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GM and Jay Leno Show Biodiesel-Fueled, Turbine-Powered Concept Car
31 October 2006
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| The Eco-Jet biodiesel turbine car. |
General Motors Advanced Design Studio and Jay Leno and his garage’s team have designed a biodiesel-fueled, turbine-powered concept car they call the “Eco-Jet.” Leno and Ed Welburn, GM Vice President of Global Design, introduced the car at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show.
The 650 hp (485 kW) supercar is powered by a Honeywell LT-101 turbine engine (a well-established engine often applied in helicopters) that develops 400 lb-ft (542 Nm) of torque. The engine sits in a modified Corvette Z06 hydroformed aluminum frame with aluminum and magnesium structural and chassis components. The vehicle’s shell is an advanced construction of carbon fiber over Kevlar.
We thought we pushed the creative envelope with the '66 twin turbo Toronado project with GM, but this turbine-powered monster is a whole new level of complexity.
—Bernard Juchli, the chief mechanic and caretaker of Leno’s collection
Leno, an avid car enthusiast and collector, turned to Wellburn and GM for design direction following discussions on the idea with Juchli.
Project partners for the Eco-Jet include:
- GM Advanced Design Studio: conceptual and build design, engineering, digital design and fabrication support;
- Alcoa: chassis and wheel engineering;
- Metalcrafters: body engineering and construction;
- Honeywell: engine supplier;
- Intermountain Turbine: engine builders;
- Dana: chassis supplier;
- BASF: paint and finishing supplies;
- GE Plastics: Lexan windows; and
- Viper Technologies: wheel construction.
October 31, 2006 in Biodiesel, Engines | Permalink | Comments (33) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Posted by: fred | November 01, 2006 at 01:21 PM
Gee, when has logic dictated the decisions of the consumer or manufacturers? If you want to sell alternative energy to "the masses" aka lumpen proletariat, get them enthused about it. It's called marketing; and when ignored slows your progress exponetially.
No one complains too loud about the Tesla - at $120k if available - very much a "concept" car.
Posted by: gr | November 01, 2006 at 06:49 PM
kudos to jay leno for using his dated muscle-car personality for something new... now that the GM design department has come up with something fun and exciting, it's time for them to show us what they can do for the rest of us, no? who's to say that we won't see compact economy cars in a few years with some similar items of technology. let's not celebrate it's flagrant uselessness, but let's not bash it's technological potential, either. it's just a stepping stone to something better.
Posted by: Tim | November 01, 2006 at 07:45 PM
"No one complains too loud about the Tesla"
Tesla doesn't employ an army of lawyers and lobbyist to
combat efforts to improve auto mileage standards and clean air.
Posted by: Dursun | November 02, 2006 at 09:00 PM
Now if they can only win the Le Mans 24 hour, something Cadillac failed to do these last few years than I would be impressed.
Posted by: wjb | November 05, 2006 at 11:33 PM
what the heck is wrong with you people, this car maybe a power hungry powerplant, but it does the job of being a great car..."supercar", yeah maybe the name of the car is a mistake, but think about it... it's awesome. i don't care if Jay Leno shelled out a lot of money for it. you didn't pay for it... i think it's a great start for other supercars to follow... not everyday drivers.
Posted by: Matthew Beluso | November 19, 2006 at 09:28 PM
this has nothing to do with the article...but I would like J to invite the Geico caveman on his show! Ratings would sky rocket (I feel). I love those guys!!
Posted by: Star | February 01, 2007 at 03:44 PM
It's another backyard hobby project with a junk unairworthy runout or donated parts training engine, just like every other aeroderivative turbine car project. We've got a couple runout Allisons in ski boats out here. The LT-101 was a stinky Lycoming (but I repeat myself) designed engine-fondly known as Autorotation Annie.
Phooey, phooey, phooey.
Jay, you want to do something, hire a couple of 3D solid modelling whizzes and buy a couple of seats of software and have them model out a successful working automotive gas turbine-a GM GT100 series or the Chrysler. Then build a REAL turbine car.
Posted by: Ken Williams | May 21, 2007 at 01:16 PM
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Heres a "concept". How bout a car that might actually show up in a showroom to great acclaim and be sold profitably to the masses someday soon. Beyond a "new" Camaro.