A car that spews fresh water out of the exhaust pipe? What if I told you it could do better than a Tesla, with a good old engine that makes rum-rum? Science fiction? No. There are those who are working on it, and it could drive the automotive world crazy. I'm talking about the new engine H2Starfire of Astron Aerospace. This contraption is making waves, and it's not difficult to understand why: in a world racing towards electric, this small American company has decided to play a game of its own. And what a match.
A rotary that turns heads
Remember the old Wankel engine? The one who drove enthusiasts crazy but who drank oil like there was no tomorrow? Well, forget it. The new H2Starfire engine is kind of its great-grandson of the future. No planetary gears, no apex seals. In their place, two counter-rotating shafts with tolerances so tight that not even an atom can fit between them. No, I'm joking: an atom yes. But we're talking about 0,1 millimeters. It's like being able to stick a hair between two perfectly aligned mirrors.
A new hydrogen engine: in the end this is it
The fuel for this little gem? Hydrogen. Yes, exactly what everyone says is the future, but which no one really knows how to use. The H2Starfire burns it in such impeccable conditions that the only thing that comes out of the exhaust pipe is pure water. No nitrogen oxides, no particulates, no nothing. A mini Niagara Falls under the hood, only instead of electricity it produces horsepower.
And efficiency? Here comes the beauty. Astron Aerospace says this engine has a thermal efficiency of 60%. If that were true, it would be like saying you invented a coffee machine that makes the perfect espresso using only half the beans. To understand, our car engines are around 20-30% efficient. Even the best Formula 1 engines barely reach 50%. In short, if these numbers were confirmed, we would be facing a real revolution.
We are sure?
The surprises don't end there. This technological gem is the size of a cabin suitcase, weighs as much as an adult Labrador, but promises to deliver 400 horsepower and torque that would put a tractor to shame. All without the need for a water cooling system. How does he do it? Well, physics seems to bend a little here, but hey, who are we to judge? Because in the end there is only one small, negligible detail. Which? For now, the only proof of the functioning of this miracle engine it's a video where someone spins it with a drill. Not exactly the best of scientific demonstration, let's face it. It's a bit like if I told you I invented a time machine and showed it to you by turning the hands of the clock backwards.
The future is a new engine, or rather: a hypothesis (but what a beautiful hypothesis)
Let's put it this way: if this new H2Starfire engine kept even half of its promises, it could really be a turning point. Imagine a car that runs on hydrogen, does not pollute, has sports performance and efficiency never seen before. Sounds good, right? The problem is that hydrogen is rarer than common sense in politics at the moment, and building an infrastructure to deliver it isn't exactly child's play. Ultimately, the H2Starfire represents the hope of all those who don't want to give up on the idea of an electric-only future. It is the promise of being able to keep the roar of the engine alive, the charm of mechanics, without having to give up a clean planet. It is an ambitious dream, perhaps too much so. But I want to show you that I'm not against dreams, no. I'm not a cold bureaucrat who wants to electrify you, all of you, and make you spend entire salaries to pay for electric cars. Bring me here an engine that doesn't produce 9 million deaths a year, and I say yes. I wait.
The new H2Starfire engine is one of those ideas that makes you raise an eyebrow and say “come on, seriously?”. It could be the biggest revolution in the world of motors since the invention of diesel, or it could end up forgotten like so many other beautiful ideas. It makes us dream for a few minutes. And sometimes, even that alone is worth the price of the ticket. Who knows, maybe in a few years we will all be driving cars that "pollute" while producing drinking water. It would be a nice way to fill up, right?
