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Do not try what you're about to see at home.

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We're what you call experts.

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On this car crazy episode of Mythbusters, the obscenity begins.

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Adam and Janie think outside the box.

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Pleasure problem.

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As they literally reinvent the wheel.

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Our lives have officially become a cartoon,

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testing the myth that square wheels will give you a smooth ride.

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Provided you drive fast enough.

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Meanwhile, Carrie Torian Grant, tackle a date night movie myth.

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There's something you don't see every day.

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Can two cars stuck bumper to bumper?

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Let's do it.

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Drive city streets.

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I've got no steering.

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I've got no steering.

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Cut corners.

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Do you believe we're getting paid to do this?

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And even do a 180 spin.

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So yeah, that was pretty much the best date I've ever been on.

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Who are the Mythbusters?

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Adam Savage.

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And Jamie Hineberg.

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Things are going to start to get a little crazy in here.

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Between them more than 30 years of special effects experience,

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together with Brad Imahara.

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Carrie Byron.

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Margaret.

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And Tori Belachie.

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They don't just tell the myths.

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They put them to the test.

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Hey, what, what you doing?

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Daydreaming.

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What is a Heidemann daydream about?

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Square wheels.

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Like, what if you put square wheels on a truck?

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I would imagine it would give you the roughest possible ride.

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It would be the clunkiest imaginable ride.

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Well, it wouldn't start, but if you went fast enough,

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it would eventually smooth out, wouldn't it?

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You're wondering how fast you have to drive with square wheels

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in order to get a smooth ride.

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Yeah.

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That's great.

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I think we should put it to the test.

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It may have come from the Heidemann's mind,

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but it's also going gangbusters on the fan site.

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Because according to the myth, at a fast enough speed,

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the difference between square and round wheels would disappear.

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But can this really be true?

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Or is this a myth that's headed back to square one?

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So what's your plan for these square wheels?

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Well, pretty much everything that we need for this

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is going to be really abused.

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So the wheels we're going to have to design to be able to take all of the stress.

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The truck's going to have to be really heavy duty.

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It's going to have to be four-wheel drive and have a big torquey engine in it.

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Super BV wheels, super BV truck.

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I think we should also add in there some nice objective way

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of measuring the smoothness of the ride we get.

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Like we compare it to a round wheel drive and see how close we can get.

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Instrumentation.

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Precisely.

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Okay.

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What I'm trying to figure out here is that if we took a wheel like this

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and changed it into something shaped more like this,

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a square, how fast would we have to go to stay on the corners like so

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and actually end up with a smooth ride?

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Whether that's possible or not, at what speed that occurs,

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that's what we're trying to find out.

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And first up comes the brainstorm.

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How to design a square wheel in the first place.

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How's the square wheel going to look?

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It's going to be square.

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Right.

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Reinventing the wheel is no easy feat.

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Obviously we're going to go with steel for this.

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What about something like, you know, a straight box?

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Well, I think that's a decent place to start.

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Every single wheel rotation.

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And then we spider out with some gussets.

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Exactly.

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Could lead to a catastrophic collapse.

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That'll start to look pretty sexy.

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Because of the 5,000 pound truck that they'll be carrying.

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This is really creepy bizarre.

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Yeah.

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But by thinking inside the square, their idea gets into gear.

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Cool.

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Let's get to it.

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Yeah.

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The final four-sided design has reinforcements at the center and corners,

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making it incredibly strong, but also incredibly complex.

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And with so many individual pieces of steel, it'll need to be laser cut.

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And thanks to the wonders of television, our parts are here.

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They're here.

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That takes no time at all.

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That is gorgeous.

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Man, those are so pretty.

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Let's set one up.

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Okay.

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In order to keep our square wheels from each weighing like 200 pounds a piece,

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we've designed it all out of 3-16 inch steel.

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Now that may not seem like much, but the design and the gussets and the distribution of the forces

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really ought to be able to take this.

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But with steel this thin, you can't just lay in these big fat welding beads.

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You actually have to stitch it carefully because the stuff, if it gets too hot, can warp.

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And that's bad.

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It's a laborious process, but hopefully it'll be worth it.

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And once the Mythbusters get their heads down, their hubs are soon looking like the wheel deal.

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Nice.

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You want to grab a saw? Let's put it on the ground.

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Yeah, this is how the tire goes on, right?

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Hopefully.

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That has a satisfying ring to it, doesn't it?

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It really does. It rings like a bell. It's so pretty.

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I'll be right back.

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It's a square wheel.

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Those two words shouldn't go together.

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They shouldn't, but this isn't quite up to shape yet.

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Well, there's your problem.

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Because next, it's time for the rubber to meet the rim.

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When you started this job, did you ever imagine you'd be lubing a square tire to fit a large piece of rubber on it?

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That's been my lifelong dream.

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In theory, the guide bars should make levering on the tire easier.

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Go ahead and get a clamp on that.

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Yeah.

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But trying to fit a square peg into a round hole is just as difficult as it sounds.

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My family's been fitting square wheels for two centuries now.

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No one's bought one, though.

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I bought my square wheels.

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Even bringing in a 2,000-pound wrecking ball.

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This is like how the Egyptians do it.

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The old Egyptian forklift.

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Doesn't get the tire onto the square, so Jamie has a solution.

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Slightly bigger.

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I hope it works.

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How's it look?

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Much better.

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Dude!

