The Chrysler turbine engine is a series of gas turbine engines developed by Chrysler intended to be used in road vehicles. In 1954, Chrysler Corporation disclosed the development and successful road testing of a production model Plymouth sport coupe which was powered by a turbine engine. [1]
Tests of the Chrysler Turbine were first run in 1954 and proved successful enough to convince project lead George Huebner of the engine's viability for further development.
With the aim of keeping price competitive with its contemporaries, the team sought to address concerns with the engine of throttle response, noise, and to see if it was even possible to power a car using a jet engine. Likewise, new materials were developed to be resistant to the high temperatures of the engine's combustion chamber while remaining economical to manufacture at the scale of a mass-produced automobile.
A number of benefits were also identified; the turbine engine being conceptually simpler than a piston engine drove an attendant reduction in parts count from the roughly 300 of a typical engine to only 60. [2] This resulted principally in a longer engine life, longer service intervals, and substantially improved power density over a conventional engine of comparable output. Numerous factors of the turbine's performance were identified as superior to its piston contemporaries – particularly ease of cold starting, reduced noise and vibration, and a resistance to stalling under sudden load.
The first successful test of a gas turbine engine in a car (CR1) took place in 1954 at Chrysler's testing grounds. [3] In 1956, the first successful cross-country trip using a turbine-engined car took place using a Plymouth Belvedere. [3]
Further engineering work resulted in the second generation (CR2), which improved fuel economy and increased horsepower. [3]
In 1961, a third-generation engine (CR2A) was installed in a 1962 Dodge Dart, which successfully drove from New York City to Los Angeles, through snowstorms, rain and heavy winds. [3]
The fourth-generation engine, installed in the Chrysler Turbine Car, was put into use in 1963. This engine runs at up to 44,500 revolutions per minute, according to the owner's manual, [4] and could operate using diesel fuel, unleaded gasoline, kerosene, JP-4 jet fuel, and even vegetable oil. The engine can run on virtually anything with combustible properties and "Chrysler claimed the turbine could gulp everything from peanut oil to Chanel No. 5." [5] The then-incumbent President of Mexico tested this theory by running one of the first cars—successfully—on tequila, after Chrysler engineers confirmed that the car would operate successfully. [6] No air/fuel adjustments are required to switch from one fuel type to another and the only evidence of which fuel was used is the odor of the exhaust.
The turbine spins on simple sleeve bearings for vibration-free running. Its simplicity offers the potential for long life, and because no combustion contaminants enter engine oil, no oil changes are considered necessary. The 1963 Turbine's engine generated 130 brake horsepower (97 kW; 132 PS) and an instant 425 pound force-feet (576 N⋅m) of torque at stall speed, making it good for 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 12 seconds at an ambient temperature of 85 °F (29 °C)—it can sprint quicker if the ambient air was cooler and denser.
The lack of many moving parts and the lack of liquid coolant eases maintenance, while the exhaust does not contain carbon monoxide, uncombusted carbon, or raw hydrocarbons. Nevertheless, the turbine generates nitrogen oxides and the challenge of limiting them proved an ongoing problem throughout development.
The power turbine is connected, without a torque converter, through a gear reduction unit to an only moderately modified TorqueFlite automatic transmission. The flow of the combustion gases between the gas generator and free power turbine provides the same functionality as a torque converter but without using a conventional liquid medium. Twin rotating recuperators transfer exhaust heat to the inlet air, greatly improving fuel economy. Varying stator blades prevent excessive top end speeds and provide engine braking on deceleration.
Throttle lag and exhaust gas temperatures at idle plagued generations 1 and 2; Chrysler was able to remedy or mitigate these to some degree. Acceleration lag, however, remained a problem, and fuel consumption was excessive, although it improved with each generation. Acceleration was excellent provided the turbine was spun up (by applying power) prior to releasing the brakes. The Turbine Car also featured a fully stainless steel exhaust system, the exits of which were flat in cross section. This was intended to spread the exhaust gases thinly and thus cool them further, in order to allow the vehicle to stand in traffic without risking damage to following traffic. The combustor, or burner, was primitive by the standards of modern turbojet engines. A single reverse-flow canister featuring a more-or-less standard spark plug for ignition was employed. Had the engine been further developed, annular combustion chambers along with a second power turbine might have improved power and economy even more. The transmission has an "idle" position instead of "neutral". [7]
After the user testing period completed, Chrysler collected all of the cars, destroying 40 out of the original 50. Chrysler kept two, then sent the remaining examples to museums. [8]
Chrysler's turbine engine program did not end with the Chrysler Turbine Car. A new coupe body, which was to become the 1966 Dodge Charger was considered for a new fifth-generation turbine engine. However, Chrysler went on to develop a sixth generation gas-turbine engine which finally met US nitrogen oxide regulations, and installed it in a 1966 Dodge Coronet, though it was never introduced to the public.
