MythBusters Episode 140: Spy Car Escape

During a car chase, the pursuing car can be stopped or eluded using road spikes or tacks deployed from the fleeing car.

busted*

While the road spikes managed to puncture the pursuit car’s tires, the tires did not instantly deflate and the pursuit car managed to catch Adam. The failure of the spikes was attributed to the fact that the spikes stuck to the tires, partially plugging up the holes and causing the tires to deflate slowly.

(This experiment was repeated in Unfinished Business using hollow spikes and it was confirmed that the car can be stopped.)

During a car chase, the pursuing car can be stopped or eluded using a smoke screen deployed from the fleeing car.

confirmed

During the first run, Jamie attached several smoke grenades to the rear of his car to create a makeshift smoke screen. While initially successful, the smoke screen quickly backfired when the smoke was sucked into Jamie’s car as well, blinding and choking him and forcing him to stop the chase. They modified the rig to keep the smoke grenades outside of the car, and Adam became the driver while wearing a oxygen mask. The second test was more successful, with Adam being able to use the smoke screen to elude the pursuit car.

During a car chase, the pursuing car can be stopped or eluded using an oil slick deployed from the fleeing car.

plausible

The pursuit car was slowed down significantly by the oil slick, allowing Jamie to elude it. However, the pursuit car did not instantly spin out as is popularly shown in movies.

During a car chase, the pursuing car can be stopped or eluded using Adam’s parachute rig.

busted

As part of the Mythbuster Challenge, Adam designed a rig that would deploy a parachute and release it in hopes of blinding the pursuit car. While the parachute successfully deployed, the pursuit car was able to avoid it and chase down Adam.

During a car chase, the pursuing car can be stopped or eluded using Jamie’s specialized car stopping devices.

plausible

As part of the Mythbuster Challenge, Jamie designed specialized carstoppers meant to get caught in the pursuit car’s undercarriage and slow it down. While they deployed successfully, the pursuit car managed to stay on Jamie’s tail, despite taking serious damage from the carstoppers. While it did not work in the short run, the MythBusters pointed out that they would have been successful if the chase had gone on any longer.

An object thrown backwards from a moving vehicle – at the same speed as the vehicle – will simply fall straight to the ground.

confirmed

For their first test, the Build Team used a treadmill running at 10 miles per hour to launch a weight off the back of a parked truck. The weight was propelled 6 feet away. Next, the Build Team repeated the experiment with the truck driving at 10 miles per hour, and the weight seemed to drop straight down. Next, they repeated the experiment at 60 miles per hour using an air cannon to fire a soccer ball. However, they couldn’t get the ball to drop straight down and decided to change their method of firing the ball. They tested a soccer ball pitching machine and Grant’s ball kicking robot against the air cannon. However, they decided to stay with the air cannon after finding out it performed the most consistently among all three machines. The Build Team attempted the experiment again, and after a number of tries, finally managed to get the ball to drop straight down.