Ford F-250 Runs 182 MPH at Bonneville

[Oracle]

Ford F-250 Runs 182 MPH at Bonneville:

Diesel trucks are awesome, and for much of the United States, they are a way of life. The diesel-powered Super Duty pickup can haul your wares to market, tow your camper or race trailer, and haul your family around in total comfort. Heavily-optioned trucks, such as the Ford F450 King Ranch, carry sticker prices well into the $70k range when fully equipped and are more luxurious than many European sedans, while certainly offering more utility. But are they faster than those European sedans?

Some of them are, yes: the fast diesels, trucks with the boost cranked way up, throwing down quadruple-digit torque figures and running 10-second quarter miles at the weekend bracket races. I once was fortunate enough to drive one of those trucks, an 11-second Dodge Ram 3500 Dually, and the thrust of it at launch, plus the jet-like sound of the massive turbos spooling up, sent chills down my spine. Imagine, rolling up to the drag strip and simply embarassing a Ferrari, ZR-1, or Nissan GTR owner in a 5,000 lb truck? It happens all the time.



Drag racing is one thing, but we don’t hear much about top speed runs in diesel trucks, until today. Hajek Motorsports, in a “mostly stock” 2011 Ford F-250, ran 171.23 mph on regular pump diesel, and 182 mph on B20 Biodiesel at Bonneville this week, shattering the previous record of 130 mph. Let that marinate for a second. One. Eighty. Two. In a Super Duty. Now, I know the new 6.7L Power Stroke engine is impressive out of the box. It’s the quietest American-made diesel engine I’ve ever heard. It makes a staggering 400 hp and 800 lb/ft of torque from the factory, a figure the average Bentley Mulsanne owner would be jealous of. But what kind of modifications would it take to increase the F-250's top speed by over 60%?

According to Ford:

The 2011 Ford F-250 is mostly stock, with changes to the high-pressure fuel pump, fuel injectors and turbochargers for more fuel flow. The compression ratio was also modified.

The body work seems completely stock, save for the shaved side view mirrors and aerodynamic wheels. I can’t imagine how terrifying amazing it must be to achieve that kind of speed in a 6-seater pickup truck, but hats off to Hajek Motorsports for their outstanding achievement.

“Mostly Stock” Ford F-250 Runs 182 MPH at Bonneville .: Articles

[porsche4life]

I keep telling my dad we should lower his 2500 cummins and and turn the motor way up, tall gears, and shoot for 200!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Pickups handle like crap - the thought of pushing one into triple-digit territory is downright frightening. All the weight is in the front - no traction on the back end!

I suppose that's somewhat less daunting than the prospect of having a rear-engined car come unglued but the obvious difference is that it's hard to get a 911 NOT to stick!

[porsche4life]

I'm going to be the redneck and admit to triple digits in several different trucks...
The Tacoma 4wd at 110 wasn't too bad..

The 2500 Diesel 4wd dodge at about 105 is scary as ****....

[Rufblackbird]

an '08 Tundra at 127 felt rock solid...so I've been told.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

My old Sierra p/u had a heavy camper shell on the back (maybe 300#) which helped, as did always keeping the humongous gas tank full, but it still sucked in snow, in the wet, etc. Was stable at 75-80 but anything above that made me uncomfortable.

I did get an older Toyota p/u up to about 120 down in FL years ago. Stupid looking back on it. At the time we just wanted to see how fast it would go with about literally 20 miles of straight, flat roads with nothing around. I guess that's about as safe as one can have for conditions, but still... one little hiccup and that thing would have probably rolled and flipped ass over teakettle about a dozen times.

I'll see if I can find the pics of the guy we saw north of Flagstaff AZ a few years ago who went bombing by us (and several other vehicles) in a p/u only to wreck/roll it at about 100 mph a few hundred yards away, scattering debris and other stuff in a patch about an eighth of a mile long. We spent the afternoon rummaging around with the highway patrol trying to help find pieces of the driver's property. Miraculously he was okay. The truck was utterly destroyed and the passenger cab was crushed. Don't know how he survived as the roof was crushed well below head level, but suffice to say those things and high speeds are not really the best of friends...

