marineturbine.com
Discussion
Saw their website (from todays news).
Amazing, they have fitted helicopter turbine engines into a truck and a bike and many boats. How about 320bhp at 56,000rpm in a bike. 0-200mph in 15secs and top speed 250mph.
I have contacted them to find out the cost of a 650bhp or 1,400bhp turbine to see if its feasible to fit one into a Chimaera. Now that would see off a McLaren F1......
And no I'm not joking.........
Guy R
Can you imagine that with a chimaera's aerodynamics.... don't think I'd want a passenger ride thanks!! I think you'd need something a little more "sorted" for that kind of project, maybe a Tuscan R, Cerbera (with aero-aids) or an Esprit with the GT aero-aids. Alternatively just fit wings and let physics do the rest.
The bike was $150,000 ie £100,000 complete and that included all the other bike bits.
It would also have been much more development cost to fit into such a small area, it should be easier to fit into an engine bay, especially a Chimaera that has lots of space.
If the turbine was £50k, then it might be a feasible idea (buy engineless or crashed Chimaera for a few thousand) and end up with unique monster car for circa £60k. Thats if they reply of course!
I will probably only be interested if the 1100bhp engine was available (see their engine specs page), since my other thought is to get a 5 litre Chimaera and fit a 300bhp nitrous kit (which is £1-2k) to get to 600+ bhp.
This will certainly be the cheaper and easier option, but less completely mad.
A friend is investigating nitrous on his Skyline GTR and I will see how his goes before I get it for my GTR. The 300bhp nitrous kit will actually produce more than 300 extra bhp due to the cooling effect on turbo engines, so it would increase power from 550bhp to over 900bhp, but requires a forged steel crank at £4k and new con-rods at £2k. Given I've spent £11k on mods in the last 3 months, it time for as temporary pause.
Guy R
Heres the response:
Dear Guy,
We currently offer a turbine kit for an automobile installation. The engine
is a allison 320 Hp unit used on the bike and in our S-10 Chevy pickup. The
package is coupled to a Turbo 350 transmission with a 3000 rpm stall
converter and a shift kit. The unit is mounted in a chasis to be installed
as a complete unit. It has provisiers for A/C, powersteering and an
alternator. We include the electrical system with instrumentation. The price
is $75,000.00 USD. I have a customer who wants to put a 650-750 Hp engine in
an Ultra GT, mid engine rear wheel drive for use in the Silver State Race in
Nevada. The motorcycle tranny we built that could be an option.
Call me if you are interested.
Regards,
Ted
Given that 320bhp is standard in a Chimaera, I have asked for a quote for much more powerful turbines, but these will put the car into the stupid price range.
Guy R
But 320hp is different to 320bhp. Especially in jets?
The hp measurement is in the crankshaft it's the same for both but BHP is measured at the driving wheels. Losses between crank and wheels can be around 30% depending of course on the transmission used.
So 320 hp with a Jet is likely to be quite a bit less than 320 bhp in a TVR.
Edited by fourwheeldrift on Friday 9th March 16:57
Just for info...
HP and BHP are one and the same thing. A measurement of power. Figures quoted (certainly by car manufacturers) are invariably measured on dyno i.e. at the flywheel. The tendancy in Europe is to quote kW (1 kW = 1.34 HP) or PS (pferdestarke - metric horsepower 1PS = 1.36 HP).
Boring but true.
Alfa Dave
Given cost per bhp, this has been abandoned on grounds it's not cost effective - as expected.
Fun to investigate though.
Guy
PS I I was at Brands Hatch yesterday, did about 30 passanger laps in a 400bhp TVR 5litre engined Westfield on slicks. Unbelievable acceleration and cornering, we were doing 50 second laps on the Indy circuit.
Not interested in low down torque? Silly boy.
Most diesels only rev to 5000rpm. Thats not low down torque, its just big torque throughout the entire rev range.
Modern diesels are quick, and easy to drive quickly. Theres no such thing as being in the wrong gear. Much like petrol engines of 4 litres plus.
Smaller petrol engines feel gutless in comparison to even a 110 TDi from VAG, let alone a 2.5 BMW diesel.
God, I sound like a diesel anorak! I don't drive one, honest - but I used to have a Golf TDi. It never felt particularly slow even after driving my 500 TVR.
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