And if you'll see why it's not safe
for me to even be standing on the sidelines collecting data.
This is starting to feel like a bad idea.
So I'm going to scope out a location for a future myth.
And I'll see you on the flip side.
Bye.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: So now this is the last attempt
to see if we can stop.
[engine revving]
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: I don't know what's going to happen.
I'm cautiously titillated.
TORY BELLECI: [laughs] you're cautiously titillated.
BISI EZERIOHA: Yes.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: This is the moment of truth.
[music playing]
All right, here comes our stop.
[music playing]
This is it.
This better work.
[music playing]
Oh, shoot! - Oh, oh, oh!
[screams]
[music playing]
[car roaring]
[music playing]
Yaay!
NARRATOR: Meet the team.
[screams]
TORY BELLECI: There's a potential
that I could get electrocuted.
[explosion]
NARRATOR: With the mechanical expertise--
FAYE HADLEY: More oxygen, more fuel, that makes more power.
[music playing]
NARRATOR: --to test all things automotive.
[laughter]
BISI EZERIOHA: It's almost like surgery.
If I make a mistake, we'll blow up the engine.
[music playing]
NARRATOR: This is "Motor Mythbusters"--
FAYE HADLEY: This is our job!
NARRATOR: --where science--
[music playing]
--meets the streets.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: Stop working, Bisi, it's lunchtime.
I'm buying.
You're buying, [blows] don't tell me twice.
I was just kidding. I'm not buying.
You're buying. - Oh, come on.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: You and these minivans.
I-- - Look at how cool that--
I don't-- I don't get it.
I don't see the allure.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Tory, I love minivans, especially
these modern day ones.
I mean, it's comfortable, it's spacious.
I can modify them.
TORY BELLECI: They're just not as cool as they used to be.
I mean, back in the '70s, they had such cool vans.
They had like wall-to-wall carpet.
They had like swivel chairs inside.
BISI EZERIOHA: Right.
TORY BELLECI: You could have a bed in the back.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: It looks like I love newer vans.
You love old school vans.
We both love vans.
[clicks] Oh, you know what, do you remember
that movie "Strange Brew?"
Of course, I do.
That thing is a classic.
TORY BELLECI: Yeah, and it had such a cool scene
where they cut the brake lines.
In the movie, the bad guys tamper with the brake lines.
And he said specifically, I've made it so that these guys
will have two stops.
And then the third time will be no brakes.
Oh my goodness, how do you know if that's even possible?
TORY BELLECI: That's what I'm wondering.
What if we tested that?
[music playing]
That sounds really good.
Because in my mind I'm thinking,
once you crack the lines--
[music playing]
--you're just-- you don't have brakes anymore.
I think so too. So maybe--
[music playing]
--maybe there's a way we can modulate it to some extent.
I don't know. I don't know.
But I'm down to test this.
[music playing]
All right, I'm hungry.
[music playing]
Let's get some tacos.
[music playing]
NARRATOR: It's a cult classic from the '80s.
[music playing]
"Strange Brew" takes the familiar movie trope
that cutting brake lines causes catastrophe and gives
it a little twist literally.
[music playing]
The myth is a calibrated slowly will sabotage the brake system
so precisely you get two stops.
[music playing]
But the hydraulics are compromised enough so
by the time you need to break again,
well, it turns out that the third one was
kind of necessary.
[water splashing]
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: And how's this for a set of wheels?
[music playing]
A classic '70s van.
[music playing]
Perfect for testing this myth.
[music playing]
We need to find out what that PSI number is that will
no longer stop this van.
[music playing]
All brake systems operate by hydraulic pressure or PSI
in the brake lines.
So when you apply the brakes, it increases the pressure,
forcing fluids in the break line to squeeze the brake pads
and bring the vehicle to a stop.
[music playing]
So Bisi has been setting up our brake lines with some sensors.
BISI EZERIOHA: Yes, I took the liberty of rigging
up something very clever.