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I was able to just put it on by hand.

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Wow!

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That is a square wheel.

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That is, without a doubt, a square friggin' wheel.

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Thanks to their ingenuity and hard work, the mythbusters have squared the circle.

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Doing that makes me nervous.

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Now, they just have to complete another three.

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Next up, a conjoined car caper.

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Alright, so we have another Hollywood myth, and this one comes from the movie Date Night,

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where two cars get into a head-on collision and become conjoined.

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Not only that, but they continue to drive around the city.

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I know this one.

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They actually get stuck together.

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They go forward, backward, go around corners.

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It's awesome.

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A little demolition, a little stunt driving.

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I love it.

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It's a date night with a difference.

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According to the movie, two cars crash together.

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Then speed down city streets, cut corners, and even manage a 180 spin.

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But could two conjoined cars even move, let alone achieve these turbo-charged tricks?

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Alright, so we're going to test whether these two conjoined cars can drive all these crazy maneuvers, right?

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But are we going to test whether they can become joined that way in the first place?

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No, actually we don't have to test that.

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I was talking to these guys at the crash test facility, and they were saying that this can happen.

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Cars can become connected in a collision.

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It's very rare, like, one in 100,000 chances, but it can happen.

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Which means that could take days and days to replicate.

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Not to mention that's quite a chunk of change.

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Okay, so we'll join the cars ourselves, and we'll do just like they did in the movie,

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nose to nose, and make sure that they never separate.

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Cool, because this myth really is about the maneuvers and not whether they can get stuck together.

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And we've got to design something that can accelerate, brake, do slide turns, 180s, and safely.

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Exactly, and now the real question is, how the heck are we going to do this?

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Well, step-wide is to get two cars more or less identical to the ones in the movie.

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Here's what we got.

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Over here we have our cab, which is a basic sedan, a rear-wheel drive.

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And for our sports sedan, since we can't afford a $158,000 car just to wreck,

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we got one with equivalent technology, it's got equivalent horsepower, and it's all-wheel drive.

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And with that, step two is to turn them into a double-act.

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Whoa, hey.

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What's that?

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It's got missiles.

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This is the coolest car ever.

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What the heck are these?

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But connecting two cars bumper to bumper was never going to be easy.

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All right, well, problem number one, this car has an all-aluminum frame, so there's no welding to it.

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Well, that sucks.

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No welding means that the mythbusters will have to come up with a planned V.

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Now, initially we're going to try and connect to the bumper, but that's not the strongest part of the car.

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The strongest part of the car is actually the frame.

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That's where the driver's cage is.

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That's the most rigid part of the car.

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So we're going to use that to connect frame to frame instead of bumper to bumper.

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Let's put these cars together.

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It's a heavy-duty solution.

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I'm not using the light stuff.

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That'll ensure that their heavy-duty cars stay nose to nose on the track.

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Now, each of these cars weighs over two tons, and will have to be stuck together driving over 40 miles an hour.

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So we've designed a steel frame that will fuse to the taxi and then will bolt to the sedan. Simple.

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And all that serious steel means they've got some serious welding to do.

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Glamorous.

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Very glamorous.

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The guys take a page from Flash Dance as the sparks fly, and slowly the date night frame comes together.

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Cut the muffler off of any car. It sounds cooler.

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The cars have got serious muscle, but with the aluminum side bolted in and the other side welded on, the frame should keep that in check.

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So, all we need to do is get our cars off the car.

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And take it out to locations to test the Smith.

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That's all they have to do.

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But with the connected cars weighing in at four tons...

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Ho-ho!

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I think we've got a problem here with this forklift.

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That's not an easy proposition.

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Whoa.

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What's that?

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It's making evil noises, and it's kind of doing like this.

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Who would have thought this would be the most difficult for us to get out of the car?

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It's making evil noises, and it's kind of doing like this.

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Who would have thought this would be the most difficult part of the day?

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Just packing up the cars.

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We haven't even started the experiment.

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There's something you don't see every day.

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Eventually the double wide is loaded up and ready for its turbocharged excursion.

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See you there.

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Later.

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I've got no steering.

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Will the date night driving be double or nothing?

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That meant it would caught me.

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But first...

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In a few minutes, we're about to make another little piece in Smith Buster's history.

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For who else, I ask you, has attached square wheels to a car?

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Since Jamie was just a baby, a circular wheel has been the design of choice for a smooth ride.

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But could a square wheel, at speed, be just as comfortable?

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Well, after squaring up a feat of engineering excellence, the Smith Busters are ready to roll on testing.

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Let's get out of here.

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And with a truck packing plenty of power, they hit the road for a familiar testing ground.

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I love this tarmac.

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Nice day for a bouncy ride, huh?

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Absolutely it is. Let's get started.

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If these babies have any chance at all of giving us a smooth ride, how are we going to know beyond our own subjective experience?

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We need an objective measuring system for telling us how smooth our ride is.

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And that's where Jason and Scott come in.

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They work at LMS, a software and hardware engineering company that measures the vibration of all sorts of things,

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from cars to airplanes to washing machines, and they're going to measure our experiment.

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Yep, Jason and Scott position the sensitive sensors in three key areas.

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Good to go.

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To track the vibration on the suspension, the steering column, and of course, the passengers.

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And with the test track set, that looks faster.

249
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:13,000
They'll be put to use first in the round wheel control.

250
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,000
In three, two, one, go.

