Man Races Firetruck on Foot, 8x8 HEMMT Races Ford F-450 in Ridiculous Challenge

Yes, you read that right. Because during this episode, one of the stunts they've pulled of is that one of the crew members decided to race the "special guest," a full-blown firetruck, by running instead of driving a vehicle himself. I won't spoil the result for you, but I can tell you that shockingly enough, they almost had a photo finish!

With the "Hoonicorn vs. the World" series now over, people are left wondering what the next special project will be for Hoonigan. I've been keeping an eye out for what Rob Dahm is doing, and I have a hunch that we might see his turbo 4-rotor "Ahura" taking over and going up against a series of fast vehicles itself. But until then, let's have a look at the two enormous trucks set to go head to head at the dragstrip.

On one side, we're looking at a 1986 Oshkosh HEMTT, which is short for Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. This behemoth comes with a 12.1-liter turbo diesel engine that puts out 360 horsepower. That's mated to a 4-speed automatic, which sends the power to all eight wheels, and the whole thing weighs 39,000 lbs (17,690 kg)! I, for one, have never seen something heavier than this getting involved in a race like this before.

On the other side, they brought out their 2019 Ford F-450, and they tried to even out the odds by adding three more vehicles on the trailer. Even so, the total combined weight comes up to 28,000 lbs (12,700 kg), and the 6.7-liter diesel V8 is capable of 475 horsepower. The F-450 has a 6-speed shiftable automatic, which delivers that power to all four wheels.

Having read these details, it's pretty obvious for anyone who understands basic math and physics that the Ford will come out on top. Before actually proceeding with the race, we get to see a detailed walkthrough for both vehicles, and we learn that the HEMTT loses to the Ford even when it comes to torque figures. The team members give their predictions, and Brian Scotto is the only one to put his money on the Oshkosh, while one of the guys just says: "Who cares, this is ridiculous!"

For round 1, they go for a 500 feet (152 meters) head-to-head race, and the F-450 is instantly faster off the line. The Oshkosh doesn't stand a chance, but it still takes both of them pretty much forever to get across the finish line. They then bring in a firetruck to have it race against the HEMTT, and this one is even slower than what we thought was possible.

After the human versus firetruck race, the Oshkosh and the F-450 go at it again. "Here's the deal, the first run, I think the air brakes were dragging because there wasn't enough pressure in the system. I got that figured out, plus figured out how to launch this thing and brake boost it, so I asked for a rematch," Brian Scotto explains. But, at the end of the day, the result is the same as it was in the first run.