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As an employee of a company that makes such engines, they are horrendously expensive. Lots of moving parts operating at astoundingly high temperatures. And turbine engines don't like to run at different speeds - they like to get to one speed, and stay there. So you need either a multiple-speed transmission, or a CV transmission. The tank gets away with four speeds. You can make a turbine engine run at different speeds, but you give up efficiency.
The major advantage of a turbine engine is that it is very small and light for the power output. The major downsides are maintenance requirements, horrible fuel economy, major emissions problems, noise, heat, and cost.
There is talk of microturbines for home power generation use. Again, those would be optimized for a single speed operation for efficiency. Maybe that development will extend to cars at some point. But today, because the major advantage is power-to-weight, they remain where weight is the overriding factor, like aircraft.
The other place they shine is in power generation, but there they run single speed, and weight isn't an issue - they can be made out of iron. But unless they get very large, they're not very efficient. And boy, are they loud. And you've got a lot of waste heat to deal with. With a power plant, that's good, because you can re-cycle that heat and boost efficiency. No such luck in a car.
posted by 192.249....
Posts in this Thread:
- Who makes the best engines?, J, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 12:13:25
- Best bang for the buck........, mcnasty, Sat, 29 Jan 2005 05:40:02
- Re: Rolls Royce?, t_mokes, Fri, 28 Jan 2005 15:02:21
- How does it compare to who makes the most?, Mike Lynch , Fri, 28 Jan 2005 12:48:12
- What?!? No vote for the Hemi?, J, Fri, 28 Jan 2005 08:30:32
- Dude!, Eiron, Fri, 28 Jan 2005 12:46:00
- Pow Pow Powerwheels, TheKillerPenguin, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 20:15:23
- Re: Who makes the best engines?, Spiros Trianta, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:07:25
- What about the GM LSx series, Steve88SiS, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 18:49:28
- mileage, matt 94 aero, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:02:41
- Re: Who makes the best engines?, Steve in Chicago, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 18:15:26
- Re: Who makes the best engines?, danny1940, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 17:44:31
- Nissan Twin Turbo inline-6 ;) (skyline) NM, Trev, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:43:46
- Depends on how you define "best.", Noel, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:28:00
- GM's 3800 is my favorite..., jimtimkim, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:51:16
- Re: Who makes the best engines?, Dean, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:49:53
- Re: Who makes the best engines?, yeppie, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:45:07
- Re: Who makes the best engines?, GM, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:24:04
- Saab, of course n/m, code08, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:21:06
- Honda, jeff, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:16:56
- Not that any of us will ever be able to afford it ..., Urby, Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:13:59
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