All language subtitles for M M S01E01 Poor Mans Turbo 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DDP2 0 H 264-FLUX_track4_[eng]

[dramatic music playing]

So Tory, here's the procedure,

you see that button
right there on the dash?

That arms your nitrous system,
you arm that,

-and when you're
full throttle.
-Yup.

That's when you hit
the nitrous button

and pull the baling wire

and then keep your foot
on the floor,

wide open throttle
is very important.

-And we got to hit 16 seconds.
-For 16 seconds.

We are trying to recreate
that one part

in the myth to see
could that actually happen?

-Right.
-If you ever feel
uncomfortable, at all.

-Power through it.
-No.

-Accelerate out?
-Let off.

-All right.
-It's...

-Safety is key.
-Yeah.

All right. You guys ready?

-Are you ready?
-Oh, totally.

-Okay.
-Let's do this.

[engine starts]

[upbeat music playing]

-Yeah!
-Yeah!

[narrator] Meet the team.

Yeah. Woo-hoo!

There's a potential
that I could get electrocuted.

[explosion]

[narrator] With the mechanical
expertise.

More oxygen, more fuel,
that makes more power.

[narrator] To test
all things automotive.

[Bisi]
It's almost like surgery,

if I make a mistake,
we'll blow up the engine.

[narrator]
This is Motor Mythbusters.

This is our time!

[narrator] Where science
meets the streets.

[upbeat music playing]

[engine revving]

[Tory] Dude, this car is sick.

[Bisi laughs]
Thank you.

[Tory] Did you build this?

-[Bisi] Yes.
-[Tory] Is this one of your...

[Bisi] It's one of our 935s
that we put together,

a lot fun, 900 horsepower,
runs on ethanol.

[Faye] So shiny.

So Bisi,
you brought this car in

-for a reason I'm guessing.
-I did, I did.

-I love...
-Not just to show it off?

Not to show off.
I love turbocharging,

it's a great way
to make lots of power,

it's a great way to go fast,
also use modern electronics

to control my boost,
however there's this movie

that's always bothering me.
Fast and Furious.

I love The Fast
and The Furiousmovies.

[Bisi] Okay.
The eighth installment.

-Big Vin Diesel fan.
-[Bisi] Yeah.

Vin Diesel's character,
Dom went to Cuba

and to win this race,
he did more boost

and to do that,
he took this soda can tab

and a baling wire,
connected to the vacuum line

that leads from the turbo
to the wastegate,

-you find this interesting.
-Mmm-hmm.

Pulls it, it increases boost
like crazy.

And mayhem happens.

I got to see this movie soon.

[narrator] There's no
high tech electronics

in this automotive
movie myth.

Can he win a Cuban drag race

unleashing insane amounts
of boost

from a turbo charged engine?

Look at the size
of that turbo.

-It's massive.
-It's huge.

A turbo that's bigger
than my freaking head.

[narrator] with just a length
of wire and a soda can tab.

-[Bisi] Look at that.
-[Tory] Oh, he just pulled it.

[narrator]
Would this budget friendly,

low tech technique,

ever work in the real world?

All right. What exactly
do we need to do

to test this crazy-ass
poor man's turbo?

Well due to the Cuban embargo,

they were not able to get
any new parts.

So I feel like
we've got to stay true

to the spirit of the myth,
keep the car

as true to the myth
as possible.

And look how big
that turbo was,

I mean, we're gonna have
to find something

quite similar, like,
uh, from a boat I guess.

Oh, that would be cool
because it would be

just like the one
in the movie,

plus that's kind of like
the brilliant ingenuity

-that the Cubans would use.
-Absolutely.

Yeah. Totally, and they also
had a nitrous system.

Think about what nitrous does,

I mean, it's like
a chemical supercharger,

it puts a lot of oxygen
into the mix,

allows the engine to become
extremely efficient and fast

but they also use
a very cost-effective way

of increasing boost by using
a baling wire and a cola tab.

And pulling the reference line
to the wastegate,

that was bananas or at least
that's what the movie says.

And that's what
we're gonna test,

we're gonna pull the line

just like Dom did
in the movie,

and we should get the boost
to maintain for 16 seconds.

-Wow. That's a long time.
-It's a really long time.

There's no way
it's gonna last that long.

But you know what, when you
pull this baling wire,

very strange things happen
in the turbo system.

Boost increase
and then decreases,

and I'm curious to what
will happen in the field.

