Some of the best vehicle-related entertainment around is done by vehicles least likely to entertain, like school buses competing on figure-eight race tracks or organized lawnmower racing. That same sentiment goes for 2,400-horsepower semi trucks shredding their tires, which is, apparently, a thing.
Yes, semis can do more than just tip over in the wind. Thanks for asking.
The Hoonigans got with stunt driver Mike Ryan, who, according to the video description, has been in everything from the Avengers to Fast and Furious, for a recent shoot featuring a racing trailer cab of his. In addition to claiming to have nearly five times the number of horses of the most powerful, 505-HP semi engine listed on the Mack Trucks website, the truck has a wing on the back of it—you know, for downforce.
The Hoonigan Daily Transmission account that posted the video on Earth Day added a not-great #HappyEarthDay hashtag in the comments, but the truck action is fun to watch no matter the day of the year. It starts at about 10 minutes in:
There’s also talk about the truck starting around two minutes in, including some staggering stats: Ryan mentioned its roughly 2,400 HP, estimated 4,000 lb-ft of torque (take that, Ram Heavy Duty), and 1,800 pounds of downforce at 80 mph at sea level—almost as much as a 2016 NASCAR Cup Series race car. Ryan mentions sea level because he races in hillclimbs with his semis, as one does.
This particular truck, Ryan said, has a double-wide, short-course Champ Car wing from the late 1990s and a scale-busting weight of about 10,700 to 10,800 pounds—more than twice that of the current Ram 1500.
It also has those popular chrome decals of posed naked women and a “naked-lady helmet holder” inside, which people off camera respond to by saying “Oh, yeah” and “Hell yeah,” and which probably shouldn’t have made the cut, but maybe that’s what happens when there are no women in a video. The truck is cool, though, and so are the stunts. Sometimes, that’s all we can ask.
Now, go watch some school buses race each other on a figure-eight track, or some folks competing in their absurd riding lawnmowers. Life is stressful; you deserve it.