BRAD ANDERSON wrote:Volvo Trucks has claimed two world records for its 2,400 hp 'The Iron Knight', beating the previous records in the 500 and 1000 meter standing-start categories.
On its 500 meter run at a test track in Northern Sweden, The Iron Knight managed to reach a top average speed of 131.29 km/h in just 13.71 seconds. Meanwhile in the 1000 meter standing start, it topped out at an average of 169 km/h in a time of 21.29 seconds.
Piloting the 4.5 tonne behemoth was Boije Ovebrink, a man who in 1994 was European Truck Racing Champion and is the holder of five previous speed records.
While Volvo wasn't chasing an outright top speed record, The Iron Knight did reach a top speed of 276 km/h throughout its gruelling testing regime.
Helping to make the truck so fast is its 2,400 hp and 6,000 Nm of torque developed courtesy of a mid-mounted engine with four turbochargers and a water-cooled intercooler. A slick-shifting dual clutch transmission drives power through the rear wheels.
According to Volvo Trucks technician Olof Johansson, “Specialists from several different Volvo Trucks departments worked closely together to develop a truck with unsurpassed performance. Apart from Volvo Trucks' powertrain, which is the heart and soul of The Iron Knight, we've hand-built the truck from the ground up. The fact that we succeeded in securing not just one record but two is absolutely amazing.”
