- - The Howmet TX
(http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/australian-cobra-club/134601-howmet-tx.html)
Aussie Mike
09-09-2015 08:37 AM
The Howmet TX
Just discovered an old race car I knew nothing about. How cool is this thing!
Cheers
LoBelly
09-09-2015 08:47 AM
wow - thanks for posting
also - petrolicious - fantastic
deano59
09-09-2015 09:08 AM
got too love that turbine whine didn't someone have a turbine car at Indianapolis 500 once and it was banned i seem to recall reading something about it .
i love people who do things completely different to everyone else . i have a friend who stuck a 13 b rotary on it's end and mounted it too a outboard leg and he uses it on his skiboat motec injected with a turbo and dry sump system sounds like a jet ski on steroids that come about cause someone said it would never work ..
David Hodgson
09-09-2015 04:07 PM
Great find Mike, now I need to find an article on the mechanicals.
dallas_
09-09-2015 04:47 PM
65,000 rpm. Now that's a redline you can love.
Great find! :)
MOTORHEAD
09-09-2015 06:06 PM
It was Andy Granniteli (sp ?) with the STP special that had the turbine at Indy.
Very cool Don. I wonder if the got a lot of downforce from the jet exhaust pointing up.
gjkrv8
09-09-2015 08:17 PM
What sort of gearbox/transmission etc do they use for that sort of reduction ?
Modena
09-09-2015 08:32 PM
Reminds me of the 300bhp jet powered motor bike that Jay Leno owns.
Gregg, no gearbox/drive, its thrust!
Aussie Mike
09-09-2015 09:19 PM
The thrust from the turbine drives a power take off turbine that drives a shaft. This feeds power to the diff via a clutch. Thats why they had to start the thing with the back wheels off the ground to let it spool up. Helicopters drive the rotors the same way.
He was saying it was direct drive but reckoned it would have been better with a 2 or 3 speed trans so the gas turbine could stay spooled up. They were keeping turbine speeds up by bleeding off pressure via a waste gate.
gjkrv8
09-09-2015 09:58 PM
gotcha
Donunder
09-09-2015 10:21 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aussie Mike
(Post 1362326)
Very cool Don. I wonder if the got a lot of downforce from the jet exhaust pointing up.
Well Mike if they did it would appear to be the only concession to downforce they made with the car, save for its inherent flying wedge design. How unsophisticated does it look compared to today's complicated F1 cars? Yet, how quick was it? Too quick for the entrenched Indy powerbrokers obviously. Can't have a Brit designer and driver upsetting the status quo, STP logos notwithstanding.
Aussie Mike
09-09-2015 10:30 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Donunder
(Post 1362347)
How unsophisticated does it look compared to today's complicated F1 cars?
I was going to say it looked like the F1 cars I drew as a kid with my crayons.
I reckon the turbine would be much more suited to Indy racing than a road circuit like LeMans. Constant High speeds running on the banked ovals would keep it operating in it's most efficient RPM without having to spool up and down too much.
It would have been cool to hear either of them go past from the grandstand.
thanks for that DON i knew there was one i never knew they build 4 of them. and as per usual something dominates so get rid of it gtr skylines for instance in touring cars bring back group c lol again thanks for the clip
CompClassics
09-10-2015 12:15 PM
We had this car at a shop I worked at, the turbine itself was missing parts so the car was not functional. The turbine that was used in this application was some sort of prototype for a helicopter application that never made it so spares are nonexistent.
David Hodgson
09-10-2015 04:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by citric acid
(Post 1362325)
Are they Mk1 Cortina tail lights ?
Yep, that why its so fast - the Ford connection :D
Gav
09-10-2015 07:36 PM
They used Ford tail lights to keep the useless weight to the rear...
