200 mph… this used to be the holy grail of 1/4 mile drag racing… who could be the first to break this magical barrier? It seemed unobtainable for many, until one day in 1964, at a New Jersey 1/4 mile strip, when a 32 year old top fuel drag racer, by the name of Don Garlits, piloted his Swamp Rat rail to a speed of 200.44 mph. And to prove it wasn't a fluke he immediately followed it up with a 200.89 mph run. History was made and Don Garlits instantly became a household name across the states.
Fast forward to next weekend and a new, long standing motorsports barrier could soon be broken: the magic 10 minute mark up the Pikes Peak mountain hill climb. The current record was set in 2007 by Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima of Japan, who clocked a time of 10:01.408, in his 1000 bhp mid-engined Suzuki XL7 Hill Climb Special. He'll be back this year to try and break into the 9s… We'll be following along with great interest.
:R
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Altho the cars are getting faster.....todays pikes peak is alot different than yesterdays. tarmac is faster than dirt.
a legend of Gran Turismo
A legend of pikes peak, not of a video game :p
That was the Escudo anyway not the XL7 although they look similar.
whats the front black thing for?
aerodynamics?
DOWNFORCE!!!
I found more pics from your Peak report last year.
http://www.speedhunters.com/archive/2008/07/21/news-gt-gt-hat-trick-for-suzuki-at-pikes-peak.aspx
Stupid erosion; if it weren't for that PPIHC would still be glorious dirt.
Actually F3INT it's an Escudo shell, highly modified of course, with the V6 from the XL7. So it's a mix of both. Also as you can see in the picture above, it says XL7 all over the body of the car. I can't wait to see the results of this... This car is so amazing and so secretive at the same time... No one beside "Monster" Tajima himself have looked underneath the hood. It was built in his garage, pretty much by himself. Apparently the turbo setup is so amazing that he won't let anyone see it...
Also Swerv13, yes the cars are getting faster, but Pikes peak is still 75% dirt... The road has not changed much in the past 30yrs. And the cars have significantly more horse power than before. Take for example the Audi Quattro from group B rally, it only had 550bhp half as much as "Monster" and the Suzuki is probably 300 or 400lbs lighter than the Quattro.
the escudo was NUTS... I loved that old game
I've heard that the mix of tarmac and dirt/gravel can actually slow down the times since the tire essentially becomes a compromise for both surfaces. Former Pikes Peak class winner Sean Palmer told me himself that he felt he was faster on the dirt. I assume this had to do with the fact he used special BFGoodrich gravel tires.
You can also find more info and videos on this car and past iterations here:
http://www.highperformancetrucks.com/trucks/index.php?page=9
http://highperformancetrucks.com.streetfire.net/search/suzuki/0.htm
Ilove living in colorado springs. I'll be standing ten feet from him in about a week, last year I talked with monster for a couple minutes at the street fair happening. Personally I like the variety in the track now, switching from dirt to pavement is a dangerous beast. I can't wait for Rhys Millen again, for the past two years he has done donuts right in front of me. I am dying to see his genesis this year. Lets hope it doesn't rain too much/not rain enough this year or no one will see under that glorious mark.
P.S. you can see parts of the XL7s motor through the hood, I stared at that thing for so long.
RoadsterE, I'm sure that Tajima has a proper shop that the car is built in. And no, Tajima is not the 'only ' person to look under the hood.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/hi-capa/DSC00317.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/hi-capa/DSC00401.jpg
Much has changed, every year more and more of the race course is paved.
wallpaper for this picture please.... Nice Snap... !
Tajima owns Monster Performance.... for anyone in the know, it is situated right next to Bee-Racing (yellow D1 R324) in Machida, SW Tokyo.... Its on the side of a Suzuki dealership, but when we went past in Feb, he had quite a few EVO's sitting in there.
I live around the corner from Monster performance, next to Bee*R in Minami Machida, as Sciclone mentioned - they have a hop up kit for the Evo 10 on display in the covered showroom these days & usually some sweet modded WRX's & Evo's in the yard. Even had the AutoZam featured in an old BMI sitting in the front a couple of months ago. My Nihongo is almost at the stage where I can start bothering the mechanics with questions about the hillclimb cars... I was lucky enough to meet Monster Tajima at the Race to the Sky in NZ a few years ago, so was stoked to all hell to find his shop close by.
roadster e . Escudo Silloute that where it stops its all carbon firbr shell on tube frame, mid engine .Saw this at race To The Sky in in NZ a few years back eith the turbo's & engine showing.
Huh, OK. Well I am sorry I was misinformed, I had read an article back in 07 just before PPIHC that was saying those things. I guess the journalist was trying to make a big deal out of it... Thanks for the corrections guys...
Great photo. I love when you guys leave out your logo, too makes for much better wallpapers.
First pic is from one of the practice days in '07. Next is race day '08. Knock yourselves out.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/hi-capa/DSC01588-1.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/hi-capa/IMG_0455.jpg
sitting 12000ft all day watching your breath while sweating from the sun is somthing to remember, but more so when you get to see a legendary monster shake the mountain side with its sheer roar! i loved going to the 2007 hill climb and cant wait to go again!