The Turbine Whine

[AtariKnight]

It's just that technical terms Like "Ramjet", "Afterburners", "Atrificial intelligence" and "Turbo Boosting/Charging", Were just coming into the common vernacular then.

So KR jumped on using these terms, To basically wow us Kids with technobabble, Most of it being impossible or Implausible for use in a car of that size (Except for AI and the use of Turbo).

[Akaihiryuu]

Yeah, the terms "turbine" and "ramjet" were very misused in Goliath. They were clearly just used as technobabble...though they did make a point that the turbine was an important part of the engine. The turbine is what converts thrust into circular motion...so even if Michael did find a way to make a ramjet work under Mach 2, KITT's drivetrain wouldn't work and the car would have to move off of thrust. Though, with the erratic way KITT was moving, maybe that's supposed to be what happened. The only problem there is, a ramjet depends on sheer speed to force air into the engine, instead of using a compressor like a turbojet/turbofan does. So if you're going too slow there simply won't be enough airflow/pressure to burn the fuel. In aircraft though, things get really interesting around Mach 5. Because of the design of the ramjet, the air going into the engine is slowed down to subsonic, and then accelerated back to supersonic at the other end. Once you hit around Mach 5, you encounter severe problems with this...namely a shockwave within the engine, and a loss of efficiency by not being able to speed the airflow back up. Thus, the scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) comes into play. It's very similar to an ordinary ramjet in design, but it's a bit different in that the airflow stays supersonic all the way through the engine. A scramjet could theoretically take an aircraft up to about Mach 24, just to the edge of space, basically orbital velocity. Obviously once you get to that altitude and the air starts thinning out, no type of air breathing engine would work anymore and you'd have to switch to something like rockets or aerospike engines. It would've been nifty if they had portrayed a ramjet on KITT accurately and had him going about 1000mph at that part in the episode (close to minimum speed for a ramjet).

[CJaguar442]

you can put a gas turbine engine into a 1982-1982 pontiac trans am but you cant in a late model trans am because the older ones were alot bigger in the engine compartment and cabin.

Two turbine engines I know that would probably fit, would be a turboshaft such as the GE T700 turboshaft (up to 3000 SHP) from an Apache attack helicopter (also in M1 Abrams tank) or Rolls Royce Allison series 250 (383-700 SHP) in the bell helicopter.

MTT turbine who builds the Y2K turbine superbike ($185,000 5 bikes built per year) they will make this bike for you if you got the money and jay leno has one.they also converted a 1998 Chevy S-10 pickup to rolls royce turboshaft engine 250 called the retro rocket. it was on the 2003 hotrod power tour. the truck can go 900 miles with out refueling and it is street legal.

a vehicle equpiped with a moder computer ontrolled gas turbine GE T700 far better gas mileage than Honda Civic hybrid and performance than a Enzo Ferrari

[Major Ursa]

I belive that the turbo whine was the same sounf effect that was used in Battlestar Galatica (the 70s version) from the Viper fighter. I thought of this since both shows were done by Glen Larson.

[Starship]

For my car, I recorded a jet-type sound on an infinite-loop answering machine tape. It's a full-size cassette that can be played in an ordinary tape player. I mounted a small WalkMan-type tape player in the car and wired it to a small amp that goes to an outside speaker. The tape player and amp are controlled by a couple switches and a shifer-type lever I installed. So, I either flick the switches or pull the lever, and then there's a jet-sound outside the vehicle! The tape is getting old, however. I'll probably need to make a new one soon.

[T.A.H.O.E.]

HEY ALL, T.A.H.O.E. checking in here,...been busy for a stretch.....
A Simple Solution (THO NOT VERY LONG LASTING ) is a turbine whistle made out of metal and added to the tailpipe....Those little whistles with the turbine/pinwheel fan in a cylinder that a kid can get at a candy store...I copied one on paper and am trying out a few sheet metal designs to fit the 2-to 2 & a qtr or 3 inch exhaust pipe set up....
I pu the idea out a few weeks back & am trying on m'own....

Oh incidently, a nephew of mine pointed out KIFT on a Power Rangers episode....Now there is an insult... but thankfully it wasn't a Flag vehicle!

hang loose true belivers/straight ahead....roll for it!

[finalfadeout]

The turbine sound was different in the pilot and the first few episodes it seems. You could hear some sort of spool down when kitt came to a stop, and it also sounded in general a lot more "turbine" than "whoosh"-like , as in the rest of the series. The scene where Michael pulls up to the Comtron building before jumping on the roof you can clearly hear this difference, and also when he comes out and KITT revs the engine and scares the security guard from behind. I think it sounds better.

[James_kr]

I think the pilot and first few eps of Knight Rider had a good turbine noise I think it was so it would sound more futuristic. But the way I see it with KITT's Turbine, He started off with that one then it got modified or changed to a better version.

Since nobody knows what KITT's engine was meant to look like I picture it being a Modified Turbine/Modified V8 so its like switching between petrol and gas ( well maybe I should rephrase ) switching between gas and propane lol.