As an Australian-American living in the US I can confirm that the Australian concept of law (aka Nanny State) would ensure that this modification is illegal by default. Think of the children.

Children don't really fit in the intake so it shouldn't be a problem

I was shocked as a Brit American living in the US how nanny state Aust is. Even more than Britain. Certainly when it comes to cars and driving. The whole ‘anti hoon’ thing seems shocking to me with my now mostly American sensibilities.

But I guess that’s why we both live here rather than blighty or down under.

Australia's just fine with adding jet engines to cars and designing|building one million round per minute guns.

It's the mixing up of such things with the general unconsenting public that raises an eyebrow.

Hoon's can hoon - just out of earshot of people that want a quiet life and off the community car parks and roadways - there's no shortage of private land and designated drag strips | raceways.

https://aussieinvader.com/the-people/rosco-mcglashan-oam/

https://thewest.com.au/lifestyle/motoring/wa-built-1600kmh-j...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Storm

It’s important to understand most things happen for a reason, and as a Brit American living in the US you might be missing some context.

In the area I grew up, it was expected that your first car would be a V8. Hooning was ingrained into the culture. Back then it was a single spinner, no ABS, no airbags, basically no safety features at all. So what would happen is someone would get their licence, grab as many mates as they could, drive as fast as they could, and wrap their car around a tree killing everyone. Every week there was a news story about a multiple fatality P plate accident caused by hooning.

A culture of dangerous driving and dangerous vehicles led to Australia’s anti-hoon laws. It’s not just “ooh silly nanny state laws for no reason”.

It is likely to be safer simply because the one driving it is going to be a lot more careful than the average driver.

I recall seeing a study a while ago that showed how those who work on their own cars, especially for those who do major jobs like engine rebuilds, are statistically far less likely to get into an accident. Unfortunately I can't find it now.

> a single engineer personally adding a jet engine to his car while seemingly being very in touch with the dangers of operating it

What if a non-engineer who doesn’t understand the dangers makes this type of modification? This is is why it needs to be illegal. Just because someone straps a jet engine to their car it doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing, and _that_ is the risk, and why pretty much all laws exist in the first place. Many people could drive safely without speed limits, but we have speed limits to cater for people who can’t. My point is that if this type of modification truly is legal in America, that’s scary, and Australia got the laws right. A jet-powered car is not inherently safer in the US than Australia.

> What if a non-engineer who doesn’t understand the dangers makes this type of modification?

This hasn’t happened afaik in the last 15 years. I assume any non-engineer who doesn’t know the dangers also doesn’t have the technical know how to build this. Also the cost is several hundred thousand $.

History seems to indicate it’s a non-issue.