VIDEO: Supercharged (very) small block 5.65 cubic inch V8
It's a beautifully-crafted, supercharged aluminum block and head V8. In miniature. And it sounds awesome. We so wish we had one at the Autoblog offices to crank up any time the boss walked in. What was that, Boss? You want us to cut back on the RRRRGHGHGH ERRRRRH GHGHG RRHHFHHGRRR!!!!
Yeah. We need one.
So if any of you Autoblog regulars want to make us the happiest automotive bloggers on the Net, the creator of this alcohol-fueld, billet beauty, James Weber of Weber Precision, has documented the engine not only with the video you see here, but also with detailed engineering descriptions and photos of each tiny little, custom-made part.
And James, if, ya know, you've got some extra time, my son just turned one and he's already complaining about how slow his pedal car is. Could ya hook him up?
And, yes, we are aware the site and the engine were created in 2005, so if you've seen this before, RRRRGHGH GHERR RRRHGHGHG RRHHFHHGRRR!!!!
[Source: Weber Precision via TecheBlog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr. Oak 3:57PM (4/10/2007)
That is really cool. One Question though is the power output measured in minature ponies? Say: 250mHP?
Reply
schlomo 4:00PM (4/10/2007)
*Nathan Explosion voice (from Metalocalypse)*
AWESOMMMMMMMMME!!!!
put one in a pocket bike!!
Reply
Gale 4:24PM (4/10/2007)
The Western Washington U. Formula SAE team created ione of these in 2002.
Reply
Juan 4:28PM (4/10/2007)
I thought WWU made a V6?
Reply
akintz 4:50PM (4/10/2007)
That would make for one bad ass Powerwheels for someone's kid!
Reply
mlucas2006 4:56PM (4/10/2007)
@ Mr. Oak:
I'm no engineering major, but a Google search returned this formula for mHP (micro horsepower):
Horsepower = mHP*(1/1000)
Reply
Bill Hancock 5:28PM (4/10/2007)
If you do some searching there is also a miniature Viper engine that runs on propane...Connely Precision or something like that made it.
Reply
Travis Ayres 6:03PM (4/10/2007)
@6 -
mHP means millihorsepower, not micro horse power. The prefix milli is from the metric system, as is micro, but micro is written with a prefix 'u', milli is written with prefix 'm'.
Also, Horsepower = mHP/1000, not mHP*(1/1000).
Your calculation of mHP*(1/1000) would give you 10^-6 horsepower, or 'microhorsepower', but that is written, as I said, 'uhp'.
The term horsepower is, as the name indicates, a unit of power - but it is in the English system, not the Metric system. So by saying 'mHP' you are combining metric prefixes with English standards.
Here is a link to a table I found (on 'the Google') to metric system prefixes -
http://www.essex1.com/people/speer/large.html
Reply
huis 6:24PM (4/10/2007)
Hmm, I'm no engineering major . . . oh wait, yeah I am, and, Travis, it appears that mHP/1000 and mHP*(1/1000) are the exact same thing, and would both yield 10^-6 HP.
I think what you really mean is that mHP=HP/1000, because there are 1000 micro Horsepower for every 1 Horsepower (by definition of micro). Unit conversions are such a pain in the a (well, at least according to my fluids lab students who complain about them week after week after week . . . ) But they really aren't that bad if you just write 'em out.
Reply
jgp 7:34PM (4/10/2007)
Wow, there's so much bad math in this thread.
by standard metric prefixes, 1 mHP = 1 millihorsepower
There are 1000 mHP in one HP.
Microhorsepower would be μHP. That first character is a Greek letter, not a lowercase 'u'.
There are 1000 mHP in one HP. There are 1000000 μHP in one HP. There are 1000 μHP in one mHP. 1 mHP = 10^-3 HP = 1/1000 HP. 1 μHP = 10^-6 HP = 1/1000000 HP.
Reply
villainy 8:47PM (4/10/2007)
ENGINE COOL!!!... yeah!
Reply
HotRodzNKustoms 8:52PM (4/10/2007)
golly gee wilikers I did not realize there was such thing as microhorses, I have miniature horses but I want a micro horse! Anyways I have a feeling if you hooked this engine up to a dyno it might measure a couple full sized ponies.
Reply
Brian M 11:20PM (4/10/2007)
That is cool but the guy who hand built a scale model ferrari complete with EVERYTHING Working and a 100 cc ferrari 12 cyl still tops this in my book.
Reply
Biff 10:02AM (4/11/2007)
Dyno it - IMMEDIATELY!
Reply
Derek 11:39AM (4/11/2007)
Well, 1hp/ci is pretty common for a full size hi performance n/a engine. Depending on how much boost he's getting in there and combined with the 12,000 rpm redline he lists on his website I could see 10hp maybe?
Reply
Oliver Licul 4:55PM (4/11/2007)
Actually I can show you smaller supercharged V8's they come from conley precision engines they have supercharged and non supercharged versions of the engine
http://www.conleyprecision.com/cars.htm
http://www.conleyprecision.com/609.htm
http://www.conleyprecision.com/movie.mpg
Reply