-Me too.
-Do you guys think
it's gonna catch on fire?

-[Bisi] Oh. That's not good.
-[Tory] Oh, now it's on fire.

In order to replicate the car
just like it was in the movie,

with that massive turbo,
we're gonna have to make sure

we got enough air,
we get enough fuel,

supporting modifications,

fabricating all that
charge piping,

adding the nitrous system,

like, this is gonna be
a huge project.

I have a vehicle in mind
that may suit the bill.

-[Faye] What you got?
-How about a Monte Carlo?

-Oh.
-Oh, perfect.

You can find those everywhere.

-Yeah.
-Love it.

[upbeat music playing]

[engine starting]

Ah, stop it.

Okay. So now I have found
this beauty of a car.

A 1973 Monte Carlo.

There's nothing beautiful
about this car.

It's absolutely ugly

but it does a great job

in fulfilling what we need
for this myth.

Now it has a 350
which is great,

the engine bay
has tons of room

so we can do lots
of modifications,

but how will it handle
the rigors of racing?

[upbeat music playing]

[Bisi] Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Oh, I think it's dying.

Oh, come on.

Yeah, it just cut off.
[laughs]

[upbeat music playing]

I'm gonna try and roll
as far as I can,

I'mma keep going,
and keep rolling,

keep rolling.

[laughs]

Okay.

Hopefully something simple.
[laughs]

That is a beast.

Okay.

Tell me you didn't pay
for this?

Well, actually I did.
I'm quite proud of my find.

-My God. I could hear you like
a block away.
-[Faye] Yeah, I could

-smell you a block away.
-[Bisi] And that
was the intent.

-No, I...
-Woo.

-It's burning ranch.
-Woo. [laughs]

[Bisi] I know
she doesn't look that great

but look under the bonnet.

Under the bonnet you say?

Yes.

-Whoa.
-Look at all that space.

-[Faye] Well, definitely...
-[Tory] Giant.

[Faye] ...a little bit
more space

that I'm used to working with.

-That is a...
-I could raise a small family
in here.

[Bisi] Look at this engine,
this 350 is perfect.

[Faye] How does it run?

[Bisi] It runs actually
quite nice and sometimes,

-it stops on its own.
-I don't believe you.

I don't believe you.
I don't believe you.

[Bisi] It's like autopilot,
you know.

-[Tory] Yeah, right.
-[Faye] Great. All right.

So what do you guys think,
do you think

this is a good candidate

for what we're trying
to achieve?

I'm not saying
if it's gonna work,

I'm saying could we actually
build it

the way they did
in the movie?

Uh, yeah.
We can build it the way

-that they did in the movie.
-I think we build...

But, uh, getting it to last
that 16 seconds.

-Yeah.
-It's a whole another story.

[upbeat music playing]

[Tory] The movie car
we need to replicate

is first stripped of any
unessential components.

Power to weight ratio
is everything

in a Cuban drag race,

well any race
for that matter.

-Absolutely.
-So this is gonna go,

-this is gonna go.
-We're just gonna do it

Vin Diesel style.

In the movie, he just
starts tearing it apart.

Well that's weight reduction
at its finest.

-[laughter]
-Oh, my God.

All right. Well,
I'm no Vin Diesel

so I'm gonna have to get
some tools.

Before we start,
let's figure out

what we wanna take off.

-Fenders for sure.
-Yup.

[Faye] Oh, my God, what?

-All right. Watch yourself.
-[Bisi] Oh, my God.

[Faye] All right.

Tory's gonna take off
that one his way.

Oh, my God.

-Uh, hood.
-Hood.

[Tory] Come on,
we're Vin Diesel, let's go.

I'm not used this way
of treating things, you guys.

This is actually kind
of hurting my heart

a little bit to be honest.

Who needs tools?

[Faye] Me.

I see this as like
this gorgeous blank slate,

like, this has the potential
to be fully restored

and turn this thing beautiful.

[Tory] Yeah.

While everyone else
is working,

Vin Diesel's character, Dom,

pulled out the battery
on the car.

The battery is what allows me
to start the car,

and also it keeps
the vehicle running

by providing 12 volts
but it needs that motion

to be able to create
electricity.

So I'm gonna start
the vehicle up

and take the battery off.

You ready for me
to start the car?

Yes, please.

[Tory] Come on baby,
you could do it.

A little gas.
A little gas for me.

[Tory] Yeah.

So this car shows Bisi.

