Mexican Jumping Cars

Share on Facebook posted 06-07-09 by Angelo D'Argenio

Cars are heavy things. They are designed to hug the road, not fly off of it. So jumping cars are basically fighting against physics. When you think about it, one little engine is propelling a gigantic load of metal, gears, and flammable liquid up into the air several feet, and I’ll tell you, a car is definitely not weighted for flight. Cars are front-heavy, causing them to flip, turn, and lose control in the air. The only way any stuntman can be sure to survive a car jump is to build his ramp to exact specifications, gauge his speed perfectly, and take off exactly straight with not even a millimeter of his wheels out of alignment. After that, he closes his eyes and prays that his car doesn’t disintegrate in midair

Flying, Flipping, F-cking Amazing Jump

This is actually a world-record car jump (a world record for number of cars jumped in a car, that is), and there was no exit ramp this time. This guy put the pedal to the metal and hoped for the best, and the result: a flipping, flying, twirling car in the air. The explosion was a nice touch (though not strictly necessary for car stunts), but as you see, his car couldn’t stay stable as he flew through the air. Fortunately, no one was injured, and he seemed to enjoy the ride, even though he landed upside down, skidding across the pavement.

Failed Jump Over Saint Lawrence River

Not everyone is as lucky (if you can call it lucky) as our world record setter. Be patient with this old video, or skip to minute 2:10, showing a world record attempt at a rocket car jump, a failed world record attempt. This guy goes up the ramp so fast that his car disintegrates simply due to wind resistance. His parachute deploys, and he touches down in the very river he was trying to jump over. He survives, but he breaks his back (something he had apparently done seven times before). His car, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky.

Size of Ramp Matters — No Matter What They Say

Look at how tiny that ramp is compared to some of the larger ramps we have seen over the years. This is just kid’s stuff compared to professional stunt work, and yet it serves as a compelling demonstration of the forces at work on a car when it makes a jump. After hitting the ramp, the car immediately starts tilting forward, and if it were higher in the air it might have done a complete flip. It comes down at too sharp an angle, grinds its nose into the pavement, and skids to a stop after falling onto its back wheels, hard. All of this occurs off of a ramp that is only a few inches off the ground at a relatively slow speed, so look at what happens when we ramp that up a bit. (Ha. Ramp … ramp … you see what I did there?)