(TURN SPEAKERS UP!) Gas Turbine Sinclair C5

[@iandavidson99]

You can see this in action at Ipswich --> Felixstowe Classic Car Rally. It's a major local event at the start of May every year

[@leespurling9249]

Will you/it be there this year?

[@iandavidson99]

@@leespurling9249 100% :-)

[@TPDene]

​@@iandavidson99 Ohh one more reason to come to Britain again ❤

[@rabone1963]

Love it! Nice to see the C5 still looking almost original! but up-to date and looking like a new space ship lol ,no honest I love it to bits and envy you , I just wish I had it my self , best regards from Ron

[@iandavidson99]

rabone1963 Cheers - thanks Ron! :-)

[@barbadolid5170]

Simply outstanding

[@zxkim8136]

Where is the Flux Capacitor located?😁😁😁

[@idesignyou...9257]

WOW!!! Love it! Nice to see the C5 still looking almost original! :)

[@iandavidson99]

iDesignyou... Thank you! Yes, I wanted it to look like it could (in an alternative universe) have come from the factory list this.

[@SqueekyBums]

Very impressive! I still have my C5. Bought when the price dramatically dropped due to Sinclair going bust :(

[@themagicboy6548]

Wow! Normally I am opposed to people modifying and sticking things in discontinued technology but this looks factory! Great job!

[@iandavidson99]

Thanks! I've just learnt it's called doing a 'restomod'. I'll post another video soon - as it now has a gas-turbine/electric 'hybrid' power plant. I'll show it flying along to! :)

[@HistoryNeedsYou]

Superbly bonkers British engineering at its best. Do you have any info on the thermal efficiency? I’m curious what the limits are on the gas torque convertor and at what point a drivetrain needs to be gas turbine-electric like an M1 Abrams.

[@iandavidson99]

Are you sure the M1 Abrams is turbine-electric? Blurb online sates "The M1 series tank is equipped with a 1500 horsepower Lycoming Textron gas turbine engine coupled to an Allison hydrokenetic transmission with four forward and two reverse gears"

[@donovandelaney3171]

I would raise up the handlebars and add a radio and GPS.

[@JakeBullit123]

Brilliant, can't wait to see this thing going.

[@DFX2KX]

what turbine are you using in this monster!? clever to use a power-take-off system for the transmission.

[@lunifikateur6524]

Ils sont fous ces anglais ! Bravo pour cette mise à jour de la Sinclair C5 (jet) beau travail :)

[@JaredReabow]

May i just say HOLY CRAP I WANT ONE!

[@CurryKitten]

Looks amazing, but you massive tease - I wanted to see it going. Hurry up and find a place to drive it stat :)

[@ObiTrev]

Sounds like a Hoover.

[@iandavidson99]

Get your hoover repaired ;-)

[@stephanesonneville]

It was built by Hoover !

[@fruitloop8780]

Hi Ian. Awesome project! I would love to see the heart of the Beast is there any videos of the engine and the build or images somewhere?

[@iandavidson99]

There are a few videos on this channel of this beast :-) Alas none which show the internals, but I have a photo if you'd like me to email it to you

[@fruitloop8780]

Yes I had a look at the other videos of it running one with a short run on the road, definate head turner! lol Yes please, That would be great! I love learning about these projects, I'm working in a scrap parts turbine my self the usual Turbo Charger style quite fancy playing around with pulse jets too!

[@bishopdante]

Dooood. That's amazing. I'd be very worried about understeer on a three wheeler at 50mph plus... Also, have you considered fitting hydraulic disk brakes?!

[@iandavidson99]

+Da Bishop Yup, under-steer is a likely hazard as there is very little weight over the front wheel. 50MPH is for going in a straight-line only :-)

[@bishopdante]

+Ian Davidson Not just that... the rake of the bicycle forks is pretty slack, and there's no suspension, so I'd be very scared of oscillation / judder / bumping. If the front wheel locks up, the vehicle will roll over. Always thought that three wheelers should have two at the front and one at the back. I learned this at a very young age riding a victorian tricycle with solid tires, one at the front and two at the back. Great for pulling wheelies, though.

[@scottdickinson2480]

Any footage of it going along?

[@iandavidson99]

+Scott Dickinson Yes, but it's currently not online, as I'm making some modifications to the C5 before I think shoot some new video. In the past week I have also found an airstrip that'll allow me to you use it there, so I'll be able to get some great footage very soon. Watch this space! :-)

[@BAMHEIDSPINKWORKS]

any updates on the footage?

[@JREone]

She needs more power mate...better get Mr. Scott to help. Unbelievably awesome job. How did you come up with this idea and is it still operational?