-[Bisi] I know.
-[Tory laughs]

-Woo.
-Sorry.

-[Faye] Yeah.
-That was good.

[Tory] That was rad.

Maybe we should put
a blower on this.

[Bisi laughs]

[engine revving]

[Bisi] Now I'm gonna take off
the battery,

look it's running,
here's the battery.

[Faye] Okay.
So that was a fun demo

but unlike the movie,
we plan on using a battery

for the field test.

[Tory] This is magic.

[Faye] But we still wanna
strip it down like Dom did

to achieve a better power
to weight ratio.

-That was awesome.
-[laughs]

Are we cool
with taking the doors off?

-Oh, absolutely.
-For sure.

Okay.

-[Faye] What the?
-That's a fire.

-[Faye] Woo!
-[Bisi laughs]

Carry on, don't mind us.

[upbeat music playing]

It's like the 4th of July.

[Faye screams]

Oh, that was awesome! [laughs]

[Tory] Yeah.

Building stuff.

[clanks]

American made.

-Look...
-Look at this, it looks cool.

-It looks badass already.
-For real.

Fast and the Furious
got nothing on us.

[upbeat music playing]

-[Tory] Oh, wow.
-[Faye] Look, we got an engine

-over there.
-[Tory] This is awesome.

[Faye] Whoa.

All right.
So this is not the junkyard

like I was picturing
in my mind,

like, you know,
an automotive junkyard.

-Here's a little engine.
-[Tory] Yeah.

-Oh, that's cute.
-[Faye] Oh, it is cute.

That's not turbocharged
though.

[Tory] No.
You wanna check this one?

-You mean like go inside?
-[Tory] Yeah. [chuckles]

-Wow, look at this.
-[Faye] Whoa, look at the size

-of that turbo...
-[Tory] That is huge.

...that's exactly like
what we're looking for.

-You got a wrench?
-[Faye] Wait, what?

-Are you serious?
-No. I'm kidding.

We should get off this boat
before we get caught.

[Faye] Why a boat yard?

Well in Cuba,
they couldn't get new parts

so they'd use
whatever they could find

and it's assumed
that in the movie,

they used a turbo
from a boat engine.

So that is why we're here.

[Tory] Makes me kind of
wanna go sailing.

[Faye] You know,
I lived at a boat once.

-[Tory] Yeah?
-And I realized

-I got incredibly seasick.
-Um...

Look down there.

-There we go, bingo.
-Got a whole bunch of engines

-there against the wall.
-Bingo, we got engines.

-All right.
-And not a bunch
of sailboats over here.

-Yeah. That's not gonna work.
-Yeah.

[Tory] Oh, Faye, I think
we found our candidate.

-That looks perfect.
-I mean...

-I mean, it's big enough.
-Let's see.

Uh, I mean, yeah. It's, like,
it's about the right size.

-Yup, it's spinning.
-[Faye] Oh, nice.

-There's no corrosion.
-It's the perfect candidate,
really.

-Yeah.
-[Faye] It might need

some cleaning up
but it matches the movie

for size, for look,
and for Cuban resourcefulness

of using whatever spare parts
they could get
their hands on.

[upbeat music playing]

-[Bisi] No.
-Look how big it is.

-It's gonna...
-Now that's a proper turbo.

Why don't you guys work
on this, I'm gonna go...

-Wow.
-...source some nitrous oxide.

-Good luck, you guys.
-All right.

[Bisi] Oh, this is gonna look
so badass when we're done.

-I'm really excited
about this.
-It looks so good.

-Cool.
-I'll take this beautiful.

I'll start
on this exhaust manifold.

[Bisi laughs]

[Faye] Okay. So we have
to install the essential

components to support
that massive turbo.

After that we add
the nitrous,

that'll give us a healthy
boost of horsepower.

So when we pull that line,
we know that we're running

the engine at its maximum
capacity

just like they did
in the movie.

All right.
So one of my biggest concerns

is that we're gonna be
breaking off every single one

of these exhaust studs because
this is the hottest part

of the engine right here
and these bolts have seen

some epic heat cycling.

[Bisi] So this is a factory
carburetor

but we're now
gonna take this off.

Oh, look at that.
Replace it with a four valve

carburetor that will feed
this boat-size turbo

an appropriate amount of fuel.

[Faye] Huh?

[Bisi] I like...
I like that sound.

-I like it a lot.
-Three for three.

Three for three, baby.

