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What They Drive

Built to Keep Going: A Turbo-Four That Won't Drown

· 1 min read
Jaguar XK-SS hood_3195c
Jaguar XK-SS hood_3195c · hoyasmeg · CC BY 2.0 · source

The Horse B20 looks like an ordinary powerplant on spec sheet alone — a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, the same basic layout found under the hood of countless trucks and SUVs on American roads. What separates it is what happens when water rises around it. Engineers built the B20 to keep firing even with as much as four feet of water covering the engine, a depth that would stall out virtually any conventional gas engine the moment it reached the intake. For an industry built on the assumption that water and combustion don't mix, it's a rare case of an engine simply refusing to quit.

With reporting from The Drive.

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