Here at Carscoops, we like anything with a lot of power and four wheels and the following semitruck ticks both of those boxes.
Owned by stunt driver Mike Ryan, this is no ordinary semitruck. In fact, this rig has competed at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb no less than 18 times and in its most recent form, pumps out approximately 2400 hp and 4000 lb-ft (5423 Nm) of torque. Those figures don’t just mean it’s fast, but they also allow it to absolutely chew through tires, much to the delight of the guys over at Hoonigan Racing.
Ryan knows a thing or two about driving fast vehicles and performing daring stunts. In fact, he has worked on films including Terminator 2, Independence Day, Rush Hour 3, and multiple films in the Fast and Furious franchise.
It ain’t a sports car, but it is very fast
The rig is equipped with a number of interesting part, but one that really stood out to us were the water-cooled brakes. In order to make it as light as possible, Ryan likes to ensure a single part can perform a number of functions. As such, one of the rear steel cross members also doubles as a water tank and sprays cold water onto the brakes.
Elsewhere, Ryan’s wild ride is equipped with a rear wing from an Indy Champ Car from the 1990s and hoisted up in the air by a pair of huge uprights. Ryan says that this wing produces about 1800 lbs (816 kg) of downforce at 80 mph (128 km/h) but points out that the thin air of Pikes Peak means it delivers slightly less than that at altitude.