It can move mountains with 4,425 pound feet (roughly 6,000 Newton-meters)
Volvo Trucks announced last week that they would attempt to break not just one but two speed records by using an extremely powerful truck called’The Iron Knight’. Boije Ovebrink drove the truck to a former airfield in northern Sweden and beat the speed records for the 500-meter and 1000-meter standing-start categories.
These are the numbers. The Iron Knight holds the record for the 500-meter distance, clocking 13.71 seconds and traveling at an average speed 131.29 km/h (81.58mph). It’s also the fastest over the 1,000-meter distance, finishing in 21.29 seconds with an average speed of 169 km/h (105 mph). Volvo Trucks points out that the truck reached a speed of 276 km/h (171.5 mph) during record runs.
It is hard to believe that this was possible. The mid-mounted 6-cylinder 12.8-liter engine, with its 2,400 horsepower (1.790 kilowatts), and 4,425 pound feet (5,993 Newton meters), was clearly a contributor. It wouldn’t be possible without the I Shift Dual Clutch transmission, which was almost standard and the same as the FH trucks. The reinforced clutch had discs and pressure plates made of a sintered material.
The Iron Knight is 4.5 tons (9,000 pounds) in weight and has a respectable power-toweight ratio of over 0.5 horsepower/kg. To increase the chance of setting these two records, Volvo Trucks engineers had to make some changes to the software. Some truck electronics had to be taken out to reduce weight. For the same reason, the aerodynamically-optimized cab was made from fiberglass. The side skirts were equipped with large air intakes that provide cooling for the D13 engine in the FH trucks.
