Street-Legal Jet Powered VW Beetle!! CRAZY!!!
05-03-06, 07:29 AM
#1
Loves Snickerdoodles!
Thread Starter
Street-Legal Jet Powered VW Beetle!! CRAZY!!!
Oh man, them fellaz on Monster Garage got nothin' on this... 
This is a my street-legal jet car on full afterburner. The car has two engines: the production gasoline engine in the front driving the front wheels and the jet engine in the back. The idea is that you drive around legally on the gasoline engine and when you want to have some fun, you spin up the jet and get on the burner (you can start the jet while driving along on the gasoline engine). The car was built because I wanted the wildest street-legal ride possible. With this project, I was able to use some stuff I learned while getting my fancy engineering degree (I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University) to design the car without the distraction of how other people have done it in the past - because no one has. I don't know how fast the car will go and probably never will. The car was built to thrill me, not kill me. That doesn't stop me from the occasional blast on the highway though.
The car is licensed here in California. In California, new cars have bi-annual smog inspections so if you modify the engine, it is likely to fail the inspection and you won't be able to drive it on the street. There are some exempt engine modifications (ex. after-cat mufflers - big deal) but none that will allow you to add 1350 hp to a new car.
Car was built to look as if VW delivered the car this way. It handles fine and is safe. I was thinking of putting it into an import car show but the promoter told me that it looked too plain and recommended that I put some decals on it, lower it, and put on some aftermarket wheels. Sure kid, put on some flimsy wheels won't take a curb and don't center on the hubs, lower the car so the tires rub and get cut by the body using springs that bounce me all over the road, and advertise for companies that couldn't engineer themselves out of a paper bag. I would have thought the 14" diameter tailpipe was enough for him but I guess it wasn't. Response from the hot rod magazines has been slow. One editor told me that is because I didn't use anything they advertise. But the response to driving it on the street and going to the hot rod shows (San Francisco Custom Car Show, Grand National Show in Pomona, and the Detroit Autorama) has been fantastic. This car attracts crowds better than any '32 Ford, '69 Camaro, or decaled Honda.
The Beetle was chosen because it looks cool with the jet and it shows it off well. Remember the Hurst wheelstanding Barracuda "Hemi Under Glass"? Well, this is "Jet Under Glass". Air for the jet enters the car through the two side windows and the sunroof. It's a little windy inside but not unbearable.
The production hatch release switch on the driver's door activates two new latches (one on each side) and the hatch pops open just like a production car. The "hatch not closed" warning light works too.
Here you can see the split in the tailpipe after a particularily rude burner pop. All fixed and reinforced now. The heat blanket keeps the plastic bumper from melting when the jet is operating.
The back of the gauge panel was kept open to give the car a techie look. Something to talk about. The car's an engineering device, let's see some engineering thingies. The aluminum panel was designed in SolidWorks and cut out of billet, bead blasted, clear annodized, and then the labels for the switches were milled into the front using a font matching the VW cluster. Little details like the holes having flat sides so the switches don't spin and exactly matching the contour of the dash added time to the project. Several versions were made out of styrofoam first to get the layout and lighting right. From the back, the panel reminds me of the 1970s McLaren CanAm cars.
More pictures and info here...
http://www.freewebs.com/jet_beetle/
This is a my street-legal jet car on full afterburner. The car has two engines: the production gasoline engine in the front driving the front wheels and the jet engine in the back. The idea is that you drive around legally on the gasoline engine and when you want to have some fun, you spin up the jet and get on the burner (you can start the jet while driving along on the gasoline engine). The car was built because I wanted the wildest street-legal ride possible. With this project, I was able to use some stuff I learned while getting my fancy engineering degree (I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University) to design the car without the distraction of how other people have done it in the past - because no one has. I don't know how fast the car will go and probably never will. The car was built to thrill me, not kill me. That doesn't stop me from the occasional blast on the highway though.
The car is licensed here in California. In California, new cars have bi-annual smog inspections so if you modify the engine, it is likely to fail the inspection and you won't be able to drive it on the street. There are some exempt engine modifications (ex. after-cat mufflers - big deal) but none that will allow you to add 1350 hp to a new car.
Car was built to look as if VW delivered the car this way. It handles fine and is safe. I was thinking of putting it into an import car show but the promoter told me that it looked too plain and recommended that I put some decals on it, lower it, and put on some aftermarket wheels. Sure kid, put on some flimsy wheels won't take a curb and don't center on the hubs, lower the car so the tires rub and get cut by the body using springs that bounce me all over the road, and advertise for companies that couldn't engineer themselves out of a paper bag. I would have thought the 14" diameter tailpipe was enough for him but I guess it wasn't. Response from the hot rod magazines has been slow. One editor told me that is because I didn't use anything they advertise. But the response to driving it on the street and going to the hot rod shows (San Francisco Custom Car Show, Grand National Show in Pomona, and the Detroit Autorama) has been fantastic. This car attracts crowds better than any '32 Ford, '69 Camaro, or decaled Honda.