All right. So I think
I just finally got

the last bolt off
of my exhaust manifold

and the reason why
I've got to get this off

is because we've got to put a
different exhaust manifold on

in order to accommodate
our new turbo.

That's so close.
It's so close.

Oh, my God.
It just wants to come.

[Bisi] Yay, look at that.
The trophy.

[Faye] This is the passenger
side exhaust manifold.

And what I was struggling
with here is actually

one of the ports for a very
primitive emission system,

it's air injection basically
into the exhaust.

If I get an air leak
a little bit,

too much air in the exhaust,
we could think

that the vehicle's running
very lean and that could,

of course,
give us false readings.

We don't want that,
this is science.

Almost. Almost.

[Faye]
It's such a little puzzle.

-[Bisi] Oh, yay. Yeah.
-[Faye] Oh. Woo!

[Bisi] So we just took off
both manifolds

on bank one and two,
took off the carburetor,

we don't need
air conditioning,

now it's time
for the hard work.

Yeah,
then we can start fabing.

You will just rip it?
Oh, yes.

Oh, man,
that thing's kind of heavy.

Imagine the weight
we're saving with that.

[upbeat music playing]

-It's crazy.
-[Bisi laughs]

-Oh, my God. I'm so stoked.
-Can you believe it?

-Gorgeous, right?
-[Faye] It's gonna be a shame
to blow it up.

You... It's not gonna...
They don't blow up.

-[Faye] Mmm-hmm.
-[Bisi] The fuel pump,

exhaust manifold,
or should I say

-turbo manifold?
-Turbo manifolds.

We have everything,
daily logging equipment.

-Oh.
-Look at that...

Look at the size
of that exhaust pipe.

-[Faye] Look at it.
-[Bisi] It's like a sewer,

it's crazy.
Oh, that sounded pretty good.

So we have two options here
with the manifold.

You can put it as factory
which means...

-[Faye] Mmm-hmm.
-...that we have it this way

or we can have it above
and they have to join together

-to go to turbo flange.
-I was thinking it'll have

a lot of air flow over it
and kind of keep it from,

you know,
burning up our butts.

And that means
we can position the turbo

just like they had it
in the movie,

it's gonna look so freaking
cool and keep it cooler.

Does everyone have this much
fun at work or is it just me?

So the part you have
is very critical

because now it can give us
an idea

of where we can place
the turbo.

[Faye] Exactly.

So the aftermarket headers
are in place,

and now we need
to fabricate from scratch

a heap of tubing and flanges.

[upbeat music playing]

[Faye] To get a head start,
we roped in our lead builder,

Rose, and her team.
While Bisi and I

do a little turbo 101.

[upbeat music playing]

[machine whirring]

[Bisi] In the early 1900,
Dr. Alfred Buchi came up

with this wonderful concept,
the turbocharger allow

the opportunity
for more efficient

internal combustion engine
because he felt that

internal combustion engines
with atmospheric pressure

weren't efficient enough.

How does this power
come to be?

[Faye]
So, it actually is using,

what I like to think of,
as waste exhaust.

-[Bisi] Absolutely.
-[Faye] It's exiting
the engine anyway.

[engine revving]

[Faye] Why not harness
that energy and use it

to drive the air
going into the intake.

We have the opportunity
to use exhaust gas

to turn a turbine wheel
which is directly cogged

to a compressor wheel,
which then turn,

creates pressure
in the intake.

[Faye] So we're able to make
the air more dense,

so we're getting
more oxygen molecules

into our engine more oxygen.

-[Bisi] Yes.
-[Faye] You can add
to more fuel.

-Absolutely.
-And that makes more power.

[upbeat music playing]

[Faye] But you only reap
the rewards

of that recycled waste
after you constructed

from scratch
a pressure sealed system

with hundreds
of sections of tubing.

[Bisi] Perfect.

So this is where
we're gonna end up,

-you're good with that? Okay.
-Oh...

-That's great.
-...my God.

-That's awesome.
-[Faye] Each picon elbow

precisely designed to combine
the flow of exhaust gasses

from each of the manifolds
back to the turbo.

So this carburetor
is extremely important

because it allows us to give
the appropriate amount of fuel

for the amount of air
that's not gonna be ingested
by the engine.

If Faye and I
were silly enough

to keep the original
carburetor on the car,

and try and force
and induce with that,

we will experience
the lean mixture,

and that result in an engine
catastrophic event.

In other words,
we'll blow up the engine.