251
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:19,000
There we go.

252
00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,000
Feels like a pretty nice ride so far.

253
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,000
As it should be.

254
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:28,000
55.

255
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:29,000
55.

256
00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:33,000
And 60.

257
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:38,000
60 miles an hour. Feels pretty smooth. I think we've got a good metric.

258
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:39,000
Yeah.

259
00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,000
Bring it to a halt and head back to home base. Throw some square wheels on this puppy.

260
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,000
Unsurprisingly, the traditional wheels provide a comfortable ride,

261
00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,000
something that's backed up by the sensors.

262
00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,000
You guys, we get anything good?

263
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,000
Absolutely.

264
00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:59,000
We went up to about 60 miles an hour, steering column and the seat pad are nice low levels of vibration as we'd expect.

265
00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,000
That looks like a really good baseline.

266
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,000
Yep, we expect this to go way up with the square wheels.

267
00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:04,000
So do we.

268
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:05,000
Yeah.

269
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:06,000
All right, let's get it.

270
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,000
With the baseline set, it's time for the weirdest wheel change in automobile history.

271
00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,000
This is so wrong.

272
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,000
And yet it feels so right.

273
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,000
The obscenity begins.

274
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,000
You know, I don't think you'd need a parking brake with these things.

275
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,000
Yeah, no need to curb your wheels on the hill.

276
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,000
No.

277
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,000
No.

278
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,000
Personally, I don't think we're going to get a smooth ride out of these square wheels,

279
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:40,000
but more than that, with all of them flat, I seriously imagine that the first quarter turn,

280
00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:46,000
the first time a truck, boom, and lands on that second part of the square,

281
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,000
the truck may look at that as an accident and just shut down.

282
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,000
We might not even get more than one quarter turn on this test.

283
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:57,000
Well, as the Mythbusters mantra goes, there's only one way to find out.

284
00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,000
But that's a way that first involves a suit up for safety.

285
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,000
Because with the world's first set of square wheels doing the spinning,

286
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,000
the Mythbusters are taking no chances.

287
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,000
Let's do it.

288
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:10,000
All right.

289
00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:11,000
All right, here we go.

290
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:12,000
The moment of truth.

291
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,000
Square wheels, smooth ride, all four wheels flat.

292
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,000
Eh, three, two, one, go.

293
00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,000
They're off to a fucking start.

294
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,000
That's smooth right now.

295
00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,000
As Jamie accelerates, the ride seems to get smoother.

296
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,000
At least until it suddenly stops altogether.

297
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,000
Something's dreadfully wrong.

298
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,000
Yeah, we're sitting sideways.

299
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,000
We're sitting sideways and we're not level.

300
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:46,000
I know.

301
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:50,000
Whoa.

302
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,000
Oh crap, Jamie.

303
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:53,000
It's bad.

304
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,000
There's your problem.

305
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,000
What happened?

306
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,000
We sheared everything out of that wheel hub.

307
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:04,000
All the bolts.

308
00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:05,000
All the bolts.

309
00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,000
Well, at least it didn't ruin the wheels.

310
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,000
Yeah, exactly.

311
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,000
The term of art for that is one hell of a ride.

312
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,000
Whoa!

313
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:16,000
Hey!

314
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,000
That's smooth right now.

315
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:23,000
And for about five seconds there, it felt like we were actually getting something approaching a smooth ride.

316
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,000
And then everything fell apart.

317
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,000
The fact is, this is one of the most powerful trucks we could get our hands on.

318
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:36,000
And driving with all four wheels flat, just too much for it.

319
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:42,000
But even in that 15 second window, the wheels did get up enough speed to spin corner to corner.

320
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,000
However, do the sensors confirm that it was smooth?

321
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,000
All right, Scott, what do you got for us?

322
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,000
Well, you can definitely see some trends here.

323
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,000
As the speed goes up, the vertical acceleration and suspension is definitely going down.

324
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,000
If I go to the steering column, you see the same trend.

325
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,000
As the speed goes up, vibrational energy definitely goes down.

326
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:05,000
Well, the data is pretty compelling and it actually seems to match what Jamie and I felt in the truck,

327
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:10,000
which is that before it destroyed itself, we actually felt the ride smoothing out.

328
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:14,000
There might just be something to this, so we're going to keep on testing it.

329
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,000
Absolutely, because it ain't over until the square wheel spin.

330
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,000
And don't fall off the truck.

331
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,000
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

332
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:25,000
Coming right up.

333
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,000
Hey, what are you doing? Get out of my way.

334
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,000
The conjoined car caper goes straight.

335
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,000
No, no, no.

336
00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:42,000
The Mythbusters have got double the trouble with a Date Night double driving myth.

337
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,000
And after some ingenious automotive surgery.

338
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:53,000
The conjoined cars are at Alameda ready for the maneuvering man.

339
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:58,400
As we're testing myth in the movie Date Night, where two cars get in a head-on collision

340
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,280
and they become linked together.

341
00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,520
During this whole three-minute sequence, they drive around and around back and forth.

342
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:08,120
We're going to start with the straight line test because potentially that is the safest

343
00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:09,560
and the easiest on the cars.

344
00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,560
That's right, they're breaking the scene into its elements.

345
00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:16,600
The straight line test, the 90 degree turn and the 180 spin.

346
00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,880
And first up, they're going straight.

