Chrysler Turbine Car Downfall???

Question

What was the reason for the downfall of the turbine car??? It was truly a flexible fuel vehicle and they had so much potential for preformance and reliability.

Answer 1

I quote this from a website:

"The negatives were acceleration lag, no dynamic braking (no engine resistance when the gas was let up on and the car coasted) and the technology did not exist to manufacture turbine engines anywhere near the cost of a piston engine. "

Answer 2

In 1980, I was at the Chrysler Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Michigan, for a car club meet. While we were there, Chrysler demonstrated a turbine car at very high speed on their oval track along with a police 360 engined Dodge St Regis. The turbine car was whisper quiet and quite fast as it passed by us on the top lane of the banked corners. Unfortunately, the 360 in the piston car overheated and the demonstration had to be terminated too soon. The turbine car used in this demo was not the special body dating from 1963 which is pictured in all the books. It looked to be a 1971 or '72 mid-size Dodge .

During the demonstration I stood next to and talked with the manager of the proving grounds (I have forgotten his name). When I asked about turbine production he said that although research into the turbine powerplant had been ongoing since the early '60s, there was no denying the ubiquitous presence of the piston engine and its infrastructure. Due to Chrysler's worsening financial position, corporate research was to cease. Also the mileage was terrible. In the early '80s, bad mileage was unacceptable.

Just in case someone is unfamiliar with the turbine car engine: This engine does not use its exhaust to propel the vehicle like the Batmobile. The exhaust actually is directed down to the street, not out the back. The turbine turns a shaft which propels the wheels, just like any other car. My impression was/is that there was no insurmountable engineering obstacle to the use of this powerplant - it just never caught on.

Answer 3

Acceleration lag. Crap fuel economy. No engine braking. Extremely high cost. Safety concerns; when a turbine engine fails, it tends to scatter shards of metal at extremely high velocity along the plane of rotation of the t-wheels and out the exhaust.

Answer 4

all of the above plus i read somewhere that they would overheat the bumpers of the cars behind them , good way to stop tailgaters 'though