Yeah.
I'll try and actuate that.

-Bring up the throttle.
-[Bisi] Oh.

-Oh.
-[Faye] Really?

She's showing off now.
Look at that.

Oh, yes.

Nice.

Isn't that beauty?
It's so beautiful.

It's absolutely gorgeous.
How awesome is that?

So, on top here,
we have created

this wonderful pipe
that's gonna allow us

to put force induced air from
our turbo into the engine.

And these small little four
holes here are venturis,

the more air we push through,
the more fuel siphoned out,

and create amazing
reliable power force.

[upbeat music playing]

[Faye] We're so close.

[upbeat music playing]

[Faye] We've sourced
what we need, a boat turbo,

we've installed
the manifolds,

the carburetor,
and the fuel pump.

Bisi will pressure test
the charged piping

and as soon as Tory gets back
with the nitrous,

we hook that up,
calibrate the sensors,

tune it up, and fire it up.

Now, I'm about to perform
a very critical test

when putting together
a turbocharger system,

and that is checking
for leaks.

So, this is a smoke
leak tester,

which what it does
it pressurizes an environment

inside this contraption,

heats up coils with a nice
viscous fluid inside

to create smoke, and that
will go into our turbo.

If we have any leaks,
guess what?

We have a ton
of inefficiencies.

Oh, I see some smoke
right here.

So we're getting some smoke
in-between the compressor

housing and the back plate,
so we need to fix that.

Yeah. Yeah,
I see it right there.

Uh, I love turbocharging.

I think this meant
because it...

It's true and dear
to my heart,

taking something that
is unloved and creating

something absolutely
spectacular from it,

I mean, this was on a piece
of paper a few weeks ago

and now it's come to life,
it's so exciting.

Okay. I fueled up
the compressor housing,

tightened up the hot side
very nicely

as it joins
to the intercooler,

and now look,
we have no leaks,

everything is active.

[upbeat music playing]

All right, so,
I went and got some nitrous

from the performance shop.

Oh, that works,
that'll work indeed.

How much horsepower
is this gonna give us?

You know,
I'm thinking about a 50 shot,

and when I mean 50 shot,
50 horsepower.

So how is it gonna be
connected in?

Well, we have this,
distribution block right here,

that goes right
into the intake,

and one port has fuel and
the other port has nitrous.

So we're gonna take that
bottom mount in the rear,

and you activate it
and hits a button

is gonna energize
two solenoids.

So fuel and nitrous
will go right in here,

go into the engine
and, oh, hold on.

[laughs]

[Bisi]
It's gonna be a fun ride.

Boom.

NOS or Nitrous Oxide is all
about volumetric efficiency.

We have a set volume
in each one of the cylinders.

We're gonna burn more fuel,

more efficiently
by adding more oxygen.

The nitrogen actually releases
from the oxygen molecules,

and when liquid turns
into a gas,

it also cools the temperature
of the cylinder.

What happens when it
cools down?

More density, you can jam
more molecules of air and fuel

into the cylinder
at the same time.

More fuel, more air,
more boom, more power,

like, freaking awesome.

Right.

With the engine built
to the specs of the movie,

it's time for the myth
critical maneuver,

the poor man's
Turbo wire pool.

All right so, the most
important part of the myth

is the tab, hi-tech equipment.

-There you go.
-[Tory] And the baling wire.

[Bisi] Ow, no, I'm kidding.
[laughs]

It's a old trick Buster
used to use.

This is a key component
in this myth,

the wastegate itself.

That controls the boost
and the entire turbo system.

Which as we've seen
uses exhaust gas

to increase pressure,
and then

converts that into
horsepower.

[engine revving]

[Bisi] But that pressure
has to be controlled,

and too much,
the engine could explode.

The wastegate
is a control system

and when that's removed
in the scene

where he pulled
the baling wire,

all hell breaks loose.

[crashing sound]

[Tory] Okay.
Ready for a dry run?

[Bisi] Yes. Sounds good.

All right, here we go.

Starting the engine
[makes sound]

I'm flying 45 seconds
into a race [makes sound].

I hit the nitrous
[makes sound].

The engine's hold up now,
I pull the vacuum line.

Hey, it works!

And now I am flying.

And 16 seconds later,
I'm on fire,

but I'm not jumping out
of this car,

I'mma finish this race
because I'm Vin Diesel.

-[laughing]
-Whoa.

I don't know, it looked
pretty well for me.

