Submarine Mode on This Buggy Works Great! Hold Your Breath!

A lot of people fail to realize that an engine can run underwater with no problem as long as there’s a way for dry air to get into the intake and the engine continues to run to keep water from going in the exhaust. Using that information, these guys built a pretty gnarly looking dune buggy style car and decided to take it, quite literally, for a swim.

With a tall snorkel tube attached to the intake that reached high into the air above the engine, the buggy should be able to keep running even if the water completely covers the top of the cage, and that’s a good thing because at one point in their creek crossing adventure, these guys find themselves having to basically swim in the buggy, as they’d be pulled underwater if they remained in their seats. Of course, with that snorkel doing it’s job flawlessly, and the driver and passenger managing to stick with it through he deeper parts of the trip, the engine just churns right along, eventually finding shallower water and regaining a little traction with the creek bottom.

You’ll notice the driver keeps the engine revving even when the buggy itself appears to be floating and the wheels aren’t doing anything but spinning. That’s to keep water from forcing its way into the exhaust, which it may be able to do if the engine is at idle.

This looks like a lot of fun, as long as everything stays in place and water doesn’t find its way into the engine. If that happens, everybody’s day would come to a screeching halt, much like the engine itself. However, the snorkel held up and allowed them to get across the water and on to other adventures in the buggy. Hopefully they managed to keep the snorkel above water and kept the engine churning!