[IROC]

I'm skeptical about the "mostly stock" statement. Top speed is all about horsepower, frontal area and drag coefficient. 400 hp is decent, but the Cd and frontal area of that truck has to be horrible. With roughly the same horsepower (but much better Cd and frontal area) a GT3 can only manage a few more mph...although I don't know if it is gearing limited or not...

Anyway...skeptical...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by IROC

I'm skeptical about the "mostly stock" statement.
Anyway...skeptical...

I was OK with the "mostly stock" thinking that they made changes to the ride height and aero and just turned the boost way up, but when they said they changed the compression ration.... Well, to change the CR, you've probably had the heads off and changed the pistons. At that point, I'm not sure you can throw "mostly" out in front of "stock". I'm guessing it's got at least 1500ftlbs of torque. If it's got the right gearing, I'd guess that should be enough power to push it to 180.



Still, pretty darn impressive.

[Laneco]

I've driven a stock 4x4 diesel pickup in slightly excess of 100 mph. It was about as scary as a barcolounger.

The amount of power these modern diesel pickups are capable of making without changing the internals is absolutely staggering. I've personally seen street driven trucks running north of a 1,000 pounds of torque.

With enough power you can overcome any deficit of aerodynamics, and believe me, they are pouring the oil to these hot-rod diesels.

This truck lives around here. Slagle's truck is an old commercial tractor, highly modified (not a pickup truck) but this beast went 237 mph at Bonneville. On diesel.

angela

[porsche4life]

I'm betting they had to change some gears. These trucks are geared pretty low for pulling...

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by IROC

I'm skeptical about the "mostly stock" statement. Top speed is all about horsepower, frontal area and drag coefficient. 400 hp is decent, but the Cd and frontal area of that truck has to be horrible. With roughly the same horsepower (but much better Cd and frontal area) a GT3 can only manage a few more mph...although I don't know if it is gearing limited or not...

Anyway...skeptical...

I agree, that is no stock chin spoiler, and it looks to have been lowered.

I wonder if they would get the same PR exposure if they went for high MPG, and not MPH?

[IROC]

Originally Posted by Laneco

The amount of power these modern diesel pickups are capable of making without changing the internals is absolutely staggering. I've personally seen street driven trucks running north of a 1,000 pounds of torque.

Well, I'd like to see the actual hp numbers as it is going to take close to triple digit numbers to get something with that frontal area to 180 mph. 1000 ft-lbs is about 760 hp at 4000 rpm, and it would take every bit of that to get a truck like that up to 180 mph.

Car and Driver (IIRC) did an article back in the day where they kept adding hp to a Trans Am (one of the mid-90s versions with decent aerodynamics) until it could reach 200 mph. It took over 600 hp. And the TransAm had probably half the frontal area of that truck.

I'm not saying it didn't do it, I'm just skeptical of the "mostly stock" statement.

[kaisen]

I've ridden in a '95 Dodge Cummins that put down 560hp and over 1200 ft-lb.... to the wheels!! And that was a street-driven, DAILY driven truck. Accelerated from 70mph to 120mph in the length of the semi next to us.

So for a new Ford that already puts out 800 ft-lb to be turned up with boost and fuel, 1500 ft-lb is easily attainable with an otherwise stock engine.

[scottmandue]

Have to confess to triple digits in a co-workers Chevy PU with a 454, looked pretty stock.

He was a hot rodder and told me to go for it.

This was over 30 years ago when I was young and indestructible.

Kids... don't try this at home!

[Joe Ricard]

Anyone remember when the 928 set the stock car land speed record. 176 or something like that back in 1987. I thought that was freaking FAST!!!!!!!!!!
Now to do more that that in a truck????? OMG.

[porsche4life]

If they were rapping to 4k they've tweaked it a bit. Most of the trucks redline at like 3200.


I'm not doubting the power. I'm doubting the gears.

[VINMAN]

I agree Sid, no way that is stock gearing in that.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The aero and balance would still scare the crap out of me.

[VINMAN]

My Dodge is pretty rock solid at higher speeds. Granted I wouldnt want to make an evasive manuever, but its still nice and stable.

[pwd72s]

Impressive as hell. Not that I'd ever go for those speeds, but if it became law only one vehicle per household? My choice would be a full sized pickup.