Well, we're monitoring all the brake pressure
in our entire system.
And what it does for us is, I have this great logging
dash that could show us minimum, real time, average and peak.
That's perfect.
All we need to do is find that number of PSI that
will no longer stop this van.
And that data, I will have for you.
BISI EZERIOHA: You ready for a crazy ride?
I'm ready.
[music playing]
[door bangs]
[music playing]
[door bangs]
TORY BELLECI: How will we determine the break pressure
point when the brakes fail?
[door bangs]
All right--
[engine revving]
--are you ready?
[engine starts]
[laughter]
I'm scared of this van.
[music playing]
[engine revs]
We'll keep gently squeezing the brake pedal
to see how high the pressure measuring
PSI has to reach before the brakes start to work.
[music playing]
OK, are you ready, Bisi?
[music playing]
Just give us 40 PSI straight up.
OK.
[whirring]
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: That didn't stop it.
Even 50 doesn't stop it.
Yeah, 80 doesn't stop it.
[whirring]
Like, let me-- let's get up to speed.
BISI EZERIOHA: OK.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: All right, here we go.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Wow!
TORY BELLECI: That is not stopping.
[engine slows down]
BISI EZERIOHA: And we got as high as 208 PSI.
I think that's our magic number.
TORY BELLECI: That's incredible, 208 PSI.
And it's still not bringing the van to a stop.
BISI EZERIOHA: Uh, truly.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: So we found our magic number, 208 PSI.
Only at that number or above will
the brakes work enough to stop the van.
[music playing]
So I think we should build a rig
maybe on a table that had all the components
of a braking system.
That we can play around with.
And then cut or crack open some parts of that system
and see what we can do--
--to get to the magic number.
--to get that magic number after two hard pumps.
All right, I love it.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Well, I guess it's now time to build the rig.
TORY BELLECI: Since we need to look at the brake lines
isolated, what if we just build a complete brake
system on top of the table.
[music playing]
All right, brake one.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: That looks good.
TORY BELLECI: Cool, so we'll start doing the hard lines.
BISI EZERIOHA: Yeah.
[music playing]
These sensors as they sit now are dormant.
They don't do much of anything.
So we need to record what's going on and view it real time.
So I need to program this module to read each and every sensor.
[music playing]
[sparking]
TORY BELLECI: How is that? BISI EZERIOHA: Looking good.
[music playing]
You know, I just realized something.
How are we going to steer this thing?
[music playing]
[laughter]
Bisi, let's just walk through what we have set up.
Now, this front one right here,
this is the brake caliper--
TORY BELLECI: Right.
--which contains the brake pads which induces friction
to help us stop the car.
So when we're pressing on the pedal,
we're actually pushing those fluids.
Yes.
And that fluid is pushing those calipers together--
Absolutely.
- --giving us stopping power. - Yes.
TORY BELLECI: Let's talk about the metering system
because we want to know exactly how much pressure we have
in each of our brake lines.
BISI EZERIOHA: Yes, so this is a high-pressure sensor.
And the sensor will in real time tell us what
pressures we have throughout.
And we will place that sensor in the van
when we go full scale so that we can
monitor the pressure we're getting
when we apply the brakes.
TORY BELLECI: Now that we have meters,
we can dial in the pressure and see
if we can recreate what we saw in the movie
where they press the brakes twice.
And then the next time, they had no braking power.
Absolutely.
Now, we're not going to have to replace
the line every time we cut it.
We just have to loosen up the connectors.
Good point. So--
- All right. - --why don't you hop on in.
And then you'll pump.
And we'll look at the pressures real time.
Yeah, let's-- let's-- let's put your lines to the test.
[music playing]
First, Tory, we're going to do a baseline reading.
- Are you ready? - I am ready.
Just-- just give me a regular break that you have.
TORY BELLECI: This is it.
I'm coming to like a slow stop.
OK, slow stop.
[music playing]
Oh, yeah.
So that was like 336, 338.