347
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:24,720
With the cabin neutral, can the sports sedan really shove it backwards at 40 miles an hour

348
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:26,720
from a standing start?

349
00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:27,720
Yeah!

350
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:32,200
Well, once the cab gets its obligatory myth busters makeover...

351
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:33,920
Now that's a taxi.

352
00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:35,200
It's time to find out.

353
00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:36,200
Let's go.

354
00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,920
So our sports sedan, it's fast and it's got a lot of torque.

355
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:40,920
And you know what?

356
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,120
It's designed for a specific load.

357
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:46,040
And by connecting our taxi cab to this car...

358
00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:47,040
Hey, what are you doing?

359
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,040
Get out of my way!

360
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,440
Essentially, we're doubling that load and making it even harder.

361
00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,080
And that means that all the torque that this car has, it's going to need all of that to

362
00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:57,560
push this car out of the way.

363
00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:02,600
Yep, the sports sedan may have the power, but can it shove the weight of the 4,000-pound

364
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,120
taxi too?

365
00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:07,800
And can this double-act max out at 40 miles an hour?

366
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:08,800
Ready?

367
00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:09,800
Ready!

368
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,040
Alright, putting it into neutral.

369
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,040
Parking break off.

370
00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,040
And on the left.

371
00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:20,040
In three, two, one, go!

372
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:28,040
Amazingly, just like the movie, the sports car takes the taxi for a ride.

373
00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:30,040
But there's a slight problem.

374
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,040
I've got no steering.

375
00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:33,040
30 miles an hour.

376
00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:34,040
I've got no steering.

377
00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,040
Brakes, brakes, no steering, brakes, brakes, brakes.

378
00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,040
We've only got brakes.

379
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,040
We went off course pretty fast.

380
00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:44,040
Off course, is an understatement.

381
00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:47,040
The tandem cars only narrowly miss the fence.

382
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:52,040
So we got up to speed, and I guess you could call this straight line.

383
00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:54,040
A man that was scary.

384
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:58,040
The problem is that the turning axle is the control the steering on our tandem car is

385
00:19:58,040 --> 00:19:59,040
actually in the middle.

386
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,040
And what used to be the rear wheels are at the front, which means you're very little

387
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,040
control over where you're going.

388
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,040
And of course, with the sports sedan pushing double the load, the brakes have to work twice

389
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:11,040
as hard, and you need twice the space to come to a stop.

390
00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,040
Who knows what's going to happen when we try to do this in reverse.

391
00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,040
All right, 40 miles an hour in reverse.

392
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:20,040
In three, two, one, go!

393
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:26,040
20 miles an hour.

394
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,040
Look at that, we're already off course.

395
00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:32,040
Once again, steering the four ton monstrosity is almost impossible.

396
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,040
40 miles an hour!

397
00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,040
Oh no!

398
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,040
Woo hoo hoo hoo!

399
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:42,040
That's 40!

400
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,040
But the twin cars pull off the reverse.

401
00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,040
Right now it's looking very good for the myth.

402
00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:51,040
With connected cars, you can drive forwards and backwards at high speeds.

403
00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,040
You don't have much control, but it is possible.

404
00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,040
Oh no!

405
00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:02,040
Driving at a straight line may be confirmed, but there's still plenty of double driving.

406
00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:03,040
Start turning now.

407
00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,040
And dating to come.

408
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,040
So can we call it, was that our smooth ride?

409
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:18,040
Well, it started to smooth out, but then the truck broke and the wheel came off.

410
00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,040
That was almost bone shattering.

411
00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:29,040
But it occurs to me, instead of all wheels being flat, we offset two of them to a 45 degree angle.

412
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:34,040
Increasing the periodicity of the points hitting the ground might make the ride smoother and easier on the truck.

413
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:39,040
Yeah, that makes sense, but I start to worry that making things less symmetrical like that

414
00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:45,040
might set up some sort of an oscillation and a certain orientation that would end up flipping the truck.

415
00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:46,040
And that'd suck.

416
00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:47,040
You're totally right.

417
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:51,040
That then says to me that we want to do some small scale testing.

418
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:55,040
Try different wheel orientations and see which one we feel is both the safest for us,

419
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,040
but also might be easiest on the truck.

420
00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:58,040
I agree.

421
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,040
After a bone shaking ride with all four wheels in the same orientation,

422
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:07,040
it's time to experiment with some different configurations.

423
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:12,040
Now this is the orientation we had our wheels in for our most recent ride,

424
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,040
and a bumpy ride it was.

425
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:18,040
But this is not the only orientation we need to have our four wheels.

426
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:21,040
We could mount two of our wheels at a 45 degree offset to the other two,

427
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:27,040
thus doubling the frequency with which one of the points of the squares hits the ground for every rotation.

428
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:32,040
Or we could offset each wheel by 22 and a half degrees for every rotation,

429
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,040
thus quadrupling the frequency with which one of the points hits the ground.

430
00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,040
Which one of these is going to give us the smoothest ride?

431
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,040
I haven't the slightest idea.

432
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,040
That's why we're about to test this in small scale.

433
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,040
After that, they'll need a set of wheels.

434
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,040
So Adam brings this out of the woodwork.

435
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:51,040
I think that's a good start.

436
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:55,040
Then it's time to tune up the treadmill to give it a run.

437
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,040
Alright, let's try this.

438
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:03,040
First off, a little recap of why four in-sync wheels are so uncomfortable.

