Quote Originally Posted by madokie View Post
in europe and other places where modifying your vehicle is severely restricted they make these powered trailers, using a FWD car cutoff just behind the front doors,hop up the engine, beef up the auto trans,mount a trailer hitch on the front of "trailer",so it attaches to your "stock" car,,run control cables to the main car in front of it..no law against putting a 600 HP engine in a "trailer"..as it pushes your car down the road..
That practice was done here in the states back in the 40's and 50's on Semi trailers Along about 1949 after I believe it was Oldsmobile or Buick started putting the dynaflow and the hydraflow transmissions in their cars Truckers would rig their trailers with a truck axle and a trailer axle then tuck an engine and transmission under the trailer the extra power was enough to help get up the mountain passes Their controls were rudimentary and dangerous by todays thinking nothing but an ignition switch in the cab of the truck. the throttles were wired wide open and the transmissions were always in gear. with free wheeling sprag type clutches. When the driver needed more power he just started the engine. Th problem with that set up was it allowed a rig to climb a mountain faster than it could safely go down the other side.
A long standing rule in trucking was you never went down a mountain faster than you cold climb it If a truck went up in low gear that was the gear they stayed in until near the bottom on the other side otherwise the brakes could overheat and fail. Since the advent of engine braking power and much improved highways many mountains can be safely descended at near the posted limit.