2023-07-09 19:22:00
And yet, what advantages, on paper at least… Compared to the piston engine, the turbine engine is lighter and has far fewer parts. No camshaft, pistons, connecting rods, superfluous cooling circuit. Furthermore, this mechanism accepts several types of fuel, gas, petrol, diesel, kerosene… Finally, still in theory, it requires less maintenance, lasts longer and can develop extremely high power.
These advantages began to become evident in aviation even before the end of the Second World War thanks to the Messerschmitt 262 fighter, which fortunately did not have time to exploit its full potential. The automotive industry, always on the lookout for what is happening in aeronautics, took an interest in it very early on.
Despite its P4 saloon front, the Rover Jet 1 was equipped with a gas turbine engine and was driven publicly from 1950.
Rover was one of the first to attempt to install a turbine, or jet, engine in a car, the British having been at the forefront of the development of this engine before the war. The Rover Jet 1 was born in 1950: it was a roadster equipped with a gas turbine located behind the passengers. After intensive development, it is tested on the Belgian Jabbeke motorway at over 240 km/h!
The longship manufacturer persevered with this type of engine, planning to install it in its P6 sedan launched in 1963. Its entire engine bay was designed to receive a turbine, the front suspension even installing its springs longitudinally in order to release the square in width. But it will never receive the famous turbine.
The Fiat Turbina 8001 stood out in 1954 with a well developed turbine engine and a Cx of 0.14!
At the same time, Fiat developed the Turbina, which was presented in 1954, studies having begun in 1948. This very aerodynamic coupé (Cd of 0.14!) was capable of 250 km/h: very high at the time. The four-wheel independent suspension derives from that of the 8V but the power was much more consistent: 200 hp. But Fiat did not follow up, having nevertheless pushed the development very far.
Superb speed for the Renault Etoile filante which will border on 310 km/h in 1956 at Bonneville!
Shortly after, in 1956, Renault unveiled the Etoile Filante. An extraordinary car, resembling an airplane on wheels, designed in particular by Fernand Picard, the man of the 4CV. The Régie takes him to the salt lake at Bonneville and behind the wheel, Jean Hébert breaks a speed record on September 5: 308.85 km/h. It must be said that its Turbomeca turbine produces 270 hp at 28,000 rpm. But immediately, period.
The 1958 GM Firebird 3 followed two other turbine-powered prototypes. However, she did not make a public demonstration.
If GM, after having produced the Firebird 1, 2 and 3 concepts from 1953, understood before the end of the decade that the turbine was not ideally suited to the automobile, Chrysler followed suit with the Europeans. The firm at Pentastar will even be the one that will seek the longest to develop the turbine. The American installed one in a 1954 Plymouth and then continued to develop this device.
The Chrysler Turbine, in 1963, was the most extensively tested jet car, and moreover by individuals!
So much so that in 1963, he put on the road fifty Chrysler Turbines, entrusted to individuals. Cars very finely studied and equipped with an automatic transmission. The fellows will travel more than a million miles at the wheel, but will give mixed opinions: they find that their mount, in addition to consuming a lot of fuel, reacts very sluggishly. For example, when driving off at the green light, it takes about two seconds for the engine to develop sufficient power to drive the car. Annoying! Then the cavalry becomes huge, but too late.
The Rover-BRM tried its luck in the race, with its turbine engine, but if it was promising, it won nothing.
This is the big advantage of piston engines: they react immediately, which is exactly what you are looking for in everyday driving. The electric ones also have this characteristic, in an even more accentuated way. But not jet engines, very, very slow to trigger. Also, if they give complete satisfaction in aviation, where they can operate for hours at a constant rate, they prove to be completely unsuitable on the road. And even on the circuit: the Rover-BRM, STP, Howmet TX and Lotus 56 did not excel, far from it.
Magnificent concept as the Jaguar C-X75, in 2010. Even if we will see it in an episode of James Bond, it will never be produced.
Another big defect of turbine engines: their manufacturing cost made considerable by the extreme precision required for their assembly and especially the non-standard materials they use, if only to cope with high operating temperatures. As a result, unlike those equipped with a Wankel engine, no turbine car has been marketed, even if brands as recognized as Ford, Toyota, or more recently Jaguar, on its C-X75 concept, are interested in it.
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