1,500 horsepower hybrid

"Cebu" (menostwelve) 12/09/2013 at 17:50 • Filed to: turbine, i am insane, sutek zephyr x, x, sutek, zephyr, insane, asylum

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Zephyr X turbine-electric coupe

Powerplant: Hybrid system: Gas turbine/4WD electric (one motor to a wheel)

Battery range: 10 mi

Price range: US$55,000-75,000

0-60: Mid 4 to 5 seconds? I'm not sure.

And yes, I am actually interested in producing at least one of these. I'm the man handling the design, and I've got at least one other person handling the broad chassis layout and generally telling me not to put a cappucino maker in it.

To give you an idea of the sheer amount of power in a gas turbine system, the old Firebird XP-21's Whirlwind turbine developed 370 HP at 36,000 shaft RPM , I think. That was in ancient times. The Honeywell AGT1500C turbine in the M1 Abrams commands 1,500 horsepower. That's right, fifteen hundred shaft horsepower under your right foot. Gas turbines are also extremely economical and can burn just about anything liquid and flammable. If made out of (sadly expensive) ceramics, they weigh about as much as a ham sandwich. And it's a frigging JET. In your CAR.

Thoughts? Money? Mechanical expertise?

tl;dr: Making a jet-powered car for the masses that can eat a La Ferrari for lunch both in terms of eco-friendliness, horsepower, and speed.

. . > Cebu 12/09/2013 at 17:55

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Oh dear. Sutek is a bit of an unfortunate name, at least for those who speak Polish. It translates to 'nipple'.

Cebu > . . 12/09/2013 at 17:58

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Oh, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuntimes. Checked Google Translate, you're right.

Now I've got to come up with another name that vaguely resembles an evil Egyptian deity.

OT, what about the car?

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > . . 12/09/2013 at 17:59

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That's a good thing though

. . > Cebu 12/09/2013 at 18:11

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To be frank, I don't know much about gas turbines or how one could go about putting one in a car. Is it compact enough to be packaged comfortably inside the car?

I also remember that in the MTT Turbine Superbike the searing heat coming from the powerplant was a big issue. One could melt the bumpers on cars standing behind the bike.

If you want to use a custom chassis getting it to be road legal could also be very problematic.

Cebu > . . 12/09/2013 at 18:27

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It's still in the blue-sky phase, but I suspect that a chassis from one of the mid-80s mid-engined mid-priced crowd would work pretty well. And yes, it is rather easy to put a turbine in a car. Heat will be managed by upward-pointing exhausts (just thought of that) or something. If they managed to make a turbine bike, then by golly I can make a turbine car.

. . > Cebu 12/09/2013 at 18:28

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If you want to do upward facing exhausts, they'd have to be hilariously tall. You don't want to melt someone's face off.

Cebu > . . 12/09/2013 at 18:32

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I'm building a 1,500 horsepower supercar in my shed. Do I look like I care if I melt someone's face off?

OT there's probably a way to cool the exhaust... probably. I know nothing about thermodynamics, but wouldn't just crenulating the interior and running it past a few radiators work?

Also, styling?

. . > Cebu 12/09/2013 at 18:38

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It probably would, but then different problems appear. I don't know how cleanly gas turbines burn, but if it's anything but superclean a radiator could clog up quite easily. Then there's the issue of packaging those radiators.

You should probably look at other turbine cars, like the ones built by Chrysler. They may not be modern, but I bet there's a few cool engineering tricks in there that could still be utilised.

Cebu > . . 12/09/2013 at 18:40

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Running it past the radiator. Actually, on second thought, a heatsink would work better.

And yeah, I need to do more research, but this was a general "does Oppo think it's cool test".

. . > Cebu 12/09/2013 at 18:41

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It is cool. The question is whether it's realistic.

Shoop > Cebu 12/10/2013 at 19:54

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ugly bubble lines bro. lenghten the wheel base a little

Shoop > Shoop 12/10/2013 at 20:04

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Try this

Shoop > Shoop 12/11/2013 at 20:43

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Filled