Engineering Explained
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Engineering Explained is back with a new video, this time on how to replace the rear differential in a Honda S2000. In this case, the swap stems from our host, Jason Fenske, using this opportunity to change out gear sets, switching from a 4.1 final drive ratio to a 4.44, to get quicker acceleration through all gears. The eight-minute clip is thorough, covering everything from how to separate the lower ball joint on the rear suspension to allow enough clearance to remove the rear half shafts to how best to avoid stripping the socket-head bolts that mate the driveshaft with the pinion flange...
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This is how hot your exhaust system can get
When your car is running, your exhaust system takes the hot waste gas from the engine and expels it out the series of tubes bolted to the underside of your vehicle. From your exhaust manifold, you typically move down to a catalytic converter and through some more plumbing before hitting the muffler...
Jeff Glucker -
Here’s why you shouldn’t skimp on tires
When you buy a new car, the odds are good that it's going to come with solid tires. If that new car you're buying is a sports car or performance-oriented model, then the odds are even better that your car, truck, or SUV will have some seriously capable rolling rubber at all four corners. Now, if...
Jeff Glucker -
What happens when an engine runs without oil?
It’s one of those crazy thoughts which has really no way for the average person to go about solving: what happens if an engine runs without any oil flowing through it whatsoever? Thankfully, Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained is back to do it for us and cure the curiosity at large. You...
Sean Szymkowski -
Why doesn't the Koenigsegg Regera have a transmission?--Part 2
Engineering Explained returns to correctly answer why the Koenigsegg Regera doesn’t have a transmission. Bad math. It happens to the best of us, even our friend Jason Fenske, the host of the channel. Jason previously walked us through why the Koenigsegg Regera doesn’t have a...
Sean Szymkowski -
How to do a burnout with a manual transmission, and what it does to your tires
Right off the bat, we're going to enter Pedantic Mode. We're really talking more about a brake stand than a burnout here. Yes, there's a difference and it involves how much tire destruction takes place. A burnout is all throttle induced, while a brake stand keeps you in place while the rear tires...
Jeff Glucker -
When the Koenigsegg Regera made its debut a little over two years ago, news that the hypercar would arrive without a transmission was a shock to many. No gears, no CVT, nothing. Thankfully, Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained is here to help us figure out how the Regera can move at all, let alone approach 250 mph, without a transmission. So, with only one gear ratio at the vehicle’s disposal, Jason proves through the power of math that it is indeed possible to spin the wheels with what Koenigsegg calls “Direct Drive.” A hydraulic coupling links the 5.0-liter V-8 engine to...
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Thermal camera shows how hot brake rotors get during use
It’s common knowledge brakes heat up during use, but how hot can they get? Simply put, pretty darn hot. Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained is back with another intriguing video made with help from a $55,000 FLIR thermal camera. This time, he points the camera at the brakes and takes some...
Sean Szymkowski -
The benefits of Individual Throttle Bodies vs. a single throttle body
Your average new car has a throttle body and an intake manifold. The engine sucks in air through the air filter before it passes through the open throttle body and into the manifold. From there, it moves into the cylinders as called upon during the combustion cycle. You'll find one throttle body...
Jeff Glucker -
See how hot a burnout gets through a thermal camera
What's the best way to end the life of a set of tires? If you have the mind of a fully grown child, a good burnout is the way to go. We all know that you're going to heat up the brakes and tires when you're playing these foolish games. But do you know just how much heat you're creating? Jason...
Jeff Glucker -
Watch engines warming up as captured by $55K thermal imaging camera
If you have a newer car, your engine warms up pretty quickly. Driving something a bit more classically cool? That engine will stay cooler for longer as well, since it needs a bit more time to get up to operating temperature. But aren't you curious what an engine would look like if you could watch...
Jeff Glucker -
Why can't production cars reach 300 mph?
The Bugatti Chiron is just getting out to the extremely well-heeled public. Customers have started taking deliveries of the 1,480-horsepower ballistic road machine, and we're curious if any of them will ever find the room to explore the car's rumored 288-mph top speed. Jason Fenske from Engineering...
