5th time during '85-'90 because of Maddock's comment about the fresh oil. Seems to me each time K.I.T.T. is rebuilt, he's new and improved. Maddock might not have considered K.I.T.T. so obsolete if he had been rebuilt more recently. So the way I figure it is, The Knight 2000 (not the shell) is 5 years old.

Another interesting nitpick is when Knight Rider 2000 originally aired in 1991, the voice over in the trailer (which does not appear on the DVD) says "For four years they rode together: a man who did not exist and a car...unlike any other." Yet in the movie itself it says their adventures ended in 1990 so that would make it 8 years.

Yeah we're reading into it too much but so what, it's fun

[FuzzieDice]

I think Maddock was saying the "Fresh oil" bit he said "if you know what I mean" meaning he was making a pun of sorts, saying KITT was old. For all we know he could have just had an oil change. I think Maddock was just using an analogy there, not really referencing the actual oil condition in the car before it was dismantled.

[KFCreator]

LostKnight--I guess for the KR2000 TV trailer, they meant that in terms of viewers like us watching the show, KITT and Michael rode together for 4 years. It would have made no sense to us if they had said they rode together for 8 years.

As far as the other things you talked about, I don't think that Maddock meant that the features and systems built into the car were no longer "fresh" but more along the lines that the circuitry of KITT's CPU was from 1982-era technology and probably was never upgraded or modified. Even KITT stated in KR2000 that he was "originally designed with series 2000 circuitry." So, while KITT's features may not have been completely out of date, I'm sure his CPU was.

In Knight of the Juggernaut, RC3's friends obviously were very familiar with cars and building/rebuilding them. However, Bonnie was the cybernetic technician and I think RC3 and his friends really were in charge of reworking/replacing KITT's body and handling most of, if not all of the actual engine work that needed to be done. We don't know how badly KITT's systems and circuitry were damaged or how badly the engine was damaged. If most of the damage was largely superficial, and if RC3's team worked around the clock, it's possible that in 24 hours they'd have KITT back up and running. As far as incorporating the SPM and EBS and Convertible mode, my only thought is that SPM and EBS were projects Bonnie had been working on quietly for some time and just needed the time to include. So, maybe most of those parts had already been built and were kept in storage somewhere in the semi and when Bonnie saw an opportunity to include them, she did. Convertible mode obviously was a collaboration of Bonnie's and RC3 and his team but how they got everything done in less than a full day is beyond me. Just call them miracle workers I guess! LOL

[Andela]

In the Pilot Devon says that it isn't paint. But why does Michael paint him from white to black in Junk Yard Dog?

[KFCreator]

As we saw in Goliath, the Molecular Bonded Shell is a clear substance that can be sprayed onto a surface (usually metal) that either causes the molecules of the surface it's applied to to "harden" into a nearly indestructible surface or it's simply the MBS coat itself that once dried properly, hardens and protects the surface it's been applied to. In Knight of the Juggernaut, we see that Nordstrom figures out how to neutralize the MBS with a counteragent spray, which renders KITT's body just as vulnerable as any other car on the road.

[Lost Knight]

Think of the MBS as polyurithane on a wooden surface. When you touch it, you're touching the smooth shiny polyurithane but not the actual wood. In the pilot, Michael touches the finish on top of the original substance which must be metal underneath.

FuzzyDice- I know Maddock wasn't literally speaking about the oil, my point in bringing up his comment was only to show that regardless of K.I.T.T.'s condition, to Maddock, he was still obsolete. Even probably if Maddock watched K.I.T.T. be rebuilt when he first joined the Knight Foundation. At least obsolete in terms of being granted funding and keeping the Knight Foundation in business, they needed a new edge by building a new car.

KFCreator- It would make sense that Bonnie had been working on the idea of SPM and EBS prior to K.I.T.T.'s destruction because countless other features were constantly being installed into K.I.T.T. randomly, showing that Bonnie is always working on something. I guess they were able to rebuild K.I.T.T. in 24 hours because there were so many mechanics all working 'round the clock. We never actually ever see K.I.T.T.'s engine in the series, but I'm thinking it's no ordinary engine which is why I wonder about the mechanics. K.I.T.T. isn't the type of car you take to Jiffy Lube.

