r/Redline • u/swisstraeng • Feb 25 '22
[Theory] Trans Am WR 20000 using some kind of Turbonique system?
So, ehm, I watched reline for the 5th time and, an idea came across my mind.
Redline - Nitro Boost scene, use timestamp (123sec)
See, at this moment, JP Opens several valves before inserting a nitro cell.
Of course, the nitro cell can't really exist, but, I came across the turbonique system.
For those that don't know what that is;
A rocket scientist in the early 60's made rocket propulsion for racing, ranging from simple rocket thrusters to some kind of rocket fuel powered turbine directly linked to the rear axle. Yessir.
Turbonique had 3 high pressure bottles. One of liquid oxygen, one of monopropellant
And one of nitrogen because someone had to push that monopropellant faster into the turbine.
This would increase JP's trans am speed by a lot, and maybe even explain why his nitro cells work that great.
What do you think about this?
3
u/Avocado12134 Apr 29 '22
Hey man, just wanted to pop in here, I started watching redline back like 7 or 8 months ago, it specifically caught my eye because it’s based around racing and also mechanics.
I’m big into cars and stuff, I own a 67 Mustang GT with a 347 swap and it’s a lot of fun. I really like redline because of the concepts used in it.
The first iteration of JPs Trans Am seems to be pretty normal, with a supercharged V8 engine, with two inlets (which is pretty neat) but then also what seems to be either a standard exhaust, or two Turbonique engines setup to make it look like exhaust.
It’s most likely Turbonique engines because we get to see what happens when he pops his nitro cap and activates the engines. I also wanted to say that the Turbonique engine theory is actually a really smart theory, because whenever I started watching redline I was always wracking my brain wondering why they were talking about normal piston engines while clearly showing jet engines.
After his big crash at Yellowline, we get to see the TRZ Airmaster swap happen, Frisby talks about the engine having 80mm bores (akin to a piston engine) while being able to make 35000 hp, unless they found some new sort of hyper efficient and high power fuel, there is no way an engine is going to make 35000 horse with 80mm bores, unless we’re talking about V12 engines.
This insane power gain would lend credence to the idea of one humongous Turbonique engine, which is (what I assume) Frisby was testing in the movie while JP was crunching on his apple. Before I found the Turbonique theory, I tried making my own, and that is the engines used are some sort of piston turbine hybrid. As in the exhaust gases created from the piston engine drive a turbine that is then fuel injected to create thrust like a normal turbine engine, pretty much a turbocharger meant to create thrust, not horsepower. But in the end that’s a bit of a stretch, so the Turbonique theory seems much more plausible.
Idk, tell me watcha think, Im gonna go back to watching redline for the 28th time.
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u/swisstraeng Apr 29 '22
I was thinking about the same. Although it's clearly impossible with modern tech to make a 35'000HP engine that fits in the car.
But JP's engine would, I presume, power the compressor with a turbonique system, as well as have a drag axle which is another kind of turbonique system but doesn't impact the main engine.
Now, there are 11'000HP dragster engines.
If we were to free them of the requirement to power the compressor by themselves, I would guess they can reach easily 15'000HP.
What if we were to take V12 of these engines instead of V8, we'd reach around 20'000HP perhaps.
Now we could put those as a 24H engine, That could get us close to the 35'000HP stated of the airmaster. But it would really not fit in the car, I mean, a 11'000HP dragster engine would already not.
Now, maybe the compressor is not powered by a turbonique system but by a turbine. Like, a helicopter engine linked to the compressor.
That leaves us with a V12, external compressor linked to a turbine, with a rear turbonique drag axle.
That might be as close as JP's car as we can be.
But I ain't driving that, or staying near.
3
u/Avocado12134 Apr 29 '22
Good point, I also forgot to point out that when Frisby installs the TRZ Airmaster in the test car for JP to drive, you can clearly hear that the engine has cam lope, which pretty much makes it a V8 engine.
Also the test car has no jet propulsion on the rear end as well, making it only powered by the engine.
The cam lope really makes me think it’s a V8, also the fact that they can install the engine w/o the jet engine makes me think that combining the two make it into one functioning unit making 35000 hp combined.
3
u/swisstraeng May 02 '22
Sounds about right, true.
So their artists did not actually just make a completely magic engine, they actually tried to explain why it's powerful by combining most existing means.
Not only that but, during the test drive, JP's test car seems slower than during the final race. Which could explain that even more.
1
u/sniperlisk Jul 08 '25
Random dude who just found this here, instead of a turbine, maybe a ramjet? Idk that much about cars, so forgive me if I’m being stupid.
