After reading this month's Hot Rod magazine, I'm all excited about turbine-powered cars. One of my great aspirations in life is to drive 200MPH at Bonneville. How cool would a tube chassis, mid-engine Prius (for its aerodynamic shape) with a 1000hp flame-spitting turbine be as the vehicle?
It would be ironic, but they are probably too tall to be ideal to go 200 mph with a turbine engine. Then, you have to at least make fender flares to put wider wheels on the car. Plus, a twin turbo Corvette (or other fast performance cars) would be easier to do.
3rd gen Trans-Am. Will do 300+. Look at government auction sites. Turbine APUs are what you need to find.
1st gen Honda insite is more slippery than the prius
Let's be realistic for just a second: how much horsepower would I really need to hit 200? The turbine Prius idea excites me (because it's kind of ridiculous) but probably isn't the most realistic way to achieve my 200mph goal
Strange, with a thread title like that, I was expecting a post from GamboyRMH....
In reply to M030:
Id guess 500 or 600hp on the street but probably more for the salt flats. Think about a turbo k24 swapped honda insight if you want some weird aero eco car
In reply to chiodos:
If its not a turbine its going to be a twin turbo LS v8. I'm not opposed to cutting up a Honda,and if I do,I'll definitely go with a first gen Insight for the aerodynamics
M030 wrote: Let's be realistic for just a second: how much horsepower would I really need to hit 200? The turbine Prius idea excites me (because it's kind of ridiculous) but probably isn't the most realistic way to achieve my 200mph goal
Depends on your aero. Sprint Cup cars reportedly have around 450 with the restrictor plate (depends on the exact size of the holes, obvously), and they can just hit 200 mph.
I know a guy who took a stock-bodied 04 Cobra to Bonneville. He needed 600 hp in that car to do 203. Remember that Bonneville is at 4200 ft altitude, so that's going to hurt your power numbers some.
Remember: if it takes 200hp to do 100mph, it will take 800hp to do 200mph. Cube rule.
Appleseed wrote: Remember: if it takes 200hp to do 100mph, it will take 800hp to do 200mph. Cube rule.
so... probably about 400hp then.. I had a 62hp Hyundai Excel that could just about hit 90.. so I am unsure of any cars that can't hit a hundred with 100hp
Turbojet or turboshaft?
There's a big difference..
If you're looking to tie it into a driveline, look for an Allison 250 or a Pratt & Whitney PT6. They both have a free turbine which will make them easier to use. The Allison is fairly tiny, the PT6 is much bigger but they're over 1400 shaft horsepower in certain models.
If you want a jet car, anything big and military surplus will probably do.
Nothing like jumping in the deep end right away!
In reply to Trans_Maro:
Thanks! I want to hook it to a powerglide coupled directly (no driveshaft) to a 9" Ford rear with 2.46 gears
You don't really need a torque convertor.
A turboshaft with a free turbine works much like a torque convertor. You can have the output shaft running at a different speed than the engine because it is not coupled to the turbine shaft.
You might be able to get away with something as simple as just a clutch to engage and disengage since you can't really stall the engine.
The RPM these things can put out would allow you to use stupidly low gearing in the differential and still be capable of very high speeds.
Think more along the lines of 4:56 or even lower.
A PT6 has an output RPM of around 30,000rpm before it goes through the reduction gear to turn a propeller at around 2,000 RPM.
Shawn
A Prius? An insight? Fellas, these vehicles have a low CD going FORWARDS. Much like my Honda Fit, these vehicles mentioned are SAILS in a crosswind. I'm terrified at 70mph with a good cross gust on the Fit. You wanna hit 200mph? Get a real sport cars.
In reply to Trans_Maro:
Assuming you can throttle it down far enough to make very little power (sub 50hp maybe?) and the PTO turbine doesn't mind being stalled, you wouldn't even need a clutch, just hold the car with a parking brake.
I can't imagine what a PT6 would cost. Yikes.
To figure out how much real horsepower you need you will need three things: speed you plan to make (already stated 200mph), CD (coefficient of drag, for Prius ~0.29), Frontal area (use square feet for this measurement, for Prius or any other modern vehicle the net should give you decent approximations).
From there the Drag horsepower can be calculated using this: Drag horsepower
Or this formula: HP=(Speed * Speed * Speed) * CD * Frontal Area/151125 for a quick approximation (at sea level conditions).
I have always thought that a lowered SW2 Wagon with a turbine in the back would be a great way to go 200 at Bonneville.
The turboshaft in the Hueys used to be the holy grail. So much so that they are thin on the ground now.
i know nothing about turbines but i do know THIS has been on ebay for a while... just saying 
A honda insight (1st gen) has a claimed top speed of 112 with 73hp (including assist). The insight with minor body mods and hotted up K24 should be able to hit 200 pretty easily. It would be a death trap but most cars are at that speed.
The last time I saw pricing on a PT6, it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and closer to $1M than $100k. This is new pricing but it should give you some idea of what this usually costs. I think if I were wanting to go 200MPH or more at Bonneville I would pick your LS+turbo route or something similar.
The other issue with a turbine is the output shaft speed isn't anywhere close to the piston engines that drive a Powerglide. Chrysler turbine cars required special transmissions and I think this would still apply to your project. Not sure how fun it would be to bolt this all together, either.
M030 wrote: Let's be realistic for just a second: how much horsepower would I really need to hit 200? The turbine Prius idea excites me (because it's kind of ridiculous) but probably isn't the most realistic way to achieve my 200mph goal
Jerry's using around 800 hp to go a tick over 200 mph in an S13 240SX fastback with mostly stock bodywork. (Edit: Note that this is in a standing mile in a car weighted to run faster at Bonneville. We're shooting for 225 or more at the salt flats.)
The concern I'd have with a Prius is that it's likely to be a spinner. The car's about the same shape going backwards as forwards. For high speed stability on salt (keep in mind the traction at Bonneville is terrible!), you want to have more area behind the center of mass than in front of it.
Think like the shape of a dart. (No, not the Dodge variety; except the fastback Dart Sport or wagon, they're about the opposite of what I'm talking about.) You have the heavy weight in the front end and the lightweight, wide tail so that if the dart gets sideways, the wind blows the tail back behind the point. Compare that to a throwing knife, where there's equal weight at both ends and no major difference in drag. It spins... the Prius is going to be more like that throwing knife.
I think the Alfa Spider needed just a little more than 400hp to do 200mph.
It's now closer to 500, and is at 231. Well, now being a few years ago when it was last out on the salt.
BTW, in many classes, a rear spoiler is legal- which is a great way to make the car longer (lay it flat to the flow, have end plates)
IIRC, C&D did over 140 in an Insight.
Oh, one other thing- the denisty altitude is normally in the 7,000-8,000 ft range. That's what matters for both power and drag.
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