I need a seat
but other than that,

what could possibly go wrong?
[laughs]

-All in the name of science.
-[Bisi] Yup.

Now all we got to do
is start it up.

[Bisi] It's a quite a project
configuring this turbo

to work with an almost
50-year-old engine,

and our build team
has really stepped up,

so I'm excited but also
terrified at the same time

because anything can go wrong.

Also in the same token
a lot can go right.

[Tory] I like the headlight.

It's like the Cyclops.

-[Bisi] The Cyclops?
-Yeah.

[engine starts]

It started.

That's a plus.

[engine revving]

My God.

That sounds amazing.

Best sounding Money Carlo
in the world.

Oh, it's beautiful.

It's beautiful.

[engine revving]

[laughs]

Oh, my God.

My heart rate just went
like through the roof,

-that was insane.
-[laughs]

You're stoked to ride
this thing or what?

-Oh, my God.
-Whoa.

I'm just smiling.
My cheeks is hurting

because I'm just happy
you have no idea.

Oh, my gosh.
This is so awesome.

Seeing this car
altogether now,

it's incredible how much work
went into it.

-I know right?
-[laughs]

Tomorrow we have
to shake down this vehicle.

The insane power means
we have some safety concerns.

[upbeat music playing]

Oh, I've been... I've been
waiting to do this

since we've got this car.

[Bisi] Does this old car
have the structure

and integrity to handle
the horsepower?

We're going to ease in

to make sure there are no
surprises

when we take it to the track
for the real test.

So Tory, take it easy, okay?

It's not on my vocabulary.

[engine starts]

-[Bisi] Good luck.
-[Tory] Thank you.

[laughs]

[engine revving]

[Tory] This thing is insane.

Yeah. So, when I took off,

just rolling into it slowly,

and not just mashing it,
right?

So, it's just, like,
feathering it in.

[engine revving]

It's perfect.

-That's good for you guys.
-And that's like

without the NOS.

-Yeah. Imagine with that...
-Ooh. Ugh.

-Oh, it's gonna be on.
-Forget it.

[laughing]

[Tory] Oh, I got chills.

[laughs]

[Bisi] So a ton of work
plus a boat turbo

and the Money Carlo
looks solid.

How it's gonna handle
the movie myth

race conditions
on the runway?

We're about to find out.

-[upbeat music playing]
-[owl hooting]

Now to test
the poor man's turbo

we needed a long distance
because we're gonna be going

at some crazy speeds.

So we found three miles

here at Vandenberg
Air Force Base.

Yeah, the landing strip
is freaking perfect,

there's like plenty of like
wide open terrain.

There's nothing out here

that you could possibly
bump into.

[laughs] I like... I like it
when she says bump into.

And with the speeds
you'd be going,

oh, my goodness,
safety is key.

-Yeah.
-Are you ready?

-Oh, I'm so ready.
-I'm not ready.

-You're not?
-No.

-Don't worry...
-Are you ready?

...I'll take care of you.
And oh, hello, sir.

We have... We have a guest.

Hello.
And what is your name, sir?

My name is
Lieutenant Schuhler.

-I'm a Responsible Engineer...
-[Bisi] Ah.

...for the Space Force
out here,

Vandenberg Air Force Base.

I'm an irresponsible one.

-Oh, no, irresponsible one.
-[laughs]

That's why we're gonna shut
the wastegate

as Tory's driving down
your beautiful tarmac.

So technically you're
an actual Rocket Scientist?

-Yeah. So...
-Wow.

-Ah.
-It's rare that you meet

-like a real one.
-[Bisi laughs]

What do you think of our car?

I think it's awesome.

Surprisingly not
all too different

than some of the stuff we use
on rocket engines.

[Bisi] Oh, do tell.

We have things called
pre-burners,

and those kind of help
generate some exhaust gas

that goes from turbos and then
instead of pumping air,

we actually pump
our liquid fuels

into the main combustion
chamber.

-Wow.
-So after this test,

you think maybe we should
strap some rockets to this?

I think if you can make it
go faster,

the better, right?

[Bisi]
Oh yes. I like this guy.

-You guys ready?
-Ready.

All right,
let's do this before

-Faye changes her mind.
-Okay.

With this metadata is key
and we'll monitor

important power meters
for the engine.

We're measuring
the exhaust gas temperature.

You know, you saw in the movie
that it glowed red hot.

We're gonna capture that data
and see what happens.

