After years of work, we've harnessed the explosive power of Coke and Mentos and achieved human propulsion! 108 bottles of Coke Zero and 648 Mentos mints combine to power the Rocket Car, Mark I. With just half the fuel, 54 bottles of Coke Zero and 324 Mentos, the Mark II is substantially lighter. The question is which goes farther and faster... This is the showdown!
The music track is RKNRL -- Steve's Mix by our friends at AudioBody: AudioBody off their new album, We Are AudioBody.
This is one not to try at home.
The Coke Zero & Mentos Rocket Car uses a piston mechanism: a six-foot long rod sits inside a six-foot long tube attached to each bottle of Coke Zero. When the Mentos drop into the soda, the pressure tries to push the rod out of the tube. With 54 or 108 rods all pushing at once, that gives us a lot of power.
All that power is pushing against a solid wall -- so the wall won't move, the rocket car will. We get one big push for six feet, and then it’s all coasting from there.
Want to know what makes the soda fly out of the bottle? Will you explode if you drink Coke and eat Mentos? Click here to find out about the power of Coke and Mentos: The Science of Coke and Mentos
Seriously, don’t try this at home. There is a huge amount of power involved, and we don’t want you to get hurt.
What you can (and should) try at home is the Coke & Mentos geyser: you can get your own Coke and Mentos Kit: EepyBird's Diet Coke and Mentos Kit which includes nozzles just like the ones we use in our geyser videos, or you can click here: Make Your Own Coke & Mentos Geysers to learn how you can make Coke and Mentos geysers with stuff from around your house.
The Coke Zero & Mentos Rocket Car: Showdown by EepyBird: Fritz Grobe (the short one) and Stephen Voltz (the tall one). Music by AudioBody: AudioBody
Filmed in Buckfield, Maine. Thanks to the EepyBird pit crew: Big Dave Tardy, Mike Miclon, Matt Tardy, and Casey Turner. Captured on video by the one and only Mike Miclon, with able help from Shane Miclon, Aaron DeWitt, and Brian Miclon.
The Coke Zero & Mentos Rocket Cars were welded together by Nick Salvati with Big Dave Tardy and Mike Miclon. Nick and Dave built the Mark II on a pedal car frame. Nick and Mike built the Mark I on a utility trailer frame, along with the front end of a bicycle.
And thanks to Coca-Cola Zero and Mentos for making this possible!
