When automotive world’s going electric, there are some conventional designers who’d do anything for a record – even if it takes powering cars with steam. In pursuit, aiming to overrun the land speed record, some likeminded British auto-enthusiasts have geared to take a steam-powered supercar dubbed ‘the fastest kettle in the world’ to over 127mph record standing tall for over a century. Built with a covering of aluminum on steel space frame chassis and a mixture of lightweight carbon-fibre, the 25-foot-long supercar weighs about three tons.
The steam car is fitted with 12 boilers, which work like a kettle on a stove. LPG in the vehicle’s tanks ignite in order to produce about three megawatts of heat, to boil 140 litres of distilled water which produces the requisite steam. The water’s then pumped into the boilers at 50 litres a minute to superheat steam to 400C, which is then transmited to the supercar’s turbines at twice the speed of sound to gather enough momentum and thrust to push the car to mesmerizing speeds of over 200mph.
The recorded will be attempted at a dry lake bed on land at Edward’s Airforce Base in California’s Mojave Desert in June, where Charles Burnett III will drive the car to see if it can create history. For the drivers extra-safety he will be cocooned in a steel roll cage when attempting the record. Are we preparing for the grand event?
Via: DailyMail
