Questions About Turbine Cars?

"SteveLehto" (stevelehto) 11/30/2016 at 14:25 • Filed to: None

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I find it hard to believe that some of you don’t know about my fetish for Turbine Cars. I’ve written a book on them and have now driven two of them. The occasion was the making of a video.

So, if you ever had any questions about the Chrysler Turbine car, you can trust that it is answered in this video. And if you have no questions, you aren’t thinking hard enough.

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OPPOsaurus WRX > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 14:31

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fetish for Turbine Cars....

lets hope you have more self control than some others around here

LongbowMkII > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 14:34

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Are there any super secret FCA plans for a turbine revival?

Tiny turbine generator+electric motors then FCA finally has a modern power plant.

Berang > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 14:35

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Q: Did anybody make a steam turbine car?

SteveLehto > LongbowMkII 11/30/2016 at 14:36

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Not that I am aware of but the turbine/electric hybrid would be very cool.

For Sweden > LongbowMkII 11/30/2016 at 14:37

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Manufacturing and maintenance costs like WOAH

SteveLehto > Berang 11/30/2016 at 14:38

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I don’t think so. There were plenty of steam cars and the tech in that field got much farther than most people know. Which I learned from Jay Leno who has a big collection of steam cars (and a Turbine Car).

Berang > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 14:42

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It would seem like the next logical step. I know ford was experimenting with steam around the same time Chrysler were building these, but I think all of their prototypes used reciprocating engines. I think Saab may have built a few steam cars too, but I don’t know what the engine used was.

camaroboy68ss > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 14:43

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These cars were so cool looking it’s kind of a shame they didn’t take the car and refit it for a convential drivetrain, a street hemi would have been cool choice, once they killed the turbine idea.

jimz > Berang 11/30/2016 at 14:58

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the problem with steam power is the fuel and working fluid are separate, both need to be replenished, and both add weight (especially the water.) with an internal combustion engine, the fuel is mixed into the working fluid itself.

SteveLehto > Berang 11/30/2016 at 14:58

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The next logical step I think is a turbine/electric hybrid. GM toyed with it during the EV1 phase.

LongbowMkII > camaroboy68ss 11/30/2016 at 14:58

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the 3rd gen dart looks pretty close. Not as pretty, but definitely inspired by the turbine cars.

SteveLehto > camaroboy68ss 11/30/2016 at 14:59

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I agree. The lines of this car were astounding.

jimz > LongbowMkII 11/30/2016 at 14:59

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turbines are still less thermally efficient than piston engines, and the gas flow requirements of even a tiny turbine make cleaning up emissions problematic. and turbines have high flame temperatures which means they have high NOx emissions.

Krieger (@FSKrieger22) > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 15:07

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If there somehow was a Turbine Car chassis with no engine, what engines do you think could fit inside the engine bay?

SteveLehto > Krieger (@FSKrieger22) 11/30/2016 at 15:14

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I’m not sure. The car was special-built for that drivetrain.

There are nine surviving cars. Four of them do not run.

But I am sure a creative sort could shoehorn in almost anything. A 426 Hemi would certainly motivate it pretty well.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 15:34

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Questions about turbine cars? My first thought is you should call Steve Leht—- oh!

Nevermind...

LOL

f86sabre > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 15:45

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I work in commercial aviation and we have an engine shop in our facility. I’ve always wondered what the world would have been like with wide acceptance of turbine powered cars and shade tree mechanics working on them, maybe even souping them up.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Berang 11/30/2016 at 15:47

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Can you recycle the steam through a turbine like you can with a piston engine?

jimz > SteveLehto 11/30/2016 at 15:55

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back in, oh, about 1996, I was working at a garage/gas station on Mack Avenue. Just finished patching someone’s tire when this guy rolls up in a Stanley Steamer. Didn’t need gas, of course, but asked if we could spare some water.

That car was huge.

LongbowMkII > jimz 11/30/2016 at 17:18

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Quit ruining dreams.

Berang > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 11/30/2016 at 17:23

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That’s how most power plants work.

jimz > LongbowMkII 11/30/2016 at 20:43

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self-portrait

jimz > f86sabre 11/30/2016 at 20:51

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cars would be getting even worse fuel economy, and performance would be even more leisurely. since we’re dealing with compressible gas flow, “hitting the gas” in a turboshaft engine has a delay similar to turbo lag. it’s even a bit worse since not only does the main shaft (compressor/high-pressure turbine) have to spool up, the output shaft (free turbine) need to follow suit.

gas turbines do best when used steady state at or near peak output. they’re an absolute shit-show at partial and/or varying load.

f86sabre > jimz 11/30/2016 at 21:15

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I’m aware, but thanks for the notes. I was really more pondering the stupid crap people would do and all the uncontained blade and disk failures.

jimz > f86sabre 11/30/2016 at 21:30

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ah, didn’t catch the angle you were coming from.

jimz > SteveLehto 12/06/2016 at 13:35

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you just know that if anyone did, it’d be a GM LSx.

nerd_racing > SteveLehto 12/06/2016 at 13:39

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Would a modern turbine pair well with a CVT? I would think they would go together like peas and carrots.

nerd_racing > f86sabre 12/06/2016 at 13:41

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they would probably be pretty corroded, or possible clogged. what would be the best soup to run them on?

SteveLehto > nerd_racing 12/06/2016 at 17:38

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Sure. Or just have it run a generator and then use electric at the wheels.

The possibilities are endless.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > SteveLehto 12/07/2016 at 09:00

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Cosmetic restorations are used by a lot of museums because if a machine is going to be a static display and never move, why burn through a lot of funds making it function? I’ve been to the Sacramento railway museum a few times and love seeing the locomotives, but for most of them, the cost to make them functional would flat cripple any hope for the survival of the museum. Even though a steam loco in action is positively loco.