Would it be legal,to use a jet powered engine on a vehicle on her Majesties highways and byways

Question

assuming all the other checks regarding safety and suitability had been satisfied , insurance wouldn't be a problem as i have a very understanding insurer

Answer 1

I'd like to see it get past the emissions laws.

Answer 2

If you can get it passed so that it can get a registration number, then why not? Any vehicle that is legally registered in the UK can drive on the roads.

Answer 3

Turbine powered, wheel driven you could do, provided you could meet the emission regulations. Pure jets would have problems with the exhaust arrangements and noise levels

Answer 4

I believe that the answer is yes you can. The vehicle would have to get SVA approved but if it met all regulation then I do not believe that the propulsion unit would preclude it.

Answer 5

As you said, assuming all other checks such as an MOT and roadworthiness test come out fine and you don't intend to break the speed limit, etc then I think you'll be fine

Answer 6

I doubt it lol. For a start jet exhaust is very hot, and there would be a h**l of a lot of suction from the air intake too. Both of those reasons would make it very dangerous for pedestrians & other road users. For those two reasons alone it would never pass a safety check. Then there would be noise pollution - there is no such thing as a quiet jet engine. It would pretty much never be allowed on the road!

Cool, apparently there was a jet powered rover, It actually ran at Le-mans in 1965 - who'd have believed that! There was even a lotus Gas Turbine Formula 1 car that ran in the 1971 italian GP! (The Lotus 56!). Or how about this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howmet_TX

In fact completely ignore my first statement! There has already been a road legal Gas Turbine powered car, (in America at least!)

This one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Tu...

At least 50 were given to the public to test and some are still on in running condition today!

Answer 7

In the 1950's-60's there was a 'jet powered' car in use on British roads. It was a Rover model Jet 1.

Note that this car used the gas turbine engine to power the wheels, it did not use pure jet propulsion as shown in the 1960's "Batmobile". That would be illegal and dangerous to following traffic.

Apart from the unusual engine it conformed to all the usual road vehicle construction and use regulations. So there's nothing in principle to stop you building one.

It would be a rather thirsty machine though. Gas turbines only operate efficiently in an extremely ristricted rev range so the engine would be running at high speed whatever the road speed of the car is. This would make the gearbox a more complex construction than a conventional one.

Alternatively you could use electric transmission similar to that used on the Great Western Railway gas turbine locomotives of the 1940's. There were only two prototypes built because, although they were powerful and very fast, they guzzled the same ammount of fuel (and sounded like an aeroplane) whether they were pulling a heavy train at 90mph or standing still at signals or stations.