439
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:04,040
Ow!

440
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:10,040
But while offsetting the wheels by 45 degrees, decrease the jolt factor.

441
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:12,040
Much better.

442
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:13,040
Wow!

443
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,040
I didn't expect that to be so nice.

444
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,040
Let's ramp it up.

445
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:18,040
Alright.

446
00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:24,040
Two wheels offset diagonally at 45 degrees is a clear improvement.

447
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:25,040
Yeah!

448
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:29,040
But will the 22.5 degree combination be even better?

449
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:33,040
The way this works is that one's always flat, one's always at 45,

450
00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:34,040
and the other two are in the middle.

451
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:35,040
Okay.

452
00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:38,040
Ooh!

453
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,040
That's the oscillation I was worried about.

454
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:41,040
Yeah.

455
00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,040
That's what we don't want to do because that's what is going to flip the truck at speed.

456
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:52,040
A closer look at the 22.5 proves that the chassis is bouncing up and down and side to side.

457
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:56,040
Making the 45 degree offset the most stable configuration.

458
00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:02,040
Our small scale test showed that the best configuration was to have two opposing corners with their points down,

459
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,040
the opposite two corners with their flats down.

460
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:10,040
That balances things out the best and so that's what we're going to do full scale.

461
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,040
Do not try what you're about to see at home.

462
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,040
Wear what you call experts.

463
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:32,040
Next, the Mythbusters are going round the bend.

464
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,040
All right, you ready to do this on the street?

465
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,040
We're all going to crash.

466
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:42,040
So far our two car monstrosity works great, but that's only in a straight line.

467
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,040
Now it's time to take it to a curb.

468
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:50,040
That's why we're here on an unmarked intersection to see how well our cars do in a real city street on a turn.

469
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,040
Carrie and I will be in the sports sedan or we'll be in the taxi.

470
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:57,040
Based on what we've seen so far, I'm not entirely sure how well this is going to work.

471
00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,040
But hey, if we hit the curb, at least the taxi is leading.

472
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,040
Get off my cab!

473
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:08,040
In the movie with the sedan providing the power, the tandem cars take turns at speed.

474
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:14,040
But we're getting double the trouble round a 90 degree bend, be that straightforward.

475
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:15,040
Taking it to the streets.

476
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,040
In three, two, one, go!

477
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:29,040
Grant gets the conjoined car up to 40 miles per hour and then with the corner approaching, yanks the wheel.

478
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:33,040
So our turning radius is nothing.

479
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:40,040
But with the turning axles stuck in the middle of the cars, it's not looking good for the myth.

480
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,040
This doesn't seem to be working.

481
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:48,040
After repeated attempts, the mythbusters and the cars are still behind the curve.

482
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:52,040
Well, you know, we're fighting so many things here, including traction.

483
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:56,040
Well, in the movie it was wet outside and we do have a fire truck on site.

484
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,040
So how about we slip slide around the corner?

485
00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:06,040
By matching the road conditions of the movie, the theory is that water will reduce the grip of the tires and let the car drift around the bend.

486
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:11,040
Slip through and away. In three, two, one, go!

487
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:17,040
Once again, the car gets up to 40 miles per hour.

488
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:22,040
But doesn't achieve the wet and wild slide.

489
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:27,040
And it's clear that water alone doesn't make a difference.

490
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:31,040
Dry road or wet road, we're still not making the turn.

491
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:37,040
But in the movie, although the sports sedan was brand new, the taxi, not so much.

492
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:42,040
So we're going to replicate what you might see on a taxi that's done thousands of miles of city driving,

493
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:47,040
balled rear tires.

494
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:51,040
Tori lays down some rubber.

495
00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:56,040
And soon enough, the tires look like they've seen serious action.

496
00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:01,040
So this is our last ditch attempt to get this turning to work.

497
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:08,040
And we've balled to the tires, we're going to have a wet road, thus reducing the traction of this set of tires.

498
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:12,040
My prediction, probably still not going to work.

499
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:17,040
We might get a better turn out of it, but look, there's no way we're making a 93 turn.

500
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,040
Well, let's find out.

501
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:25,040
Alright, here we come, taking the corner. In three, two, one, go!

502
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,040
Once again, Grant takes it to 40.

503
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:29,040
Start turning down.

504
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,040
And then, nothing.

505
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,040
Not much of a difference.

506
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:42,040
Just like the movie, the sports sedan does all the steering, but there's still nowhere close to corner.

507
00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:46,040
Meaning there's only one movie variable left to try.

508
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:50,040
Now we're going to switch it up. This time we're going to have the taxi pushing the sports car.

509
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:55,040
We're thinking, because the taxi is a two-wheel drive and it has balled tires, that we'll be sliding more

510
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,040
and hopefully pivot around the sports car to make the turn.

511
00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,040
It's the last chance for the myth.

512
00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:05,040
If the taxi can't slip the corner, then this date night bend is busted.

513
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:11,040
Tori guns the cap, pulls the wheel, and the cars don't turn left.

514
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:16,040
Instead, 50 yards downstream, they suddenly veer right.

515
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,040
Yeah! Yeah!

516
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,040
Okay, stop, stop, stop!

517
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:22,040
Woo!

518
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:28,040
By pure flute, Tori finally got the cars around the corner, even if it was the wrong one.

519
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,040
We made the turn!

520
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:34,040
Alright, maybe not the turn I wanted to make, but it still made the turn.

