Re: New "What Ifs?"

Posted by Mr.Pushbutton  On 2014/8/20 10:39:16

I interviewed some of the original engineers from Chrysler's Turbine car program when I worked at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum. They really thought they had a car ready to go to market in 1962 when they ordered the 50 bodies from Ghia and built the bronze test cars. The drivers that tested the cars were chosen because they were good repeat Chrysler customers, bought a new car every couple of years. Most were professionals or executive types. They were supplied with the car for a two-week period and Chrysler paid for the fuel and insurance for that period. In return Chrysler asked that the test subjects (drivers) fill out a lengthily survey, as completely and as honestly as they could.
Three common responses were in every survey:

1) the car was slow to leave the line from a dead stop, at a time when a lot of cars were getting really good at leaving the line.

2) the braking sensation was weird, as there was very little engine braking when you let off the accelerator. The brakes were sized for this, they were ample, but they were drum brakes and the sensation was just foreign to drivers.

3) All surveyed said "my Gosh is that thing thirsty"! and that it was fine as long as Chrysler was paying the bill, but they didn't see themselves wanting to stop at the pump so often.

One of the biggest benefits that Chrysler saw was that there are just a few moving parts in the Turbine engine, and only about 6 bearing fits that matter, far easier than the typical piston engine.
That program was subsidized by the Gub-ment, it stayed alive until 1981, when the subsidy ended. That was the end of the program. Later cars, especially near the end in '81 had the benefit of modern microprocessor electronics, and fuel economy improved as a result.