Maybe what we should start doing is disconnecting
and see if we can get our front brakes around that 208 mark.
BISI EZERIOHA: So it's important for me
to stick up on the number 208.
So I'm going to take count of how many revolutions
I loosen this up just to give a nice crack.
And that'll be my unit of measurement--
revolutions in this case.
[music playing]
One full wrench rotation to start.
OK, there we go. [music playing]
We're set.
Everything is at 0.
I need you to give me that first hard pump.
Yeah.
And then a medium pump.
- OK, here we go. - And let's see what happens.
All right.
[music playing] Oh!
Oh, I didn't expect that.
Oh!
Thanks so much, sir.
[laughter]
- Oh my god! - Oh!
[music playing]
We're at 167 PSI on the left, 146 on the right.
We're well below our threshold.
And that was just with one pump not three.
[music playing]
If you had done this on our van--
Right.
TORY BELLECI: --we wouldn't have been able to stop.
We wouldn't have been able to stop at all.
The full rotation was way too much.
So how much do you want to go?
So I'm going to mark it and just go--
--half a revolution.
--not even half, 20%.
TORY BELLECI: OK.
[music playing]
So that's it?
BISI EZERIOHA: That's it.
OK, here we go.
[music playing]
This is stop number 1, full brake.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: OK. TORY BELLECI: Wow, look at.
BISI EZERIOHA: So some came out. TORY BELLECI: So it's dripping.
BISI EZERIOHA: Yes.
TORY BELLECI: That's good, 480 PSI on the front breaks.
That's going to be enough to stop the van.
All right, this is stop number 2.
[music playing]
Yes.
[music playing]
Oh, oh, oh!
Bisi, I think we're there.
BISI EZERIOHA: I know.
We're at 215 PSI.
That would be enough to stop this van.
Yes.
Now, the third stop--
OK, let me write this down first--
oh my goodness-- - I'm getting excited [laughs].
--2.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: So this is the third stop.
[music playing]
If it doesn't reach 208 PSI on this final pump,
there won't be enough pressure to stop the van.
Which means it'll be right on the money for this myth.
Oh, I wonder what's going to happen.
[music playing]
Oh my gosh, right there. TORY BELLECI: 208.
[music playing]
208 and 207.
[music playing]
We've-- we've done it. - It's right there.
TORY BELLECI: We've done it. [laughs]
BISI EZERIOHA: I can't believe it.
[music playing]
We were able to turn the nut just 20% of a full rotation.
[music playing]
And our first ring was 480, second ring was 215
and the third, right at 280.
Which means the van would not stop.
[music playing]
First of all, it's frightening how easy this was.
But just that tiny crack is all we needed to get two stops.
And then the third stop won't happen.
Now, we just have to do this on our van
and see if we can get the same results.
There might be some validity to this myth.
[music playing]
OK, you know, I had a thought about this.
This could be a death trap considering we're trying
to make the brakes not work.
And if we're driving, and the brakes no longer work,
there's a possibility that we could crash.
And we could be in trouble because we
have this crazy engine right here next to us.
Yeah, and we have to be driving this
and pushing the brakes the way they did in the movie.
And that could be a big problem.
I mean, we have so much room back here.
Yeah.
What if we just push everything back.
So that way, if we do crash, we have a huge crumple
zone in the front.
And then we'll be OK.
I think that'll work.
You know, we'll just have, like, a really
long ridiculous steering wheel.
And like the pedals, we can just have extenders.
Let's do it.
[music playing]
[rattling]
Wow, that is cool already.
It's kind of like you're driving.
Yeah, that-- that feels good.
Yeah.
[music playing]
So we have right now just this pipe that extends.
And that's going to be where we put
pressure on to use the brake.
But what we wanted to do is, in case we crash,
we're using nylon threaded rod in here.
So if we do crash, this sheers.
And then we don't get impaled by our brake
and steering extensions.
All right, we're going to test that.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Oh, that feels good.
TORY BELLECI: Perfect, all right.