[@iandavidson99]

Yup, still 100% operational. It's currently living in my shed and the last time I fired her up (1 month ago), she started first go without any issue. The challenge has always been finding anywhere I can 'legally' ride it :-)

[@JREone]

@@iandavidson99 your an inspiration that is some nice work, I'm going to have to go through your videos and see more of it. I thought about a weedeater motor after seeing this video but yours is so cool, you know I have just the perfect location for it here lol. Again awesome work.

[@rjdavies1982]

Superb! Apparently the C5 was fairly easy to roll even with its original pedal / battery set up - I'd imagine this could be a issue with the extra grunt?!

[@iandavidson99]

Yes! Anything even 'bordering' a sharp turn at speed means you're 100% going over! 🙂

[@rjdavies1982]

@@iandavidson99😂 just an added level of excitement!

[@JohnEpi]

God , man , amazing !

[@laptakyrenia8264]

What about when it rains ?

[@iandavidson99]

You get wet

[@assistantto007]

You are quite bonkers Sir..

[@iandavidson99]

Why thank you :-)

[@victorcoleiro4298]

Whatever happened with this. No follow up vids on the C5, and in fact no more vids on your entire channel

[@iandavidson99]

It's coming... soon! :-)

[@jfmc2581]

The dude is dead!! One pebble on the road and he would get throat punched at 60 mph...

[@livesportsvideo02]

He probably took off into outer space!!

[@andrewamidala]

Wow, amazing job

[@user-lx6bl2wd8g]

It would sound even better with a sub woofer

[@johnyoung9822]

how much has it cost to build? as it seems a great way of getting more speed out of a c5

[@iandavidson99]

It's highly bespoke, there are countless custom engineered parts in this. It's nowhere near 'production' viable. I'm just doing it as a project, as I like a challenge. In answer to your question though, about £4000

[@johnyoung9822]

It's a great idea, was the heat a problem on the body

[@jfmc2581]

Its a hoax...

[@raisagorbachov]

But did you ever use it?

[@iandavidson99]

Sadly it's not road legal

[@raisagorbachov]

@@iandavidson99 Everything is illegal in the uk but everything is possible....

[@JohnSmith-vz8pc]

Very nicely engineered and built. Guess it's not road legal, though!!! :D

[@iandavidson99]

Thanks! Sadly it's not road 'legal'... but it will work on the road ;) It could be made road 'legal', but one of the surprising stumbling points is the tyres. To get an MOT your tyres must be officially rated to a speed. It doesn't matter if they're rated to 10MPH or 100MPH, but they have to be rated to 'something' and bicycle tyres are never speed rated to anything. I've made some changes since this video - it's now an electric gas-turbine 'hybrid'. I'll post a new detailed video and show it going along soon.

[@JohnSmith-vz8pc]

Great! You could solve this problem by changing all the wheels for appropriate scooter wheels and tyres, such as on the 150mph (potentially) C5 "limit" the speed to 50-60mph and there will be less problems convincing an inspector of its safety. A friend of mine has done a tasteful all-EV upgrade, using a metal gearbox, 3spd Sturmey-archer for the pedal power which will sustain 30mph, disk braked suspension forks and has a long all-electric range, extended by pedalling too. It has a secret "limit switch" to provide the original performance.

[@bobster1982]

Is that a Jetcat Turbine?

[@iandavidson99]

+bobster1982 Nope, a Wren 54 2-stage turbine.

[@spocktra50]

Quality.

[@krssnoop]

Nice, what top speeds do you get?

[@iandavidson99]

krssnoop I've yet to try it! I've had a few heat build-up issues, but these should all be resolved in the next week or two. It's currently geared for 48 MPH, but it has the power to do 60 MPH with different gearing. The whole vehicle (with fuel) weighs just 45 Kgs.

[@krssnoop]

Thats pretty impressive, good luck

[@JaredReabow]

also would like to see inside, and please make it road legal!

[@iandavidson99]

Jared Reabow I've looked into making it road legal, but the biggest challenge is actually one I didn't consider; basically you must use 'speed-rated' tyres. This uses bicycle tyres and no one manufactures bicycle tyres which are officially speed-rated.

[@abrahamminky]

You should of tried it out.

[@johnyoung9822]

like it would love to have a go

[@ChongMcBong]

brilliant :)

[@maffysdad]

Haha, supercool!...

[@topside2]

Spoiler 🚨 alert. THEY NEVER RIDE THE DAMN THING.

[@iandavidson99]

Spoiler 🚨 alert. SOMEONE NEVER BOTHERED TO LOOK: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bp60aKSdZ7ONmtU

[@JaredReabow]

very quiet video

[@iandavidson99]

Jared Reabow The vocals are sadly quiet due to the required dynamic range. The gas turbine is rather loud. :-)

[@donovandelaney3171]

An electric turbine is better and saver for the environment.

[@Cranky301]

We are all doomed anyway, might as well have some fun before the apocalypse.