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Truck Yeah!
Volvo's Iron Knight sets new speed record
Driven by Boije Ovebrink, the Iron Knight now holds the official speed records for the 500- and-1000 metre distances.
THE IRON KNIGHT is the world’s fastest truck having just set two FIA-certified speed and acceleration records. And we aren’t just talking about truck fast – we are talking fast, fast, as the Iron Knight reached a top speed of 276km/h during the record runs.
The Iron Knight Volvo Truck is powered by a mid-mounted significantly modified D13 unit with water-cooled intercooler and four turbochargers. It boasts a monstrous 2400hp and 6000Nm of torque and weighs 4.5 tonnes giving the Iron Knight a power-to-weight ratio above 0.5 hp/kg.
This enormous powerplant is mated to the Volvo I-Shift Dual Clutch transmission, which maintains torque delivery during gear changes. Apart from a reinforced clutch (the discs and pressure plates are made of a sintered material), this is the same gearbox that is fitted to series-manufactured Volvo FH trucks.
The record run was carried out at a closed-off test track in northern Sweden and with an average speed of 169km/h and a time of 21.29 seconds, The Iron Knight beat the international speed record for 1000 metres from a standing start. It also beat the corresponding record for the 500-metre distance, at 131.29km/h and 13.71 seconds.
Sweden’s own Boije Ovebrink was behind the wheel of The Iron Knight for the record runs. The experienced car and truck racer has previously beaten five speed records and in 1994 was European Truck Racing Champion.
“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,” says Olof Johansson, a technician at Volvo Trucks.
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