mmarshall

Auto-forums and general-comments in discussion forms are full of snide comments (and sometimes full of something else LOL) about three-cylinder turbo engines not being able to get out of their own way. That may have been true of the non-turbo Mickey-Mouse three-bangers that Geo, Suzuki, and Subaru used back in the 1980s.....but today's modern three-cylinders with state-of-the-art turbo systems, although not dragsters, are anything BUT sluggish.

Check out this video from Arkansas Police chasing, at high speed, a Chevy Trailblazer equipped with what is probably the same engine as in my Encore GX.....a turbo 1.3L three with 155 HP and 177 ft-lbs. of torque and 9-speed automatic, although both the Trailblazer and Encore GX also come with a smaller 1.2L turbo-three and CVT of 137 HP and 162 ft-lbs. of torque. Police finally caught up to him and literally bumped him off the road. The guy was apparantly trying to get away with fake-checks from a bank.

Striker223

I mean they DID get him.

Usually even 5.7 chargers can get away fairly easily if they aren't stupid, there are a few infamous cars that bait cops with no plates then run for views.

Recently a Z06 was doing that routine

dwoods801

I had a Honda AquaTrax Waverunner a few years ago. It was like a 1200cc triple with turbo and it was the fastest thing on the lake when i got it. I had it tuned, impeller changed and it would almost go 100mph on ethonal. There is nothing specifically wrong with a 3 cylinder. They have much better balance than a 5 cylinder.

geko29

The squad car the video is from started off nearly a minute behind, so it took a bit to catch up. But it doesn't look like the Traillazer ever really got over 100.

Now I'm not exactly experienced with running from the police, but if I were going to try to get away I think speeds like 150mph might be more effective.

Striker223

Sometimes at 140-160 they won't even pull out to pursue, or so I'm told!

mmarshall

150 probably would have been suicide (or near-suicide) on a narrow two-lane road like that. It was dangerous enough even at the speeds they were going.

I remember watching a video of a guy in a white stolen Hemi Challenger (a Demon or Hellcat versionl, I think) leading police on an almost endless chase on the Interstates East out of Houston. It was so fast that the turbine-powered helicopter with the traffic-reporter ultimately couldn't keep up.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

wow, that was intense, but seemed like a ludicrous over use of police resources.

intrigued i looked at another on the channel. a lot faster mercedes c class

Margate330

I like my engines with an even number of cylinders.

That means no 3 cylinders for me.
Just messing @mmarshall . 🤖. 😁. 🚀

geko29

The soon-to-be-retired Audi RS straight-5 is an amazing engine that makes incredible noises. It will be missed.

AJT123

Are you sure that's a C? That looks like an S-Class to me. And it's a tank, and the crazy, fast, erratic moves the car handles like a champ and it was difficult to pit at first.

This ollllld S-class video I love, W126:

natman

You may be able to outrun the police car, but you can't outrun the Motorola.

mmarshall

In the past, we saw some in-line-5 engines from a few different manufacturers (Audi, Volvo, Isuzu)...but ultimately they were not successful. I don't ever remember 7 or 9-cylinder powerplants for vehicles, although there were some old radial-engine designs with that number of cylinders for airplanes.

tex2670

Well I think you can see in the dash cam that the TB maxxed out at about 100 mph. Once the police had what they saw was a safe window, they took the TB out. I'm sure they could have easily done it much sooner if they thought the road conditions warranted a safe maneuver.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

on second look i think you might be right! they all look so similar.

AJT123

Perp is driving a bigger car than a C... That's what caught my eye.

Those V8 Chargers are fast but they can't quite keep up with an S-class up top. Not a lot can, to be fair.