Comments by "" (@charlesvan13) on "Engineering Explained" channel.

  1. +Go Mad No, the cross-plane crank was invented to eliminate secondary imbalances. The odd firing order plus counter weights on the crank eliminate secondary imbalances. The flat plan crank v8 will vibrate more. But they are usually used in racing applications where that's not a concern.
    14
  2. Take meth for a couple months. You'll burn out.
    13
  3. +George Withrow There's no comparison between the purpose a dragster engine is designed for and that of a car made for transportation. A top fuel dragster engine is designed to last for a minute and then is torn down. A car engine is designed to last 100-200k miles.
    4
  4. Straight pipes would work better, but the amount of noise is annoying and illegal for road use. You don't want pressure in the exhaust. Pressure and restriction in the exhaust saps power, and makes the engine run hotter.
    4
  5. +Erik Kovacs There are properties which aren't described by the torque/hp measurements. I had a 6.2 liter diesel GMC truck. It's rated hp was only 130, with just 250 lbft torque. That's not impressive sounding, actually kind of pathetic by todays standards. But once we towed a trailer with a tractor, probably 4000 lbs, and the truck wasn't overly burdened or stressed. Didn't even half slow it down.
    3
  6. I think because power = Force x velocity and the drag is the force, depends on velocity^2.
    2
  7. The N02 buzz is not due to oxygen starvation. It's an anesthetic which acts by temporarily changing your brain chemistry. The dentist wouldn't use it as an anesthetic if it cause oxygen deprivation.
    2
  8. +Mia Cassinelli I think "hemi" is a trademarked term by Chrysler. The design is not the same, but they use that term to sell muscle cars. The advantage of the "hemi" design is that the valves were oriented transversely, so you had straighter flow in the intake and exhaust. In a traditional v8 the valves are all in a row. That also means that more fuel mixture just goes right out the exhaust. So a hemi engine got shit gas mileage.
    2
  9. Most engines aren't hemis because a wedge shaped combustion chamber causes the the fuel mixture to mix better and burn more efficiently.
    1
  10. +Jason Fontanoz I think alcohol gets worse mileage. I think liquefied natural gas would be a better fuel, perhaps cheaper than gasoline.
    1
  11. +Andy Curtis It's probably denatured, meaning there is gas in it that makes you sick, so you can't get high from it.
    1
  12. +Yoseob Yang The design requirements for a car used for transportation are completely different than that of a race car. A race car engine is designed for maximum output, but to only last for the race. Also, in Europe a high performance engine is more useless for transportation with gas at $6/gal.
    1
  13. The straight-6 seems to have lost out to the V layout, V8 in particular, in America. A friend bought a '70 Dodge with a IL6. It was slow, being the base "economy" engine, and had a tiny 1 venturi carburetor. But it sucked, because it got the same gas mileage as the V8 69 Mustang I had that could go 50 mph in first gear.
    1
  14. The straight-6 seems to have lost out to the V layout, V8 in particular, in America. A friend bought a '70 Dodge with a IL6. It was slow, being the base "economy" engine, and had a tiny 1 venturi carburetor. But it sucked, because it got the same gas mileage as the V8 69 Mustang I had that could go 50 mph in first gear.
    1
  15. The supercharger creates about 4 atmospheres, but there is also the loss due to pumping all that air.
    1
  16. +slowsword I think they might have done this on the old 1960s gt40 racing Le Mons with a ford 427 big block.
    1
  17. Cross plane V8 s are usually produced with a Y or H exhaust pipe layout, to even out the uneven pressures coming from each side.
    1
  18. +Nick Palaroan The crossplane crank was introduced because the flat plane crank is not balanced. It's basically two 4 cylinder engines mated, and 4 cyl engine has secondary imbalances.
    1
  19. I see people doing this on old muscle cars. They have synchronizers but the old gearboxes were like truck transmissions.
    1
  20. A big automobile engine wont fare so well. Right after losing oil pressure the bearings will come lose. Then the crank will eventually break. Apparently, that small engine is sturdier relative to the mechanical forces it endures.
    1
  21. Sounds a lot more delicate, than say a top fuel dragster engine, which uses 600 hp just to turn the supercharger.
    1
  22. +M D Adams Race engines are only designed to last for the race, perhaps 500 miles. For civilian application an engine is made to last at least 100,000 miles. So the design requirements are completely different. The most extreme is a nitromethane powered dragster. It produces 10,000 hp and 7000 lbft or torque. But it has to be rebuilt after a 4 second run.
    1
  23. I thought it was more like 10,000 hp. That would be the peak, of course.
    1
  24. The only vehicles that you can buy that will break 300 mph would be any commercial jet, or turbo prop airplane. My dad has a Cirrus, piston prop airplane and it will only do about 230 mph. The difference is that you can cruise at 230 safely, while in a Veyron if you hit a pot hole or a corner you'd crash.
    1
  25. But if you ever floored it you'd be in Germany.
    1
  26. The Jerk is also a very funny movie.
    1
  27. Shutting off your engine would cost more in shorter starter and solenoid life than just letting it idle. 5 minutes of idle will burn about 5 cents worth of gas.
    1
  28. Backpressure just means there is energy loss, because the engine torque has to be used to force the exhaust out of the engine. That's torque that's not going to the wheels.
    1
  29. You're confusing "back pressure", is always counter productive to engine efficiency, with exhaust velocity. Higher exhaust velocity make an engine perform better a lower engine speeds. "Back pressure" has no benefits. Similarly, smaller intake runners on a engine produce better low engine speed performance, because the fuel mixture is entering the cylinders at higher velocity. It's not their restrictiveness that's causing more low rpm torque. Their restrictive size is what kills high rpm torque.
    1
  30. Playing exhaust sounds through the speakers is cheesier than the fake wood grain they used to put in American cars' interiors and fake wood on the side of station wagons.
    1
  31. It is amazing that Ford could make it so small and out of plastic.
    1
  32. I wouldn't expect the factory hp rating to be identical to the actual output. Sometimes they advertise a particular hp at a particular rpm. If you rev higher you might get more.
    1
  33. Bad. If you have to pass a vehicle inspection.
    1
  34. The altitude should make no difference with performance because it's supercharged. Unless the boost in the manifold drops. The better airplanes have a turbo or supercharger which just keeps the manifold pressure at 1 atm, so there's no performance loss at altitude.
    1
  35.  @EngineeringExplained  I suppose the boost pressure, just like the gauge on the air compressor in your garage, is relative to the atmosphere. It seems that a turbo could be set to an absolute pressure, but that might not be practical for a supercharger.
    1