Most normal motorists rarely give a second thought to the thousands of trucks that crowd our motorways. However, the guys at Volvo stumbled upon a marketing goldmine when they had Jean Claude van Damme pull epic splits between the mirrors of two trucks. The world started paying attention and they never looked back, launching ever more creative videos.
Today, we had the pleasure of watching the most unlikely track battle ever dreamed up by our fellow man. It involves a Volvo FH truck equipped with the latest gearbox technology and the excellent Koenigsegg One:1, which we have no apprehension in calling a "hypercar". And best of all, Tiff Needell is in charge of the whole thing!
Tiff is a world renowned auto journalist with a background in F1 racing. Before his current post at Fifth Gear, he worked at Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson, who says he places the upmost importance on Tiff's opinion. With no less than 63 winters under his belt, the Brit is also an excellent narrator who can sprinkle excitement onto any story and maybe a bit of occasional humor with his sore loser attitude.
The idea of this new Volvo stunt is to showcase their new twin-clutch gearbox, a first for heavy-duty trucks. Of course, a tall, heavy, diesel-powered machine has no chance against the fastest Koenigsegg ever made, so the race requires the truck to do only one track lap while the car does two. Even so, the outcome isn't favorable to Volvo.
Volvo I-Shift Dual Clutch gearbox — from racing cars to racing trucks
Lots of cars these days come with twin-clutch gearboxes. They range from your average 90 horsepower supermini to supercars like the Lamborghini Huracan. The idea of this system is to combine the advantages of a manual gearbox with the swiftness of a racing gearbox. Systems like VW's DSG have one clutch for odd numbered gears and another for even ones. As a result, switching to the next cog, be that up or down, is faster.
Volvo is the first truck maker to use this system, which was originally developed for track use. Just like a PDK system from Porsche, the I-Shift Dual Clutch gearbox has dual input shafts, two gears can be selected at the same time, with the active gear being determined by which of the two clutches is engaged.
One:1, or Koenigsegg's best
The One:1 caused quite a stir when it made its debut in March at the Geneva Motor Show and again when it arrived at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a few months later.
Its manufacturers call this the Megawatt car because it produces 1,000 kilowatts. That’s 1,341 hp. Made with an abundance of carbon fiber, it's also extremely light at 1,341 kg or 2,956 lbs.
This Bugatti killer will also reach ridiculous top speeds that very few mortals dare to push: 450 km/h (279.5 mph). Its designers claim the complex aerodynamic package means that, at 260 km/h (161 mph), the beast delivers 610 kg (1,844 lbs) of downforce, while at 430 km/h (267 mph), the value jumps to 830 kg (1,830 lbs).
We're beginning to thing that pittiing a truck, any truck, against the One:1 isn't fair under any circumstances.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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