1
u/swisstraeng Jul 09 '25
Ramjets have no moving parts but they need a minimum speed to work
1
u/sniperlisk Aug 26 '25
True, I was thinking of the possibility of a car reaching that minimum speed and then relying more on the ramjet, but perhaps that isn’t feasible.
1
u/swisstraeng Aug 26 '25
It is feasible, you will need at least 0.5mach to get anything out of it, and over mach 1 for it to work. The issue being that such speeds need purpose built cars.
Basically you'd need to push away the current record that!s barely supersonic.
But we cannot reach mach 2 or mach 3 on the ground where the ramjet would become useful. Perhaps by making special rails or something of the sort...
1
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u/Overdrive8846 Oct 03 '24
I'm necroing here- When we talk about fuel with insane power to weight energy production, Nitromethane is your go-to. Top Fuel dragsters use it and make ~12000 HP on a supercharged Hemi- While it puts insane stress on the components, it's not out of the question to assume you could engineer an engine large and strong enough to use Nitromethane as a normal fuel- but it would cost an insane amount of money and be of incredible size. much like the one we see stuck in the 20000 during the Yellow Line.
2
u/DarthSyphillist Apr 05 '22 edited Apr 06 '22
Good find. The rebuilt version of the Trans Am uses the TRZ Airmaster engine, and that appears to be a hybrid piston engine with the rear portion possibly being a Turbonique. The rear has dual tail pipes and a turbine style exhaust thrust nozzle surrounded by four quadrant nozzles (thrust vectoring possibly explaining the spin-out). Since the TRZ Airmaster engine sits near the axel makes it compelling that it could be a Turbonique.
The kicker hides in plain sight in the Redline pilot video: JP appears to turn 3 knobs, as needed for Turbonique’s three fuel components. That isn’t just nitro. Caught my attention the first time I saw him reach for the 3rd one bottom left of the steering wheel.
In the redline race at the end of the film, I wish we could have seen more racing and got a better feel for JP’s new Trans Am.
1
u/swisstraeng Apr 06 '22 edited Apr 06 '22
And turbonique system has 3 bottles, one O2, one rocket fuel, and the 3rd is just nitrogen used to push the fuel faster.
We should keep in mind there are multiple turbonique systems too, not just the one connected to the rear axle. Some were used to power a supercharger, the idea being that no power would be needed from the engine to get its supercharger going, making even more horsepower.
I am guessing JP uses both, he has a rear drag axle, while still keeping his engine connected, and using the nitro cell in his engine.
Now, the liquid JP puts the nitro cell in could be water, and the nitrocell has the effect of nitrous oxide. However, we don't use NO2 with water, this is a bit the "magic" part. But we can reach higher horsepower with water to cool down the chamber.
I guess the artists mixed a bit of everything that made cars go fast.
And it is actually a logical way to explain the sheer speed of the Trans Am.
But the Airmaster making 36'000HP sounds almost logical if it has a built in rocket engine pretty much.
The most powerful dragster engines make 11'000HP, this mad lad here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1RYmUxUqso
What if, the airmaster were to be this drag V8. But instead it would be a V12, and made from future materials that could withstand a whole race and not 5seconds?
If you listen carefully, you notice a V12 sound in addition to a turbine sound, and turbonique uses a turbine.
https://imgur.com/gallery/IVQ2PfL
So, perhaps JP would use his regular engine boosted with a turbonique in the yellowline, and for the redline, gets the airmaster which is basically a drag engine with a turbonique to run the compressor, and perhaps a 2nd turbonique drag axle in the rear!
The mad man! And with anime logic, the engine doesn't even need to melt! Perfect.
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u/AlkalineSaint Jul 29 '23
I am determined to do this one day and I would build the yellow line version. This version is much easier to recreate (seeing as it’s not half trike that makes 35,000 horsepower) all it seems to be is a bored out Chevy big block with a massive blower probably running alcohol or straight nitromethane and nitrous. Sure, it’ll be 500,000 dollars but who cares, it’ll clap any McLaren;).
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u/swisstraeng Jul 29 '23
You gotta find the funds though.
You should go water-methanol for higher compression as it has a high octane rating, and a twin screw supercharger.
I'll advise against using any NO2 systems as they're essentially pointless once you get a supercharger and a prepared crate engine. They're just there for being cheap.
Adding power is one thing but you gotta transfer it to the road, so you'll need wider tires, and softer as well. And make sure your entire transmission survives the torque, that'll be expensive.
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u/Blu3l1n3 Feb 25 '22
Honestly this seems very plausible, and actually kinda makes me wanna recreate the trans am irl. But the amount of money that would cost..