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But someone came up with a similar idea 90 odd years ago.
Panthero Coupé quattro 20vt
Indigo ABY coupé
Imola B6 S4 Avant
I think its NOT so simple... though its an admirable concept. Problems are carrying all that water (to drive the steam stroke), stopping it from freezing in the winter and the safety aspects to be overcome.
That and it might be more simple/efficient to inject the water into the exhaust of a normal engine and use the steem to drive a turbine to recoupe some of the energy to the crank through a special gearbox. BMW are looking at that i read. Scania did something like this on a lorry about 10-20 years ago. Called it compounding.
I think its NOT so simple... though its an admirable concept. Problems are carrying all that water (to drive the steam stroke), stopping it from freezing in the winter and the safety aspects to be overcome.
come on, compared to developing hydrogen fuel cells these are not big engineering challenges Paul
From other bits i've read the inventor recons it uses approx the same amounts of fuel and water, so two smaller tanks instead of one big one? I may be being nieve but it seems pretty straight forward..... if an old engineer can modify a basic engine to work like this in his shed..........
Panthero Coupé quattro 20vt
Indigo ABY coupé
Imola B6 S4 Avant
Thats the problem - an idea from this old engineer in his shed is one thing - now its clever alright... BUt turning that into something mainstream is a LONG journey.
Haha
Agreed, there is clearly some major hurdle or two or somer car manufacturers would certainly have developed this (probably Honda )
I find it intriguing as it seems a credible concept and on the face of it not insurmountable. I guess engine durability would be the major issue, and no doubt high costs.
You probably need some exotic materials to stop corrosion, a warm up period and a dry-off period etc etc etc.
I saw a steam train in Sunday actually it was a miniature railway one though
Panthero Coupé quattro 20vt
Indigo ABY coupé
Imola B6 S4 Avant
Today ...they've just built a brand new one at Darlington according to the news. Apparently it'll be in service next year (and no it isn't April 1st, it's August 1st)
At Diesel Des ....I'm pretty sure that compounding didn't use steam, just the exhaust gases, and it used a reduction gearbox to feed power back into the drivetrain?
Martin Cutting
aka Keeper of "The Teutonic Kitten"
It's not better than sex, but it runs it a close second.
Distilled water is being mooted to avoid deposits being an issue (Crower is using rainwater for the minimal contamination it affords) ....this guy has impressive credentials, and he's an old hot rodder that many people will recognize the name of (and apparently his firm is still offering Ti conrods to an F1 team!)
Martin Cutting
aka Keeper of "The Teutonic Kitten"
It's not better than sex, but it runs it a close second.
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it was a miniature railway one though 
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