A smaller, lighter, seventh generation engine was produced in the early 1970s, when the company received a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for further development, and a one-off, special bodied, turbine Chrysler LeBaron was built in 1977 as a prelude to a production run. However, by 1978 the company was encountering significant financial difficulties and new CEO Lee Iacocca needed U.S. government loan guarantees to avoid bankruptcy. A government condition of that 1979 deal was that the gas-turbine program be abandoned because they believed it was "too risky" for an auto company of Chrysler's size.
While the automotive division of Chrysler never mass-produced a turbine powered vehicle, Chrysler Defense (later General Dynamics Land Systems) would ultimately employ the unrelated Honeywell AGT1500 in the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.
A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part and are, in the direction of flow:
Plymouth was a brand of automobiles produced by Chrysler Corporation and its successor DaimlerChrysler. The brand was launched in 1928 to compete in what was then described as the "low-priced" market segment that was dominated by Chevrolet and Ford. It became a high-volume seller for the automaker until the late 1990s. Plymouth cars were marketed primarily in the United States. The brand was withdrawn from the marketplace in 2001. The Plymouth models that were produced up until then were either discontinued or rebranded as Chrysler or Dodge.
The Plymouth Road Runner is a mid-size car with a focus on performance built by Plymouth in the United States between 1968 and 1980. By 1968, some of the original muscle cars were moving away from their roots as relatively cheap, fast cars as they gained features and increased in price. Plymouth developed the Road Runner to market a lower-priced, basic trim model to its upscale GTX.
The Plymouth Barracuda is a two-door pony car that was manufactured by Chrysler Corporation from 1964 through 1974 model years.
The Chrysler B and RB engines are a series of big-block V8 gasoline engines introduced in 1958 to replace the Chrysler FirePower engines. The B and RB engines are often referred to as "wedge" engines because they use wedge-shaped combustion chambers; this differentiates them from Chrysler's 426 Hemi big block engines that are typically referred to as "Hemi" or "426 Hemi" due to their hemispherical shaped combustion chambers. The corporation had been seeking a smaller and lighter replacement for its FirePower engines, in part because new styling dictates meant moving the engine forward in the chassis which negatively affected weight distribution.
The LA engine is a family of overhead-valve small-block 90° V-configured gasoline engines built by Chrysler Corporation between 1964 and 2003. Primarily V8s, the line includes a single V6 and V10, both derivations of its Magnum series introduced in 1992. A replacement of the Chrysler A engine, they were factory-installed in passenger vehicles, trucks and vans, commercial vehicles, marine and industrial applications. Their combustion chambers are wedge-shaped, rather than polyspheric, as in the A engine, or hemispheric in the Chrysler Hemi. LA engines have the same 4.46 in (113 mm) bore spacing as the A engines.
The Slant-Six is the popular name for a Chrysler inline-6 internal combustion engine with an overhead valve reverse-flow cylinder head and cylinder bank inclined at a 30-degree angle from vertical. Introduced in 1959 for the 1960 models, it was known within Chrysler as the G-engine. It was a clean-sheet design that began production in 1959 at 170 cubic inches (2.8 L) and ended in 2000 at 225 cubic inches (3.7 L). It was a direct replacement for the flathead Chrysler straight six that the company started business with in 1925 until the old design was discontinued in the 1960s.
The Chrysler 1.8, 2.0, and 2.4 are inline-4 engines designed originally for the Dodge and Plymouth Neon compact car. These engines were loosely based on their predecessors, the Chrysler 2.2 & 2.5 engine, sharing the same 87.5 mm (3.44 in) bore. The engine was developed by Chrysler with input from the Chrysler-Lamborghini team that developed the Chrysler/Lamborghini Formula 1 V12 engine in the early 1990s.
The Plymouth Fury is a model of automobile that was produced by Plymouth from 1955 until 1989. It was introduced for the 1956 model year as a sub-series of the Plymouth Belvedere, becoming a separate series one level above the contemporary Belvedere for 1959. The Fury was a full-size car from 1959 until 1961, then a mid-size car from 1962 until 1964, again, a full-size car from 1965 through 1974, and again, a mid-size car from 1975 through 1978. From 1975 until 1977, the Fury was sold alongside the full-size Plymouth Gran Fury. In 1978, the B-body Fury was the largest Plymouth, and by 1979, there was no large Plymouth. This product gap was filled in 1980 with the R-body Gran Fury, followed by the M-body Fury in 1982. Production of the last V8, RWD Plymouth Fury ended at the Kenosha Main assembly plant in Kenosha, WI, on December 23, 1988. Unlike its sibling brand, Dodge, Plymouth would not live to see the resurgence of the large, V8/RWD sedan.
