Ladies and gentlemen, this is the fastest truck in the world. Its name is Volvo The Iron Knight. Created to attack the truck speed records, the Iron Knight had a magnificent run the other day when, with Boije Ovebrink behind the wheel, it broke a few records. For all of you not familiar with truck racing, Boije Ovebrink is European Truck Racing Champion from 1994. He knows his stuff around trucks.
The one he was driving, this time, is the 4.5-ton machine powered by a specially tuned 12.8-liter engine. The truck is a heavily reworked FH Volvo truck. Its engine is from the FH line of trucks, but, obviously reworked for the occasion. Here, it develops fantastic 2,400 hp. Yes, we have seen Lamborghini Gallardo cars with power like this, but do bear in mind that this is a factory tuned machine. What Lambo cars do not have is gravity defying torque of 4,425 lb-ft. In an enormous truck like this so much torque and power can make wonders. Its power to weight ratio is quite amazing 1 hp per 2 kilograms. Supercar territory here.
Record attempt took place on a former airfield in northern Sweden. The Iron Knight aimed to trash records on 500 meters and 1,000 meters. And it surely did!
At standing start 500 meter run, the Volvo truck cloaked the time of 13.71 seconds at an average speed of 81.58 mph. Double the distance and The Iron Knight is cloaking at 21.29 seconds with an average speed of 105 mph.
Boije Ovebrink went an extra mile with this truck too. In an attempt to set up a top speed record, the Volvo truck hit amazing 171.5 mph. Considering that this is a massive truck with enormous wheels and a whole lot of weight, this is quite spectacular. Just imagine what the tires had to endure. Now, however, the top speed is limited to 155 mph.
