I would make the modules themselves flexible fabric, kinda like a balloon. That way, when a module isn't mounted on a vehicle, it can be deflated to take up less room and require no special equipment to handle its bulk. In the event of an accident, rollover, or emergency, you could just take a blade and slice the…

I KNOW for CERTAIN Brabus put a 5.5L in one. The possible v12 I saw was a long wheel base DRW and equipped with what appeared to be a w5a580/NAG1 trans. It was in silver with border patrol livery. I asked the driver what it had, because it wasn't a diesel, he said it was 'modified with a mercedes six liter.' He…

Mexican-Spec Special Service Package equipped Mercedes Sprinter. They are built with a Mercedes V12. Stealth AND Power. Dress it up as a plan white cargo sprinter, and send 8 of them. A phenomenal game of musical vans ensues. Leave the country in some unexpected way, say, the chunnel.

Only Jesus Diaz over on gizmodo gets to write horribly unbalanced articles about taking reasonable saftey precautions on the F-22.

I think the record is a one time train out of Australia put together by a mining company named Billiton, using eight of the most powerful single engine locomotives in the world, GE AC6000 (in fact, the only ones exported outside of the US). Each locomotive is powered by a 251L engine making 6200+hp. I understand it…

One of my favorite drivers, Mike Ryan (nutjob in the semi-trucks) has a sticker inside his truck that says 'If You or I wanted to pave Pikes Peak, the Sierra Club would have sued to STOP us!'

I helped a friend build this. It was a wrecked 1LE (no AC, no radio, no police package/ssp) with a 5.7 and leather interior. A strange machine, built to be light and handle stiffly but with leather interior and other strange options. It had aftermarket restraints. Since it was wrecked, its quite possible it was…

It requires more processing before it can be used as feed. Also, honestly, only the Germ is used for ethanol, the rest is still usable for other things (and is sold as corn meal for livestock feed and other uses).

Ethanol corn is NOT food corn. Its not even edible by livestock. Its a completley different species selectively breed to be easier to process. Changing it NOW wont do anything until NEXT YEAR, when they plant feed or food grade corn.

Locks/Unlocks the seatbelt?

Fully loaded they are around 730lbs, but can be ~900 depending on how its setup. The 4bta in my E-Series was 870lbs dressed with accessories when I lowered it in. I didn't use a vt275 due to 0 availability on the used market, and ball busting price for a new one.

Essentially. I converted my van to a diesel 4wd, and I feel a smaller, lighter diesel powered offroader setup for prerunning could be fun too.

Take ford/navistars VT275, a 6 cylinder version of the 6.0L v8 turbodiesel. It makes 440ftlbs of torque fresh from the crate. Tune the everlasting SHIT out of it. Bolt a ZF6 manual transmission behind it, and behind that the ESOF transfer case from the Raptor. Use the raptors front independant suspension/4wd…

Something turbocharged should make enough exhaust. I actually did the calculations on the 4bta in my van, and I came up wth 970CFM at redline. This is close to Cummins spec of 955 for the engine, and the difference probably came down to my VE guess.

A nitrous backfire is a regular backfire. It just has a whole crapload more oxidizer and fuel to make a larger boom.

Unless you vehicle has so much damn cam overlap its burping back into the intake I wouldn't worry about it. I see lots of 305/5.0s with MAF conversions just so they can run their vacuum annihilating cams. That engine is pretty clearly heavily modded, and has what look to be the remains of an edlebrock performer…

Huge overlap cam + n20 + fuel enrichment = boom under 2500rpm.

Because you have to, you know, live with it as a car you actually drive on a regular basis. Also, you need to arrive in one piece at your destination.

Living in an RV can be great. I did it for a few years while working in Charlotte, NC for a bank. I had my monster bitch parked right across the street from Lowes Motor Speedway (Charlotte Motor Speedway). My RV looked respectable, even though it was a utilitarian 'expedition style' RV meant for boondocking for…

I think they actually said the ground infrastructure couldn't handle it, and its not type certified in the US. It flies under a Waiver to international airports only. 2 years ago I saw it at KMEM, dwarfing some fedex haulers.