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Fifth Gear Set Loop-the-Loop Record

A while ago, there were rumors that English auto tv show called “Fifth Gear” was about to be canceled due to lack of viewers and, worse, due to lack of companies to pay for commercial during the show.

The guys and girls at “Fifth Gear” never gave up and, guess what, they’re still alive, despite the fact that their ways of entertaining seem to get more dangerous each week. On one show, earlier this summer, the crew replicated a classic Hot Wheels loop-the-loop and, despite the danger, their stunt man performed the world’s largest 360 degree loop in a real car. The car chosen for this attempt was a Toyota Aygo.

The first thing they needed to do was to find out exactly how fast would their car have to be driven in order to make it though the loop without falling. With a little help from a physics department and a few simple equations, the team at “Fifth Gear” found out the minimum speed the car needs on top in order to perform the loop. In this case they considered the car’s weight and the size of the loop and came out with 36 mph.

It’s true that there is a minimum speed in order to perform the loop, but what happens if the speed is higher than 36 mph? Considering speed and weight, the higher the speed, the bigger the gravitational force applied to the driver and, of course, the bigger the change of him blacking out.

You can see below what came out of Fifth Gear's attempt.



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