We're also taking
air fuel ratio which is...

-Right there.
-...really important.

[Faye] Because we wanna know,

like, can the engine
actually handle

exactly what we see
in the movie?

And if so,
what's our top speed?

[Bisi] Perfect.

And we have, uh,
lovingly named

this beautiful car
the, uh, the Money Carlo,

it's like, ahh,
little sprinkle.

[engine revving]

So Tory here's the procedure,

you see that button
right there on the dash?

That arms your nitrous system.

-You arm that then...
-[Tory] Got you.

...you begin your ascent.

-Don't do that in the end.
-[laughing]

[Tory] Then I'm just gonna
smash it.

I'm gonna smash
the accelerator.

Yes. And when you're
full throttle...

That's when you hit
the nitrous button.

-[Tory] Yup.
-And pull the bailing wire.

And then keep your foot
on the floor,

wide open throttle is very
important.

[Tory] And we got to hit
16 seconds. All right.

If you ever feel
uncomfortable at all.

-Power through it.
-No.

Accelerate out.

-Let off.
-[Tory] All right.

-It's... Safety is key.
-[Tory] Yeah.

-You guys ready?
-Are you ready?

-Oh, totally.
-[Bisi] Okay.

Let's do this.

[Faye] Okay. So what is
a successful

poor man's turbo
gonna look like?

We're getting [indistinct]

[Bisi] Yup, that's it. Done.

[Faye] Well,
after Tory pulls that line,

the boost pressure should
rise way past through PSI

keep on going for 16 seconds
until the exhaust pressure

sets things on fire,

hopefully the fire trucks
are on standby, right?

Oh, my God, I'm so nervous.

-Don't be.
-I'm so nervous right now.

He'll be okay,
he's a good driver.

I feel like I'm gonna...

No, he's a good driver,
he's good.

All right, here we go.

In three, two, one.

[engine revving]

[Faye] Oh, my God, okay,
there he goes.

Okay. Gaining speed,
full throttle,

I'm hitting the nitrous.

Gaining a little more power.

[Faye] He seems to be
picking up speed pretty fast.

[Tory] Still picking up speed.

Hundred and fifteen miles
an hour.

Woo-hoo!

[Faye]
He's going so freaking fast.

[Bisi] Oh my God.

[Tory] Sitting at a hundred
and fifteen miles an hour.

The engine is maxed out,
this is it,

grabbing now the poor man's
turbo, here we go,

I'm about to pull the line
in three...

[Faye] He's freaking hauling.

[Bisi] Oh, my God,
I hear that Tory screaming.

[Tory] ...two, one,
bombs away.

What's happening?

It's slowing down.

Oh, now it's accelerating.

Yeah, it's going down again.

Boost.

The bombs and boost.

I'm getting boost
and then it slows down.

Oh, man, I thought I was gonna
be taking off like a rocket.

-[Faye] Hey.
-So I hit the nitrous...

-[Faye] Yeah.
-...felt a kick,

got a little more
top end speed.

Keep my foot all the way down,

but when I pulled line,
I just started losing power.

I would get these intervals
of boost.

I'd be driving and it'll be
like [makes sound]

then I'd go back to slow and
it'll be like [makes sound].

[engine revving]

-[Bisi] I know what it is.
-[Faye] What's that?

When the line was pulled
with this boost leak,

the pressure is escaping,
it's not going...

-[Faye] Absolutely.
-...to the engine.

-[Faye] Yup.
-[Bisi] It's coming up.

The turbo pulls
even faster to compensate,

and it spikes up and then
it leaks right out again.

All right, so, you know what,
I feel like

we pushed this engine
hard enough today,

maybe we can go back
to the shop, look at the data

and see if there's anything
we could do

to make this system work.

Yeah, that sounds like
a good idea.

[upbeat music playing]

[Faye]
We turned an old beater

into a Mad Max mean machine.

[engine revving]

[Faye] But the question is
what is exactly happened

when we pulled that line.

And in science
repeatable results

are crucial to confirm
your hypothesis.

I've never had a car this, uh,

interesting on my dyno.

[Tory]
So we brought in a dyno,

we're gonna put the car on it,

and recreate what happened

and see if the car
behaves the same way.

[engine revving]

[Bisi] The key number will be
tracking the pressure

generated by the turbo.

[Tory] Ready?

[Bisi] Pull the wire!

[Tory] What happened?

[laughs]

So, this was a great test.

I saw you cruising at two PSI.