521
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,040
So why did we turn the wrong way? Well, here's my theory.

522
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,040
See, the taxi is a regular rear-wheel drive car.

523
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:45,040
Where Tori yanked the wheel, the front wheels lost traction, and that made the car unstable.

524
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:51,040
Because of the wet road and the balled tires, that instability eventually resulted in the rear wheels sliding out.

525
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:56,040
They happened to slide out to the left, and that meant the car turned to the right.

526
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,040
Driving in a straight line forward, confirmed.

527
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,040
Driving in a straight line backwards, confirmed.

528
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:08,040
Cornering busted. We may have made the corner, but it was the wrong one, which is pretty much going to get you killed.

529
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:13,040
So the real question is, can we do the most spectacular maneuver? The 180 spin.

530
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,040
High for one cannot wait for this one.

531
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,040
After the break.

532
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:21,040
These tracks are very interesting. They repeat about every 18 inches.

533
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:26,040
A truck with square wheels passed this way less than 20 minutes ago.

534
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:37,040
Hey, we've been testing how fast we need to go in a vehicle that's got square wheels to get a smooth ride.

535
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:41,040
We've determined already that it's not as simple as just putting square wheels on your car.

536
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,040
We put some on our truck and we broke it.

537
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:53,040
Then we figured there might be other orientations than just all four wheels flat that would give us a smoother ride.

538
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,040
So we've tried a bunch of those out in small scale.

539
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:59,040
We've got the pattern we think is going to work and we've come back out here to the Alameda runway.

540
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:00,040
We're going to try it again.

541
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,040
Our lives have officially become a cartoon.

542
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:10,040
With the wheel hubs back in shape after their last outing, it's time for the truck to get squared.

543
00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:11,040
There it is.

544
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:16,040
And this time two diagonal wheels are offset by 45 degrees.

545
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:21,040
Our creation. She's ready to take a live.

546
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,040
But will that configuration make all the difference?

547
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:29,040
Square wheels, smooth ride, 45 degree diamond formation.

548
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,040
And three, two, one, go!

549
00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,040
To begin with, the offset wheels are smoother.

550
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,040
Holy s***!

551
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:48,040
Wow!

552
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,040
And as lead-footed hotman gets the truck up to speed...

553
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,040
Dude, this is not bad!

554
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,040
18 miles per hour!

555
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:57,040
Keep going!

556
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:58,040
Wow!

557
00:30:58,040 --> 00:30:59,040
Come on, go for it!

558
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:01,040
It continues to improve.

559
00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,040
That is, until the wheels can take it no more.

560
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:05,040
Wow!

561
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:08,040
Woo-hoo-hoo!

562
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:09,040
Wow!

563
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:10,040
That was intense!

564
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:14,040
That wasn't half bad when you got up to 20 miles an hour.

565
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:15,040
I've got no brakes though.

566
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:17,040
I think the truck didn't like it too much.

567
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,040
I don't think it did either.

568
00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:23,040
Did we lose all four tires?

569
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:28,040
I think so, although one of them just sort of stayed on the truck and just not on the wheel.

570
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:32,040
Once we were up to speed, once we were up to the fastest speed we could get,

571
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,040
which turns out to be about 18 miles an hour,

572
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,040
I have to admit that I am impressed with how smooth that ride was.

573
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:42,040
It was smoother than I thought it was going to be.

574
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:43,040
Let's put it that way.

575
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,040
So how does the data look?

576
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,040
Well, here's your speed in red, and you can see where you kind of slow down,

577
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:49,040
and there's a lot of vibration.

578
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,040
Once you sped up, the vibration of the steering column really starts to trend off.

579
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,040
Well, that's pretty much just what we felt in the cab.

580
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:56,040
Yeah.

581
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:57,040
Awesome!

582
00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,040
The ride was progressively smoother,

583
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,040
but it was also progressively destructive,

584
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:05,040
with the tires and brake pads coming off completely.

585
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,040
Well, that was one of the worst things that ever happened to that car.

586
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:09,040
It was fun though.

587
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,040
Yes, it was.

588
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,040
It does make me think though.

589
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,040
You got an idea?

590
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:16,040
I do.

591
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:17,040
Awesome.

592
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,040
At the other end of the runway...

593
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,040
You ready for the fun maneuvers?

594
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,040
Oh yeah.

595
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:31,040
The tandem car trio are taking the date night myth for its final spin.

596
00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:33,040
So we have one more test to perform,

597
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,040
and this is the finale of this sequence.

598
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:40,040
Now in a desperate attempt to finally get the two cars free,

599
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:42,040
one driver turns the wheel in one direction,

600
00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,040
the other driver turns the wheel in the other direction,

601
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,040
and instead of breaking apart, they spin around in a circle.

602
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,040
But before we attempt that with this two car freak show,

603
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:54,040
what we need is a little practice.

604
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:57,040
A little practice with practice defensive driver,

605
00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,040
Alameda County Sheriff Marvin Ruff.

606
00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:03,040
Hi!

607
00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:04,040
Hey!

608
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,040
You ready to teach me to drive dangerously, safely?

609
00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:07,040
I am ready.

610
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:12,040
The guys will get to grips with the 180 spin technique on a normal car first.

611
00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:14,040
Hand on the gear, she has spin wheel.

612
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:19,040
Yeah!

613
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,040
Only when they've mastered this...

