Volvo Trucks is claiming two new world land speed records. It's custom-built "Iron Knight" truck reportedly achieved an average speed of 131.29 km/h (81.58 mph) and a time of 13.71 seconds over 500 m (1,640 ft) and 169 km/h (105 mph) with a time of 21.29 seconds over 1,000 m (3,281 ft), both from a standing start.
Though Volvo Trucks has only released details of the record runs today, following a teaser campaign last week, the company has told New Atlas that both runs actually took place back in June, following a number of testing and practice days. The Iron Knight was driven by car and truck racing driver Boije Ovebrink, who beat records he set previously in the hybrid "Mean Green" truck.
The Iron Knight is 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) lighter than Mean Green and and has 600 hp (447 kW) more. As we detailed last week, it is a 4.5-tonne (5-ton), custom-built tribute to the Volvo FH production truck. Only the 13-l mid-mounted D13 engine and the I-Shift Dual Clutch transmission were not custom built.
While it was not custom built, the engine was tuned to maximize performance. It is able to produce 2,400 hp (1,790 kW) and 6,000 Nm (4,425 lb.ft) of torque, with a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration time of just 4.6 seconds.
In order for the records to be recognized by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the Iron Knight team had to undertake two runs per record attempt within an hour. Ovebrink averaged a precise speed of 131.291 km/h (81.58 mph) across his two 500-m runs and a precise speed of 169.093 km/h (105.07 mph) across his two 1,000-m runs. He reached a top speed of 276 km/h (171 mph).
The runs were carried out at Skellefteå Drive Center, a former airfield outside Skellefteå, Sweden. Volvo says the records are in the process of being reviewed by the FIA.
The video below shows the record-breaking runs.
Sources: Volvo Trucks, Goodyear
