The solution to count the windshied wiper swipes as a sort of clock would work if the first partner was allowed to speak to the second after the first driver completed the course. But what if the second driver had no idea how much time the first driver took?
My idea is that they agree prior to the race to drive slow, watch the speedo carefully, so they could get as close as possible to an average speed of 10 mph. Do you think that would work? Is there something better than this they could do?
The windshield wiper solution wouldn’t work if the wipers worked off of the engine vacuum. In high school, I drove a 1948 Willys Jeep. The driver’s wiper worked that way, so of course it changed speeds greatly with the engine. The passenger’s wiper just had a handle on the inside. That’s what I call MANUAL.
I agree, the wiper solution is lame. Gotta count and drive, and then when you get close to the finish, you have to slow way down, and game it to hit it just right.
I’d say shift up to about third gear quickly out of the start, then keep the tachometer at a comfortable and constant rpm for the whole course. Now you’ve got something to watch, and if you are diligent you’ll finish in the same time as your teammate, without counting that silly wiper constantly.
I agree that hoping the WW go at the same speed is probably wishful thinking. Maybe just counting to yourself "one one-thousand, two one-thousand, … etc " is more accurate than watching the wipers. And less distracting. You’d have to practice with each other beforehand though, to make sure you count at the same rate. The tach idea posted by @Butane seems better than my idea to use the speedo, if you went that route. I doubt the speedo is very accurate at 10 mph, and there’s not much resolution on the speedo dial at hat speed anyway. But in 3rd gear and you both agree to match a tach reading of 2500 rpm say, it would be easy to keep the tach dial accurate and constant. I think that’s the best idea @Butane.
Just this morning I was sitting at a light in a school van. While sitting and be-bopping to the windshield wipers, they suddenly shifted to a faster rate, about 4 BPM faster. My first thought was about this puzzler.
The puzzler doesn’t specifically prohibit them talking between runs, but if they can’t, then counting seconds wouldn’t work either. The tach tactic could be agreed upon ahead of time.