This is a great experiment.
It’s not a good idea to blow up your engine. This is true unless you are doing it for science. Garage 54 Automotive YouTuber is not unfamiliar with unique automotive experiments. His latest video, however, is our favorite. He spins a Lada engine at over 10,000 RPM to see if its pistons land after a critical failure.
Engines are engineered to operate within a certain operating window. An affordable family car’s operating window is different from a supercar. The engine of a normal consumer car will rev lower than the high-rising exotics that fill bedroom walls with their loud, revving engines. What happens when you make an regular engine rev like a Formula one car. The failures are quite spectacular.
Garage 54 created a stunning test rig to destroy Lada engines in order to make the testing repeatable. Lada was a staple in the former communist bloc countries, where it was one among only a few marques that could be purchased during the cold war era Eastern Europe. This engine was designed to perform and it was not intended for driving pleasure or high revving performance. This is why the Lada engine makes the best candidate for this test. It is the most likely engine to rev up to superbike 10,000 RPM.
It’s not just a phrase. We get to see the stressed engine launch a piston into the air like a bottle rocket. The engine sustained a lot of damage and finally died due to lack of oil.