And it returns beautifully.
Good.
Here, this is the pedal for you there.
[music playing]
Here, it slides up.
[music playing]
Now, this is the most dangerous one.
This is the one that really needs to be able to collapse.
Yes.
That's just going to be a big harpoon
right through your chest.
That's very true.
[music playing]
All right, try that.
Oooh, it looks good to me.
Yep!
[music playing]
How are we going to shift this thing?
Maybe something when we triangulate down to the floor.
Yeah.
[music playing]
[cranking]
Oh, yeah.
[music playing]
Oooh!
[music playing]
This-- [cranking]
[music playing]
[laughter]
BISI EZERIOHA: In all my years of building cars,
I've never seen or done anything as intricate as this.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: All right, I think we're ready to test this baby.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: I'm excited.
I'm ready.
Look at everything that we've accomplished here.
TORY BELLECI: Yeah.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Oh!
This is good. TORY BELLECI: Oh, yeah!
BISI EZERIOHA: This is the life.
TORY BELLECI: This is going to be so weird driving.
[music playing]
So to test this myth safely, we've come out to a parking lot
where there's hardly anything to crash into.
We're going to drive around the course a couple of times,
make two stops.
And then hopefully, that third stop won't work.
So in order to stop, we've set up some water barrels that
will stop the van safely, similar
to what you would see on a freeway.
[music playing]
We have our braking system.
[music playing]
We've got our steering and our accelerator.
We have this emergency brake here.
Plus, we have our shifter.
And the best part is we have a kill
switch to shut off the engine.
And in order to start the engines,
we got our start switch right here.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Now, above and beyond that, this myth
is chock-full of data.
So just like we did on our test rig,
we are going to monitor the tire pressure
in the hydraulic system at all times.
So we'll know exactly at what point--
which was 208 PSI--
Understood.
--where this van won't stop anymore.
Yes, but you know what, I may just
stay here because this is so--
Yes, very plush.
[laughs]
[groans]
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Well, in our small-scale test,
I have the opportunity to crack open just about 20%.
So for safety's sake, let's just ease
into this by cracking the line just 10% of a whole turn.
TORY BELLECI: We're at the starting line right now.
We're going to go down, make a hard stop like in the movie.
I'll come around here.
But on the second brake, give us a little bit eased off.
But if you recall in the movie,
they turned the vehicle off.
So we'll do that.
And then we'll sit there and wait.
But then we'll start it up again.
Right.
And then we'll come around again and see whether or not
we have braking power.
Yes, sounds good.
OK.
[music playing]
So it was just like a tiny, little crack.
Yeah, it wasn't so bad.
It was just-- maybe just one digit on this nut.
OK, that's it.
It was that simple.
And this is starting to feel like a bad idea.
[music playing]
All right, Bisi, here we go.
[music playing]
[engine revving] [music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Are you pretty excited?
Yes.
This is our maiden voyage.
This is the most ridiculous vehicle I've ever seen.
[music playing] - Oh, wow.
Oh, this is strange.
[laughter]
It's like driving a boat.
There's like a lot of leeway.
Look how much play I have--
That much play, you're still going straight.
--in the steering wheel.
[music playing]
We are literally backseat drivers.
This is ridiculous.
[laughter]
TORY BELLECI: Strange road test, two stops, and then no brakes.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: OK, so this first one, once again, it was abrupt.
Yeah.
BISI EZERIOHA: You are at 25 miles an hour.
[brakes screeching]
OK, oh, that's good.
- We've got one stop. - That's good.
And let's take a look at how much-- how much we had there.
TORY BELLECI: OK.
BISI EZERIOHA: We are at 7-- wow, that's a lot of PSI.
TORY BELLECI: 784 PSI.
OK, 22 miles an hour.
So I'm going to clear that up.
Keep on trucking.
OK, nice.
TORY BELLECI: OK.
BISI EZERIOHA: So this second one is a not-so-abrupt stop.
Right, if they eased into it.