614
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:22,040
Nice and smooth.

615
00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,040
...will they unleash their two car beast.

616
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,040
Look at your focal point.

617
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,040
Snap and roll, baby.

618
00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:32,040
And just like that, schools out.

619
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:35,040
So bring on this myth's grand finale.

620
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:37,040
All right, water, engage.

621
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:41,040
My big concern on this next test is flipping the cars.

622
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:44,040
I mean, we've done this maneuver with one car,

623
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:46,040
and it felt like it was going to flip.

624
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:48,040
Now that we have two, that's a lot more weight

625
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:51,040
that could potentially cause these cars to roll.

626
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:55,040
Flipping out is a very real possibility for this test,

627
00:33:55,040 --> 00:34:00,040
particularly because this time, the cars are going to peak at 50 miles an hour.

628
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,040
Okay, this is date night.

629
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,040
Spin around.

630
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,040
Three, two, one, go!

631
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,040
For the last time, Tori puts the pedal to the metal

632
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,040
and pushes their conjoined colossus up to speed.

633
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,040
40, 50 miles.

634
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:18,040
Then, the moment they hit the wet patch,

635
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,040
Tori and Carrie turn their steering wheels in opposite directions.

636
00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:23,040
And...

637
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:24,040
Yeah!

638
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:25,040
Yeah!

639
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,040
That's what I'm talking about!

640
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:29,040
How do you know a 180 spin?

641
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,040
Not quite as clean as the movie,

642
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:35,040
but a 180 non-malacian.

643
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:38,040
Woo! That's a bit of a copy!

644
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,040
Woo!

645
00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:42,040
I think I popped my back tire.

646
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,040
It's true that both retires pop,

647
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,040
but they're the only things worse for wear.

648
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:48,040
It works!

649
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,040
We got the cars to spin just like in the movie.

650
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,040
That was awesome! I think we have to call that confirmed.

651
00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:57,040
We've done a little research, and as it turns out,

652
00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,040
in order to achieve this effect in the movie,

653
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:04,040
the Special Effects artist built one giant single chassis for both cars.

654
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,040
All wheels had steering,

655
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,040
and they had caster wheels underneath to stabilize.

656
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:13,040
The actors weren't driving, the driver was actually in the trunk.

657
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:15,040
And we achieved the very same effect,

658
00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:17,040
with nothing but good old ball tires.

659
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:20,040
Well, that was good fun!

660
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:22,040
Well, it ain't a date with the Mythbuster till the wheels come off.

661
00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:23,040
So it was a good date.

662
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:25,040
It was a good date.

663
00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:39,040
In the ultimate square wheel finale, Jamie's got a dirty idea.

664
00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:41,040
Coming up on Mythbusters.

665
00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,040
We literally reinvent the wheel.

666
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,040
Maybe.

667
00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,040
No one knows when the wheel was invented,

668
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,040
but the oldest known wheel was discovered in Mesopotamia

669
00:35:55,040 --> 00:36:00,040
and was likely built by the Sumerians around 5,500 years ago.

670
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,040
At the waste management facility in Ultimon,

671
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:10,040
this is like the weirdest sport ever.

672
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:15,040
Sorry, it's like bowling towards a Hoosier with witches hats.

673
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,040
I don't know what you would call that.

674
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:22,040
The Mythbusters are making the Earth move for Jamie's big idea.

675
00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:24,040
They look great from here, Jamie.

676
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,040
Good.

677
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:30,040
Let's face it, there's a very good reason they don't put square wheels on cars.

678
00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:32,040
Come on, go!

679
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,040
But you know, that started me thinking.

680
00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:40,040
Maybe there are circumstances where square wheels would be the best thing.

681
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,040
Like, what if you had a really steep hill

682
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:44,040
covered with loose dirt that you wanted to climb?

683
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,040
And that is where this comes in!

684
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:49,040
A smooth slope leading to an almost vertical wall

685
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,040
and filled with loose dirt.

686
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:57,040
This is the ultimate testing ground to compare the efficacy of square wheels versus round wheels.

687
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,040
50 feet high and with varying degrees of steepness,

688
00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,040
this ought to be fun.

689
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:06,040
This hill has exactly the kind of off-road conditions

690
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:10,040
for the ultimate test of the Mythbusters square wheels.

691
00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:12,040
Here's how this test is going to go.

692
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:14,040
First, we are going to take the truck with its round wheels

693
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:17,040
and we're going to drive it up that slope as far as we can make it.

694
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:20,040
Let's say we make it about halfway up.

695
00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,040
Editors, will you give me a dotted line halfway up the slope?

696
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:24,040
Thank you.

697
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,040
Then we're going to bolt the square wheels to the truck

698
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,040
and you're going to take the same slope

699
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:31,040
and see if we can make it farther.

700
00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:35,040
If we can, we have literally reinvented the wheel.

701
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,040
I think everything's in place.

702
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,040
So we suit up and do the round wheel test?

703
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:40,040
I don't see why not.

704
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,040
If we can't, we've just proven what we already suspected.

705
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,040
Square wheels are stupid.

706
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:47,040
It's a simple plan.

707
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:48,040
You ready?

708
00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:49,040
I am now.

709
00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,040
And it all comes down to Jamie's theory

710
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:56,040
on why square wheels could work better on loose ground.

711
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:59,040
When it comes to soft surfaces, the thing about round wheels

712
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:03,040
is that all of the weight of the vehicle is right here

713
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,040
where it contacts the ground.

