I'm wondering if you can hear that. That funny noise? Yeah, that's me foaming at the mouth from whatever distance it is from you to Detroit. Are you freakin' SERIOUS? Jet powered go kart?! Phew... Phew.... let me take a little breather here. Okay there, now that the blood is returning to my brain, this little number is pretty slick and I'll tell you why. Any Joe Blow can stretch a go kart body and slap a snazzy engine on it, but it takes an artist to built an engine like this. Everyone knows turbos are really great at adding power to anything that makes your heart skip a beat, but did you also know that turbos can be retooled to act as jet engines? Indeed it's true. If you consider ...
...that a jet engine is essentially an open pipe with an intake, compressor, constant injection system, ignition system, and an exhaust system. The magic is that the compressor is powered by the exhaust gasses of compression, which also serve as the thrust. Now that this is established, it's not a long hop to get from turbo to jet engine. If one were to accidentally connect the outlet of the compressor to the intake of the impeller, then connect an injector and spark plug at the right places (along with an oil system) you have the makings of a jet engine. To mount to your go kart. Then you laugh maniacally. Mmmm. Do I really care if the nozzle geometry and aerodynamic routing severely impede the power production? No. Not at all.
Go Kart Turbine Engine [eBay]
Related:
Fire-Breathing Gas Turbine Jet Kart! [internal]