He Strapped a Homemade Jet Engine to a Toyota Prius—And Immediately Set the Roof on FireMotorBiscuitRahaan MazumderThu, September 10, 2026 at 11:30 AM UTCAdd us on GoogleFor nearly three decades, the Toyota Prius has stood as the ultimate symbol of quiet, eco-friendly, and highly responsible commuting. But in the wild world of automotive YouTube, rules are meant to be broken—and sometimes, they are meant to be blown up with a homemade pulsejet engine.In a wildly entertaining DIY engineering video, YouTuber djkrell decided to completely destroy the hybrid's sensible reputation. As he explained right out of the gate, "For almost 30 years, the Prius has been a family-friendly, eco-friendly, and fuel-efficient icon in the car world. Today we're going to reverse that".Telephone Poles and Walmart Dog BowlsBuilding a fully functional jet engine in a residential garage is exactly as difficult as it sounds. From the start, the creator realized that bending thick plates of stainless steel into the precise, aerodynamic cones required for a jet thruster is a logistical nightmare that typically requires complex math.AdvertisementAdvertisementAfter struggling to curve the incredibly stiff metal around standard household objects, he resorted to literal forestry. "Why not wrap it around a telephone pole with ratchet straps," he figured, heading out into the woods to hammer the steel into shape against a wooden pole.Following some intense welding assistance from a neighbor, the backyard thruster was ready for testing. However, igniting a pulsejet is incredibly tricky, requiring a perfect ratio of fuel and air. After struggling to get anything more than a low rumble and some frozen propane lines, he reached out to fellow DIY engineering YouTuber I Did A Thing for advice.The verdict? He was drowning the engine in gas and completely lacked a proper air intake funnel.Refusing to spend another weekend hammering steel against a tree to build an intake cone, he went to Walmart and bought a "kitchen dog bowl made out of stainless steel". He cut the bottom out, attached it to the front of the thruster, and filled the gaps with putty to smooth the airflow.Incredibly, the dog bowl hack worked. The engine instantly roared to life with a terrifying, earth-shaking blast. "That was roughly 145 dB, which is equivalent of an F-22 fighter jet taking off in this parking lot," the creator yelled over the noise.The 145-Degree Road TestWith the engine fully operational, it was time to mount it. Using a custom metal bracket, he strapped the jet thruster to the roof of a donated Prius belonging to a friend. The propane fuel lines were routed straight through the roof so the massive flames could be manually controlled from the passenger seat.Cruising down a rural road, the jet-powered Prius actually worked—for about a minute. The massive, unshielded heat radiating from the glowing stainless steel thruster quickly overwhelmed the car's basic insulation.AdvertisementAdvertisement"Little did I know it was melting through the roof in the back and caught the car on fire," he laughed, scrambling to put out the smoldering interior fabric.After hastily patching the roof and wrapping the engine in thermal heat wrap, he took the car out for one final, glorious highway run. While the heat wrap "immediately melted off and the car got to 145° inside," the chaotic experiment was a massive success.Against all odds, he safely achieved his goal of creating the loudest, hottest, and undeniably "least eco-friendly jet-powered Prius" on the internet.
