[Vookie]

https://www.motortrend.com/news/ctrp...5FuJzv-Og0RUeM

[Charles Nungester]

Not sure if this is the one McConnell had in his collection or not, But I did see one once about fifteen years ago. The biggest problem was slowing them down

[Bubzilla]

That was Steve Bolen's turbine.

He ran it at Manzy and PIR sprint car races a couple of times as well as Pikes Peak among other places. Throttle response and whoaing it up were its downfalls.

Steve was also one of the inventors of the LamBo arm restraints that drivers use.

[cmakin]

The problem with a gas turbine in a sprint car is the constantly varying load. Not a strong point for turbines. It is the same reason that they weren't successful as street car power plants. Oh, and yeah, the fuel consumption. For cars that ran at IMS and other, larger tracks, the relatively steady load takes advantage of the available power and simplicity of the engine. This is also why they are great for racing boats, naval vessels (burn too much fuel for commercial vessel applications), aircraft, power generation. . . . but, as usual, I digress. Oh, and speaking of power generation, they are great for a cogeneration power plant, where the turbines are used to spin generators. The exhaust gas is then used in a boiler to generate steam and then the steam powers a steam turbine that also spins a generator to produce electricity. Some of the most efficient power plants are cogeneration plants. . . . okay, enough wandering. Back to the subject. . . .

[DaleDuBois]

The engines in sprint cars on dirt also depend on slowing down with the compression when going into the corners. With all of my racing experience I've found that engines with lots of power are not as easy to handle in the corners as low powered engines. The perfect engine would be an engine with a 3" stroke that would turn from 12 to 15 thousand RPM's and stay together. Did anyone ever try a JAKE brake like the big trucks use instead of using brakes?