The Beetle was chosen because it looks cool with the jet and it shows it off well. Remember the Hurst wheelstanding Barracuda "Hemi Under Glass"? Well, this is "Jet Under Glass". Air for the jet enters the car through the two side windows and the sunroof. It's a little windy inside but not unbearable.
The production hatch release switch on the driver's door activates two new latches (one on each side) and the hatch pops open just like a production car. The "hatch not closed" warning light works too.
Here you can see the split in the tailpipe after a particularily rude burner pop. All fixed and reinforced now. The heat blanket keeps the plastic bumper from melting when the jet is operating.
The back of the gauge panel was kept open to give the car a techie look. Something to talk about. The car's an engineering device, let's see some engineering thingies. The aluminum panel was designed in SolidWorks and cut out of billet, bead blasted, clear annodized, and then the labels for the switches were milled into the front using a font matching the VW cluster. Little details like the holes having flat sides so the switches don't spin and exactly matching the contour of the dash added time to the project. Several versions were made out of styrofoam first to get the layout and lighting right. From the back, the panel reminds me of the 1970s McLaren CanAm cars.
More pictures and info here...
http://www.freewebs.com/jet_beetle/
...meeeeh toooo!!!
...and now 
...from cops HAHAHA!!!
05-03-06, 12:50 PM
#7
Lexus Test Driver
The car itself might be street legal - but running that jet engine on the street certainly isn't legal.
Here's a video clip: Vid
The vid is a bit of a let down because they only show him firing up the jet engine, but they don't show him running the car on it.
That car has such a short wheelbase, that it'd probably spin out of control if he attempted a full launch. On one hand I wonder why he used such a dumb car - on the other hand, at least he didn't cut up a nicer car.
Here's a video clip: Vid
The vid is a bit of a let down because they only show him firing up the jet engine, but they don't show him running the car on it.
That car has such a short wheelbase, that it'd probably spin out of control if he attempted a full launch. On one hand I wonder why he used such a dumb car - on the other hand, at least he didn't cut up a nicer car.
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05-03-06, 07:09 PM
#8
Originally Posted by MadMax96
The car itself might be street legal - but running that jet engine on the street certainly isn't legal.
Here's a video clip: Vid
The vid is a bit of a let down because they only show him firing up the jet engine, but they don't show him running the car on it.
That car has such a short wheelbase, that it'd probably spin out of control if he attempted a full launch. On one hand I wonder why he used such a dumb car - on the other hand, at least he didn't cut up a nicer car.
Here's a video clip: Vid
The vid is a bit of a let down because they only show him firing up the jet engine, but they don't show him running the car on it.
That car has such a short wheelbase, that it'd probably spin out of control if he attempted a full launch. On one hand I wonder why he used such a dumb car - on the other hand, at least he didn't cut up a nicer car.
Watch the entire video... at the end he fires it up to 100% and fires up the afterburner as well.
05-03-06, 07:11 PM
#9
Other than it being really really really freaking cool, whats the point? I figured when he hit the after burner he car would shoot ahead, i cant imagine little brakes are stopping that big *** jet engine from moving that little car
Last edited by southernsc; 05-03-06 at 07:18 PM.
05-03-06, 07:54 PM
#10
Lexus Test Driver
Originally Posted by Stage3
Watch the entire video... at the end he fires it up to 100% and fires up the afterburner as well.
I saw a jet car at the drag strip last fall - sounded just like that thing except it was at least 3 or 4 times longer. When it took off - the accelleration was instant, it was crazy. If he had done a launch like that the car would have spun around and run into a building or something... a fitting end for that POS car.
05-03-06, 08:30 PM
#11
Lexus Champion
Originally Posted by MadMax96
I meant launch, as in launching the car. FWIW he's basically just revving the engine.. big deal.
I saw a jet car at the drag strip last fall - sounded just like that thing except it was at least 3 or 4 times longer. When it took off - the accelleration was instant, it was crazy. If he had done a launch like that the car would have spun around and run into a building or something... a fitting end for that POS car.
I saw a jet car at the drag strip last fall - sounded just like that thing except it was at least 3 or 4 times longer. When it took off - the accelleration was instant, it was crazy. If he had done a launch like that the car would have spun around and run into a building or something... a fitting end for that POS car.
Wouldn't this thing just kinda take off? I can't really see it being weighed down enough (especially in the front, also known as the drive wheels) to keep on the ground
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