Motoring Discussion > Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] Miscellaneous
Thread Author: movilogo Replies: 12
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New Sat 10 Sep 11 21:24 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - movilogo
The latest episode showed someone got funding for a bike engined super car.

My question is, what are advantages and disadvantages of fitting bike engines in cars?

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New Sat 10 Sep 11 21:28 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - R.P.
Current bike engine design is always a generation ahead of car engines, very light, good vibration characteristics, immense power range, lightweight and small compared to a lump in a car...
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New Sat 10 Sep 11 21:35 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - Harleyman
Nothing that can't be overcome; there's been considerable cross-over in various branches of motorsport for many years, in fact almost from the very beginning.


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New Sat 10 Sep 11 21:46 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - DP
The four cylinder units tend to be quite torque deficient for their power output as they make their impressive horsepower by high revs rather than grunt. This means they work best in light stuff, such as Caterham / Lotus 7 replicas and the like.
Engines like the 1300cc Suzuki Hayabusa unit are incredible things though. They can be supercharged or turbocharged on standard internals, and churn out a reliable 250-300 bhp.
The modern four cylinder motorcycle engine is a masterpiece of compact, lightweight, precision engineering, and delivers staggering outputs. Some are pushing 200 bhp per litre out of the factory.
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New Sat 10 Sep 11 22:07 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - R.P.
Oi !! :-)

What about a state of the art boxer twin that makes that Fiat Air thing look like so-much plasticine !
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New Sat 10 Sep 11 22:09 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - Harleyman
>> Oi !! :-)
>>
>> What about a state of the art boxer twin that makes that Fiat Air thing
>> look like so-much plasticine !
>>

Thought we were talking current models; the 2CV's been out of production for a few years now. ;-)
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New Sat 10 Sep 11 22:11 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - R.P.
Ho Ho Ho !
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New Sat 10 Sep 11 21:46 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - corax
Only suited to lightweight cars like the Radical, as they don't have much torque.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5BSWgdOfZk&feature=related
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New Sun 11 Sep 11 09:24 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - Skoda
Still not had a shot in a BEC but they say once you try one everything else is pedestrian in comparison. They're supposed to be brutal and because they're lightweight they respond really well.

Something like a Fisher Fury should be possible to get a hold of sometime, somehow www.fishersportscars.co.uk/index.html?fs_fury

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New Sun 11 Sep 11 11:47 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - Iffy
Some of the really radical Radical-type cars use two Hyabusa engines bolted together.

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New Sun 11 Sep 11 12:15 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - Skoda
Had a shot in a go kart with 2 engines, mostly fine until you come off the throttle at 50mph - solid rear axle with 2 engines on the overrun, you soon learn how out of true each karts steering is :-)
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New Sun 11 Sep 11 12:40 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - Mike Hannon
I'd forgotten about that - we had a Zip Prokart with two Honda GC160s that my pals and I bought after a Sunday afternoon session in the pub complaining that motor sport wasn't what it was. We gave up the project after it scared half of us and the other half needed a block and tackle to get in and out.
www.flickr.com/photos/64660965@N03/6135578921/
The side pods are stacked against the wall behind it. I think the weird shape in the left hand corner is the front wing of our Legend coupe, of fond memory.
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New Sun 11 Sep 11 13:44 
 Bike engined car [as seen on Dragons' Den] - corax
>> Some of the really radical Radical-type cars use two Hyabusa engines bolted together.

Yep, I've posted this before, but any excuse! Radical SR8 on Nurburgring, one of my favourite videos and the speed, acceleration and noise (the exhaust and the sound of the rev limiter cutting in) is just amazing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbmDKZ78MOU
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