Jeff Glucker -
The headline to this article is clearly the type of question that keeps Engineering Explained host Jason Fenske up at night. Luckily for him, he's got the math and science skills to figure it all out. Fenske wanted to explain air intake for a given engine to the rest of us, and thus visual aids were required. To show the flow of gas moving from the engine out through the exhaust, Jason attached a pair of balloons to the back of his own Honda S2000. It's a fun way to show the volume of gas being expelled. A better way to do it, though, is to crunch some numbers. If Jason were to sit in his car...
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McLaren has no need for your antiquated sway bars
McLaren is a company that loves pushing the technological envelope. Be it the company's road cars or its racing machines, there is plenty of fascinating bits to be explored under the skin. One area that's proven to be rather interesting is in regards to the suspension employed on a number of modern...
Jeff Glucker -
These 5 features make for a powerful off-road truck
Engineering Explained's Jason Fenske recently had a chance to check out the 2017 Ram Power Wagon. We think he likes it just as much we did ourselves. There are five standout features of the truck that help Fenske proclaim it an ultimate off-roader. First up is the fact that the truck is equipped...
Jeff Glucker -
No, the Tesla Model S P100D doesn't do 0-60 in 2.28 seconds
It's all about math and physics, folks. At least that's the soup that fills the head of Engineering Explained host Jason Fenske, which is why he's so easily able to explain scientific concepts to the average YouTube viewer. Recently, he posted a video going over the numbers produced by Motor Trend...
Jeff Glucker -
Be mesmerized by the action of this off-road suspension
Suspension can be a surprisingly mesmerizing bit of mechanical enjoyment. Go stare at a Trophy Truck as it rips across the desert and think about all of the work that the springs and dampers are handling. The abuse being dished out is both amazing and terrifying. Yet those trucks float over most of...
Jeff Glucker -
How the Tesla Model S hits 60 mph in 2.28 seconds
The 0-60 mph times for the Tesla Model S keep getting lower and lower. The new P100D package really helps put all of the horsepower to the ground efficiently, and makes the electric sedan rocket away from a standstill. Recently, we saw a drag racer in a stock P100D record a time of 2.38 seconds...
Jeff Glucker -
The McLaren P1 is a hilariously complex and deliciously expensive hyper car. However, there is a simple and inexpensive secret lying underneath its rear end. Where you might expect to find some fancy torque-vectoring, power providing, hard working limited-slip differential, instead you'll find an open-differential setup. That's right, your $1.3 million spaceship for the road doesn't want you laying down some sweet, sweet 11s. Why is that and what sort of system is at play here? Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained is here to tell us all about that. He explains that the open differential...
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How Honda's self-balancing motorcycle works
Do you wake up thinking about the effects of positive and negative trail length and their relation to motorcycle stability? No? Well, we're going to change that because you're going to learn a little bit about just that topic today. Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained is here to walk you...
Jeff Glucker -
How Subaru's AWD system works in the snow
All-wheel-drive systems work in many different ways. They differ from four-wheel-drive systems in that they don't have a transfer case that typically provides low-range gearing. They all can work full time (though many have an axle disconnect feature to preserve fuel), while 4WD systems may or may...
Kirk Bell -
How Ferrari's banned F1 technology works on the LaFerrari engine
Anytime you get to use the term "banned F1 technology" you know you're going to be talking about something very interesting and very cool. That's the case today because the topic is the magical engine placed into the belly of the beast called the LaFerrari. This is a 6.3-liter 800-horsepower V-12...
Jeff Glucker -
Has Michelin designed a better tire than its Pilot Super Sport?
If you have a vehicle that likes to perform, you'll do best to fit it with a set of Pilot Super Sport tires from Michelin. This is a seriously good set of rubber that will have you turning faster lap times, finding more aggressive turn-in from your car, and braking in less distance when compared to...
Jeff Glucker -
Watch a cold engine heat up with a thermal camera
What does your engine look like on the inside as it warms up? Aside from some "Honey I shrunk the kids" scenario in which you could protect yourself from heat and the mechanical bits inside your engine, finding out seems impossible, doesn't it? Not with a thermal camera. Out of curiosity, Jason...
Kirk Bell