Big Rig drag races are pretty exciting to watch. Humongous 80,000-pounds tuned semi-trucks racing down the strip is quite the sport in the U.S. Mat Watson of CarWow had his own comical version of the race. Be warned, It might be the slowest drag race on the Internet for years.
The most thrilling drag races on the Internet involve supercars or 2,000-HP hot rods, but sometimes, the most exciting drag race involves a 400-HP, 40-ton truck racing six other underpowered commercial trucks at 30 mph (50 kph).
Watson put together a fleet of 7 commercial trucks with big, jumpy, spongy, bouncy seats on a drag strip to determine the ultimate construction truck (for whatever aimless reason). The trucks belong to Daniel of Ashville Aggregate, and we still don’t understand what they were doing on a drag strip.
The fleet included Watson’s Scania P410 Tipper with a 13.0-liter engine pushing 410 HP. Next was Yianni’s Scania P450 making 450 HP, a Volvo FL 5.0-liter making 220 HP, and Daniel’s Artic Tractor Unit R500 with a 13.0-liter engine producing 500 HP.
We all know construction trucks are not speed demons. If there’s anything the manufacturers don’t want them to do is go fast. Instead, their design is strictly for hauling and endurance, wadding through rough terrain and ferrying the heaviest of loads. Therefore, putting them on a dragstrip is highly misplaced, but for curiosity purposes, or comic relief perhaps - Watson felt it was a worthy challenge.
After what felt like an eternity, Watson’s Scania P410 making 410 HP won the quarter-mile race, completing it in a record slow 27.5 seconds. Daniel’s Artic Tractor Unit surprisingly finished second last in 31.3 seconds.
Well, after that dreadful race, we have a rough idea how these trucks work. Having the highest horsepower doesn’t automatically mean having the fastest truck down the strip. All in all, if you are going to chase someone down a construction lot, you know not to pick the one with the biggest engine.
It would be interesting to see an all-electric version of this race in the future (they better be faster).
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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