The Shelby CSX is a limited-production high performance automobile based on the turbocharged intercooled Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance. These cars were offered by Shelby Automobiles Inc. from 1987 through 1989. The CSX serial number was established by AC Cars, in Surrey, England. The purpose of that serial number was to identify which chassis were to be exported to Shelby in the U.S. CSX stood for "Carroll Shelby Export".
The Mitsubishi Astron or 4G5/4D5 engine, is a series of straight-four internal combustion engines first built by Mitsubishi Motors in 1972. Engine displacement ranged from 1.8 to 2.6 litres, making it one of the largest four-cylinder engines of its time.
The 6G7 series or Cyclone V6 engine is a series of V6 piston engines from Mitsubishi Motors. Five displacement variants were produced from 1986 to 2021, with both SOHC and DOHC, naturally aspirated and turbo charged layouts. While MIVEC variable valve timing has also been implemented in some versions the 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 L versions were also available with gasoline direct injection. This engine has been the flagship powerplant of the company except when they briefly built a V8 in 1999–2001. The staple of their high-end sedans, it was given twin-turbos for the Mitsubishi GTO, and became the most powerful car ever built by the company at the time.
The Plymouth Belvedere is a series of American automobile models made by Plymouth from 1954 until 1970.
The Chrysler Hemi engine, known by the trademark Hemi or HEMI, refers to a series of high-performance American overhead valve V8 engines built by Chrysler with hemispherical combustion chambers. Three generations have been produced: the FirePower series from 1951 to 1958; a famed 426 cu in (7.0 L) race and street engine from 1964-1971; and family of advanced Hemis (displacing between 5.7 L 6.4 L from 2003 to 2024.
The Dodge St. Regis is an automobile that was marketed by Dodge from the 1979 to 1981 model years. Replacing the Monaco, the St. Regis was the largest Dodge sedan, positioned above the mid-size Diplomat and Aspen. In contrast to both the Monaco and the Diplomat, the St. Regis was offered solely as a four-door sedan. Produced for a single generation, the St. Regis is one of the shortest-lived Dodge nameplates.
The Chrysler Turbine Car is an experimental two-door hardtop coupe powered by a turbine engine and was manufactured by Chrysler from 1963 to 1964. Italian design studio Carrozzeria Ghia constructed the bodywork, and Chrysler completed the final assembly in Detroit. A total of 55 cars were manufactured: five prototypes and a limited run of fifty cars for a public user program. All have a signature metallic paint named "turbine bronze", roughly the color of root beer. The car was styled by Elwood Engel and Chrysler studios. They featured power brakes, power steering, and a TorqueFlite transmission.
The General Motors Firebird comprises a quartet of prototype cars that General Motors (GM) engineered for the 1953, 1956, and 1959 Motorama auto shows. The cars' designers, headed by Harley Earl, took Earl's inspiration from the innovations in fighter aircraft design at the time. General Motors never intended the cars for production, but rather to showcase the extremes in technology and design that the company was able to achieve.
Brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) is a measure of the fuel efficiency of any prime mover that burns fuel and produces rotational, or shaft power. It is typically used for comparing the efficiency of internal combustion engines with a shaft output.
The second-generation Chrysler minivans are a series of minivans that were manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Corporation in North America and Europe from 1991 to 1995. Officially designated the AS platform by Chrysler, the second-generation minivans were an extensive revision of the first-generation chassis and body. As before, passenger and cargo configurations were sold by Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler divisions. The first minivans offered with driver-side airbags and with optional integrated child safety seats, the second-generation Chrysler minivans offered all-wheel drive as an option for the first time; a manual transmission would be offered for the last time in the North American market.
The GMWhirlfire gas turbine engines were developed in the 1950s by the research division of General Motors Corporation and fitted to concept vehicles, including the Firebird concept cars, Turbo-Cruiser buses, and Turbo-Titan trucks through the 1960s. They are free-turbine turboshaft machines with two spools: one compressor/gasifier turboshaft and one power/output turboshaft sharing a common axis without a mechanical coupling between them. Fuel consumption of the first-generation GT-300 was high compared to piston engines, so thermal wheel regenerators were added to the second-generation GT-304, cutting consumption by approximately 1⁄2.
{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)