[SteeMagazin]^Tech >> Tornado Intercept Vehicle

Ever heard about Tornado Intercept Vehicle? Well this monster is a true war machine car although it don't have weapons and its only use is to safely intercept a tornado. There's literally no such force on Earth that could hurt you inside one of these.

There are two versions of this vehicle and today we're going to talk about the stronger (second) version which is called TIV2. Both 'cars' were designed by film director Sean Casey and were used for intercepting, filming and gathering information about a tornado. TIV2 weights around 6500kg (16500 lbs) which is a weight of 6 average cars. Vehicle has 4 steel spikes that can go deep into the ground to keep stability and 6 hydraulic skirts which are used to deflect the wind and protect underside from debris. As you can see from the picture, vehicle itself looks like a real war tank. Maybe the most impressive thing about it is that this vehicle can reach top speed of 160 km/h (100 mph) and has a gas tank of 95 US gallons (360 L) which gives TIV2 range of 750 miles (1200km) with full gas tank. TIV2 engine produces 625 horsepower (466kW) and it runs on diesel fuel. The body of vehicle is constructed of thick steel and all windows are bullet resistant made of 41mm polycarbonate sheets and tempered glass which gives TIV2 power to withstand even an EF5 tornado. Vehicle was tested on 250 mph (400 km/h) wind and it hasn't suffered any significant damage except spikes being slightly bent. The vehicle was upgraded through time and in 2011, TIV2 got a siren which was used as a warning system for people that were in the path of tornado. Vehicle was damaged few times from a debris that were thrown at it but all passengers were fine.

Here are two videos from youtube if you want to see TIV2 in action. This happened in Kansas on May 27, 2013. Vehicle was damaged by debris and the doors were compromised due to human error. Last recorded wind speed was 175 mph (280 km/h) which puts this tornado somewhere between EF3 and EF4. Enjoy the power of mother nature!

Written by: @sulepower
This is @steemagazin original content.
Members of our team: @atimk23, @sulepower, @tinmar, @kekec, @strictlybusiness, @kalu24

Links: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Intercept_Vehicle#TIV_2
https://goo.gl/images/QiQxZd