[MonteDoran74]

Hmm...let me see
Id used to own an 89 TransAm until i got in a car accident
on July 14th 2004, and i had the TransAm for 3 years and
7months, from the beginning it was 62,000+ original miles,
until now.....188,832 miles.
So...to give an estimate of KITTs mileage:
between 200,000 and 310,000+ original miles.
(crashing through walls, turbo boosting, ski modes, SPM's and
even driving on water......)
basically, even though, KITT maybe the production copy,
KARR still comes out ahead, as the prototype, UNLESS
every time KITT got into a collision damage, KITT swapped
engines with KARR or something. Who knows??

[Arjun]

No wonder KITT's mileage is classified...the Knight Rider FAQ says that it was classified to avoid heart attacks in Detroit. Does that mean cars from there are gas guzzlers?

[HondaSiR]

the Knight Rider FAQ says that it was classified to avoid heart attacks in Detroit. Does that mean cars from there are gas guzzlers?

Back in the early 80's? Yes. Cars that came from Detroit were often termed gas guzzlers when compared to their European and Japanese counterparts.

[citizen_x]

I truly think that the crew must have replaced 2 or 3 engines!

[FuzzieDice]

I had seen a 3rd Gen T/A (an '82 actually!) and the owner told me it had over 300,000 miles on it! So I would say that would be a good estimate for KITT. The guy indicated it was a good, dependable car, too.

[hot_knight]

No wonder KITT's mileage is classified...the Knight Rider FAQ says that it was classified to avoid heart attacks in Detroit. Does that mean cars from there are gas guzzlers?

Wasn't his mpg what was classified? And it was "to prevent heart attacks in Detroit" that was because Kitt was ridiculously FUEL EFFICIENT?

[MonteDoran74]

Uuuhhhh....yea
this car is very Uugly...yea i understand it has the speed
2000HP, but....i prefer to have a car that stands out,
looks good, and gives me the speed too.

I prefer KITT over this any day.

[Lost Knight]

I posted that to show how close the real world is to Super Pursuit Mode. Not for a beauty pageant. I'm sure we all prefer K.I.T.T. ourselves, don't we? The accuracy of the show in comparison to real life physics of a car traveling at those speeds, I thought, were really intriguing.

[Darknight]

There is practically no limit to the amount of heat that a laser or array of lasers can produce given that light has minimal mass and you can fit an almost limitless number of light waves in a certain amount of space. Therefore, you can fit an almost infinite amount energy in a space. Scientists in search of sustainable cold fusion have produced temperatures in the millions of degrees (when its that hot, Celcius vs. Fahrenheit vs. Kelvin doesn't matter too much, its still darn hot) in order to initiate fusion reactions. That said, a single laser can produce temperatures well into the thousands.

BTW, I love technical discussions!

DK

[MonteDoran74]

I apologize, i didnt specify earlier what i was referring too,
i love the SPM KITT, i would love to have that car any day,
anytime, even own a SPM KITT version, i love the cool aerodynamic design, especially when KITT transform or....on hydralicly pump up
and expands, what i was referring to the car of the future that id clicked on wasnt really my style nor my taste, bottomline....ewwww uugly
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/futurecar/ ... -4,00.html just click on it, u'll see what i
mean.....which is on page 1 (of KITT mileage), i saw it, and id quickly
exit out, cuz i dont like the car of the...future...
NOW that id cleared that up,.....

this is my favorite KITT car
of course, without the convertible.

[Lost Knight]

No need to apologize, that's just your opinion. I didn't build the thing, so trust me if people don't like it I wouldn't take offense, I just thought what it can do is pretty cool. I don't think it's a very attractive car myself! Looks more like a spaceship on wheels to tell you the truth, lol. I just didn't want anyone to miss the point of why I posted that. It wasn't for looks, just for how close real life has come to the way the show was.

Actually there's a lot of features on K.I.T.T. that have become a reality over the years if you think about it: navigational systems, retrieving data from a computer source (the internet), SPM (even though that's for concept cars), collision avoidance systems, fax machines, even Michael's comlink. Technically I could post dozens of links for dozens of cars with those features that look hotter, but I picked that car because it was based on one of the more far-fetched K.I.T.T. functions.

Opinions vary on how people like K.I.T.T.'s altered configuration or Super Pursuit Mode. What I thought was cool about that was the process of K.I.T.T. metamorphing and especially the rare times when Michael uses it at night with all the extensions underlit with red lights. When I see movies like The Fast and the Furious, that's what it reminds me of.