714
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,040
The PSI there is very high.

715
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:11,040
That means that it will easily sink through soft stuff and get buried.

716
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,040
Also, as it tries to roll forward,

717
00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,040
it tends to plow that soft stuff ahead of it,

718
00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:19,040
which makes it hard to climb out of things.

719
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:23,040
And that's why in things like sand or snow or loose dirt,

720
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:25,040
when we're stuck, you get stuck.

721
00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:29,040
On the other hand, our square wheel has this entire surface

722
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:33,040
contacting the ground, which means that the PSI is going to be

723
00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,040
a small fraction of what it would be under a round tire.

724
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:38,040
And then when you try to move forward,

725
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:40,040
instead of just plowing into the dirt,

726
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,040
it's going to actually cut into it

727
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:46,040
and actually lever the whole vehicle ahead.

728
00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:48,040
At least that's the theory.

729
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,040
That's the theory.

730
00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:52,040
So it's time to get truckin'.

731
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,040
Round wheel hill climbing control test

732
00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:58,040
in three, two, one.

733
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:08,040
Do you think that's as high as you can go?

734
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,040
I think so.

735
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:12,040
That's pretty darn high.

736
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:13,040
Yeah.

737
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:15,040
At way up the hill,

738
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:17,040
and the round wheels can't get a grip on the loose earth,

739
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:20,040
so the benchmark to beat has been set.

740
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:22,040
What do we do now?

741
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:23,040
I don't know.

742
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:25,040
Back down slowly?

743
00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:26,040
If I can.

744
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:30,040
Which means the Mythbusters must return to the start line.

745
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:33,040
That is intense.

746
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:35,040
And swap out the wheels.

747
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,040
It's time.

748
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:38,040
It's like one of those,

749
00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:41,040
what are we doing moments?

750
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:44,040
Our round wheels got us about halfway up the loose dirt

751
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:46,040
on the steep part.

752
00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:48,040
Now, we're never going to get all the way up

753
00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:50,040
because, well, it's vertical up there,

754
00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:52,040
and we just can't do that.

755
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:53,040
The square wheels,

756
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:56,040
I think they're going to get us most of the way there.

757
00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:59,040
This is square wheels final hill climb.

758
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:03,040
And three, two, one, go!

759
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:05,040
Go!

760
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,040
Go!

761
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,040
Yes!

762
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:11,040
Yes!

763
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:13,040
Go!

764
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:15,040
Yes!

765
00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,040
Go!

766
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,040
No!

767
00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:21,040
Ah!

768
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:23,040
Just like the round wheels,

769
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:26,040
the spinning square wheels can't get purchase on the loose ground.

770
00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:27,040
All right.

771
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:28,040
We're going up real slow now.

772
00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:30,040
Hill climbing and square wheels.

773
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:31,040
Go!

774
00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:32,040
So for take two,

775
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:35,040
the Heinemann goes for a slow and steady approach.

776
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,040
This is promising.

777
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:42,040
Woo!

778
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:44,040
Woo!

779
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,040
We're moving forward.

780
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:48,040
We're driving forward.

781
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,040
Whoa!

782
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:53,040
You know what?

783
00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:54,040
What?

784
00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:56,040
I don't think they're working.

785
00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:58,040
I don't think they're working either.

786
00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:00,040
We tied at best.

787
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:03,040
It seems the mythbusters had to reinvent the wheel

788
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:08,040
to discover that square wheels are just too, well, squared.

789
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:09,040
Woo!

790
00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:12,040
Well, that was fricking spectacular.

791
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:15,040
We stuck climb in the hill.

792
00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,040
I'm feeling really good.

793
00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:19,040
I can only imagine the volume,

794
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,040
booster tail of dust we're taking up.

795
00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:23,040
We get up to the tape.

796
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:24,040
We're touching the tape.

797
00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:26,040
I think we're going to break the tape.

798
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:28,040
And then we just stayed stationary.

799
00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:31,040
We made it exactly as far up this hill

800
00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,040
as we did in our round wheels.

801
00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:35,040
I can't think of any better test to demonstrate

802
00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:38,040
that there isn't really a specific advantage

803
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:40,040
to the square tires.

804
00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:41,040
Well, there you have it.

805
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:43,040
At best, our square wheels did the same job

806
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:46,040
the round wheels did on this course.

807
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:48,040
I got to say I'm disappointed in it, though,

808
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:52,040
because I really think there's something to these wheels.

809
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:55,040
There may be other environments out there

810
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:58,040
where they would actually prove superior to round wheels,

811
00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:03,040
but as of this point, they're not.

812
00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:05,040
So how do you want to call this?

813
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:07,040
Do square wheels give you a smooth ride?

814
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,040
Well, as ridiculous as it may seem,

815
00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:11,040
I think we got to call that one plausible.

816
00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:12,040
What about hill climbing?

817
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:14,040
That one, that's so much.

818
00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:16,040
The square wheels didn't provide any kind of

819
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:18,040
significant advantage over the round wheels.

820
00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:20,040
Yeah, well, what are you going to do?

821
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:21,040
You want to drive back to the shop?

822
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:22,040
No, let's walk.

823
00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:23,040
It's more comfortable.

824
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:24,040
Okay.

825
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:27,040
I think this is the last we'll see of the square wheels.

826
00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:29,040
Not by a long shot.