Ford Performance is heading to Colorado at the weekend for the Race to the Clouds, and will be trying to beat last year's record time set by its electric SuperVan. This time driver Romain Dumas will be behind the wheel of a souped-up F150 Lightning SuperTruck.
Ford muses that it has been taking on Pikes Peak since 1916, when a Model T completed the climb in 28 minutes and 3 seconds. Today's route has more than 156 twists and turns and stretches for 12.42 miles (almost 20 km), and modern vehicles conquer the mountain in a fraction of that time.
Dumas holds the current track record of 7:57.148, which he managed in 2018 while driving a Volkswagen I.D. R electric racecar. Last year he sat behind the wheel of Ford's SuperVan 4.2 to take first place in the Open category, and second overall, with a time of 8:47.682. Dumas and Ford are looking to best that time with the ridiculous-looking F-150 Lightning SuperTruck.
Though the SuperVan before it was treated to a crazy powerful 1,972-hp (2,000-PS) for an earlier Goodwood appearance, Ford toned things down to 1,400 horses for the Pikes Peak climb last June. And it's a similar story for the SuperTruck, which boasts three STARD UHP 6-Phase motors matched to "Ultra-High-Performance Li-Polymer NMC cells" for more than 1,400 hp output.
The somewhat modified version of the F-150 Lightning demonstrator is reported to feature a "triple-element front wing, headlight ducts, hood ducts and louvers, front dive-planes, side diffusers, rear diffuser, and multi-element rear wing to maximize aerodynamics." Ford reckons that this will generate 6,000 lb of downforce at 150 mph (241.4 km/h).
Other specs are in short supply, but carbon ceramic brakes, magnesium-forged wheels wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero tires and custom in-board suspension are mentioned.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will take place on June 23, and you can tune into all the action via Mobil 1's YouTube channel.
Source: Ford Performance
