Come on...a NASCAR motor sounds 10x as nasty as that. Also ~900 HP, but NA and 9,000+ rpm. I don’t watch cup racing, but those things are insane.

Heck, my dad has one in his home shop. As you said...it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

I’m sure some of that $140B in today’s dollars from the Marshall Plan found its way there too!

I think I’d just pull off to the side of the road and have a good cry...and I love turbos!

Have you ever seen test results of studs on dry or wet roads? They’re a hindrance...they do not bite into the nooks and crannies in any meaningful way. They keep the rubber away from the asphalt, if anything.

This is counter to every test I’ve ever seen. I might believe it on older Blizzaks or the Nokian Havafajita R2s, but certainly not the Xi3s on my car. Those drive just like an all-season. I remember one test from one of the big mags where they tested a studless tire in warm conditions and it outperformed an all season…

I’d rather have studless winter tires on black ice. Black ice is usually thin with no strength, so studs don’t really find much resistance in them, making them somewhat worthless. Granted, sometimes black ice is thick enough for the studs to be beneficial, but I’ll play my odds with studless.

Honda already had the Accord Hybrid and PHEV which are closer to a Volt than the Prius, architecturally.

The new Prii offer lithium ion cells (not all models), as did the previous (awful) plug-in Prius.

If it was so easy, why did Honda license a crapload of Voltec stuff from Chevrolet in the new Clarity? I think you vastly underestimate the difference between making an electric car that moves day 1 and one which works 15 years from now with minimal battery degradation. Buying cells is the easiest part. Obviously…

F1 tubs are shaped for strength, like anything engineered well. They’re still incredibly tough to impact, abrasion etc. Now I’m not claiming they’re pure CF. They’re engineered composites (definition of the word!) with other fibers to add desirable properties (like Zylon) and the resin system is suited to that purpose…

Carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics do not necessarily bare any resemblance to hand-laid CF. However, given that the safety cell of F1 and Indy cars is carbon fiber, it clearly can be insanely tough, depending on the resin system, fiber, orientation etc. Heck, Pagani used the same tub for all of their crash tests,…

I’m definitely not mixing up my composites. I’ve laid carbon fiber myself on multiple occasions, designed equipment for carbon fiber production, and my dad owns a composites factory.

BTW, I’ll add that the power in that marine engine is also 550 HP!! Unlimited cooling is huge...the structure of the engine is fine for a lot more than its seeing in the truck. I’m sure the same is true for the Duramax and Scorpion, which appear to be great engines as well.

Of course, the new Ram has 930 foot pounds, because why not? The truth is that this isn’t an engine war...it’s a cooling system and drivetrain war. The Cummins is already offered in marine duty with 1250 foot pounds.

You speak of CF like it’s one thing. I’ve spent hours trying to notch a hole (non-round) through Carbon-reinforced thermoplastic. I’ve beat on it with a sledge hammer, I’ve drilled it, I’ve chiseled it...stuff is unbelievable. Assuming it’s much like the BMW i3, you can just listen to Munro’s president talk about how…

Beautiful work, but they’re only getting $60/hour if they’re gonna work in slow motion.

They won’t have to spin it. They’ll be way better than aluminum. I doubt tool boxes or cinder blocks will do anything. Carbon-reinforced infused thermoplastics are insanely tough.

Carbon-reinforced thermoplastics are tough beyond words. If they do it right, these things will be indestructable... way beyond aluminum.

And that’s a passenger car diesel. Large diesels crest 50% efficiency, which is better than any simple cycle gas turbine. As was already mentioned, partial power efficiency of gas turbines is quite poor compared to reciprocating engines.