And then they actually stop the engine.
[cranking]
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: OK, that's good.
Let's see how much we had there.
[music playing]
260, so now--
TORY BELLECI: OK, so now what I'm going to do
is, I'm going to turn off the engine.
[music playing] BISI EZERIOHA: How does it feel?
Does it-- does it-- so it's spongy or--
TORY BELLECI: It does. It feels good.
All right-- - That's good.
[laughter] [music playing]
[engine starting]
- Oh! - Oh!
- Oh, boy-- - Here we go.
--she wants to go.
[music playing]
I'm kind of afraid.
[music playing]
[engine revs]
TORY BELLECI: All right, so this is it.
[music playing]
[engine revs]
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: Oh, it stops, uh-uh.
All right, well, let's go back to the starting line.
[cranking]
In that first run, we didn't open the brake line
enough to make the brakes fail.
Let's crank it up a little bit more this time.
BISI EZERIOHA: And see if we can bleed it some more.
[laughs]
And we'll bleed it some more, all right.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: By turning our wrench
the same amount as our bench test, 20% of a full turn.
[music playing]
And I will top off the brake fluid.
[music playing]
I'm kind of nervous.
I just get a little nervous.
Oh, it's like wait, we are intentionally
making our brakes fail.
BISI EZERIOHA: Fail.
[music playing]
[engine revs]
Why are you revving? - I don't know.
Oh my god!
I'm excited.
Here we go.
OK.
[music playing]
So the first stop is abrupt.
[music playing]
[brakes screeching]
All right, we've got to stop.
OK, 569.
[music playing]
So the second one, it wasn't so abrupt.
TORY BELLECI: Yeah, it was more of a feather--
Yeah.
--regular stop.
[music playing]
What was that?
Oh!
We're at 223, just 15 PSI above the failure point.
BISI EZERIOHA: Yeah.
[music playing]
How does that feel?
It feels pretty good.
It feels good still.
Yeah, so-- and then they stop their engine.
BISI EZERIOHA: Right.
TORY BELLECI: So now this is the last attempt
to see if we can stop.
[engine revs]
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: I don't know what's going to happen.
[snickers]
I'm cautiously titillated.
[laughter]
You're cautiously titillated.
Yes.
[music playing]
TORY BELLECI: This is the moment of truth.
[music playing]
Here we go into our last stop.
[music playing]
All right, here comes our stop.
[music playing]
This is it.
This better work.
24 miles an hour.
[music playing]
Oh, shoot!
[laughter]
[screaming]
[music playing]
[laughter]
[interposing voices]
TORY BELLECI: Yeah, I forgot about the emergency brake.
[laughter]
[music playing]
Oh my god, well, guess what?
Myth is confirmed.
[laughter]
[music playing]
And we were going 25 miles an hour
when we hit those water barrels.
That water barrel, it was like almost hitting a wall.
[music playing]
Why are you so excited?
Because we survived.
It was terrifying.
And better yet, we confirmed the myth.
Yeah, but--
You-- you can open the brake line just enough to get
two stops and then nothing.
We did it Bisi.
I have no idea why he's so excited.
[music playing]
So look at the pressure that we generated
in our hydraulic system after the second--
TORY BELLECI: Ah, 191 PSI.
BISI EZERIOHA: 191 PSI, which is below our 208
that we saw on the bench.
That's beautiful.
The barrels were a good idea, no?
Yeah, a very good idea.
But at least our van is still intact.
And you know what that means?
We'll get burgers.
I'm actually quite hungry.
Yeah, all that adrenaline makes me hungry.
Oh, no, no, we have to fix the brakes first.
Uh, good-- good-- good plan-- good plan.
[laughs]
All right.
[music playing]
BISI EZERIOHA: This is my dream come true.
[laughter]
Yeah, could I get a French fries and a small milkshake.
[laughter]
[music playing]
[laughter]
How much?
[laughs] What do you think of our van?
[music playing]
[laughter]
[music playing]