[Tory] Yeah.

When you pulled
the bailing wire though,

-it was oscillating badly.
-[Tory] Yeah.

You jumped at 6.7
but it kept going 6.2, 6.1.

Interesting.

You didn't go faster,
you went slower.

I feel like we did everything
just like in the movie.

We found that badass car.

[Faye] Oh, the perfect car
and you got a massive

boat turbo which is like
perfect just like the movies.

And we lightened the vehicle
up, just like Dom did,

you even ripped off
the fender.

Yup. We put in
the nitrous system,

we got it out to the track,

I've floored it,
hit the nitrous,

but when I pulled that
backing line

we did not get
any crazy boost,

in fact it did the opposite
and it just fizzled out.

I feel like we gave this car
the best possible chance

of working and it didn't.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] But if you think
the team is giving up?

You must be new around here.

Cue the ingenious
MythBuster method

to ensure movie magic
is made a reality.

[Bisi] Okay. So, we've tried

what happened in the movie
and I thought about it,

what would it take
to be able to have

some type of success
with components

that would be available
in Cuba at the time,

it hit me, a rat trap,

using a rat trap
to control boost.

When Tory pulls
his bailing wire,

look at that, a proper pinch.

Now, there's no boosting,
no going to the wastegate,

and they cannot vent
to the atmosphere,

it gives us a perfect
sealing opportunity.

Now that's done, let's see
what happens at the track.

[upbeat music playing]

[Tory] This is it.

We found another airstrip
to do our final test.

This is my favorite part,
after busting a myth,

coming back and seeing
what it would take

-to actually get it to work.
-What did you do?

Well, in the spirit of Cuba,

-I used something very clever.
-What?

A rat trap to pinch off
the signal to the wastegate.

-[Tory] Genius.
-[Bisi] Thank you.

[Bisi] So Tory, get ready,
it's gonna be a wild ride.

[upbeat music playing]

What could possibly go wrong?

With a support team like us,
you can't fail.

[Tory laughs]

[Faye] Nitrous, good to go.

[Tory] Okay.

I'm leaving you now. Have fun.

-[Tory] Thank you.
-Oh, my God,

-this is gonna be amazing.
-[Tory] I'll see you

at the end of the track.

All right,
starting the engine.

[engine starts]

[Tory] This is poor man's
turbo final test.

In three, two, one.

All right, I have
the accelerator pinned.

-Oh. There he goes.
-Oh my God.

[Tory]
A hundred miles an hour.

Hitting the nitrous.

[screams]

Oh, he must hit the nitrous
look at that.

Pulling the rat trap,
in three, two, one.

Oh, my God!

-Oh, it's smoking.
-Oh.

[Tory] Poor man's turbo, what?

[Bisi] He did it.

-Please don't catch on fire.
-Oh, he's fine.

[Tory laughing]

I got it to
a hundred and thirty.

Can you believe that?

-Oh, Tory.
-Hey!

-[Bisi] You were flying.
-[Faye] How did it go?

[Bisi] Oh, my goodness.

This thing is crazy,

like, I hammered down,
hit the nitrous.

-Oh, how did it feel?
-It was like, waaa.

[Tory laughing]

And then, as soon as I hit
the rat trap

it was like, boom,
you felt the boost.

[Bisi] Nice.

[Tory laughing]
Oh, my God!

That was the ultimate finale
to this whole myth.

[Tory] Poor man's turbo, what?

[Bisi] Look at that.

So you start off at almost
three PSI, 2.8 to be exact.

-[Faye] Yup.
-[Bisi] Look what happened

when the rat trap just shut,
boost spiked up.

-[Tory] Awesome.
-[Bisi] And hit the sevens,

-and it stays at that time.
-[Faye] Seven PSI.

That is respectable
with that sized turbo.

Who knew we just needed
a rat trap?

-[Bisi] Wow.
-[Faye] I know,

ugh, if only they had
done that in the movie.

[Tory] Oh, my God!

It's not exactly
what happened in the movie,

that's what happened
in real life,

and should've been
what Dom did in Cuba.

[Tory] All right,
so this one's still busted.

-[Bisi] Yes.
-[Tory] But we were able

-to replicate the result.
-[Bisi] Absolutely.

[Faye] In a Cuban spirit
exactly.

-Nice work you guys.
-[Bisi] Thank you.

So it was not so fake
after all.

-Eh, ish.
-[laughter]

[upbeat music playing]