Growing up in the Midwest with sprint cars and other forms of dirt track racing, I have to admit that the current variety of drift racing hasn't really done much for me. (As opposed to car chases and The Fast and the Furious, which is illegal in real life and I would never recommend it, but I can't get enough of films with cars racing through the streets.) However, I have always had a thing for heavy machinery, and when you combine the two -- drifting and trucks -- well, all of a sudden it's tres cool. On the same note, somehow, using heavy machinery like a loader to do stunts normally associated with cars and bikes, like wheelies, is the perfect kind of absurdity for a Saturday afternoon. It's like elephants balancing on beach balls. Irresistible. Follow the jump to see 'em both. Now if we could just get some of those gigantic mining dump trucks in a three-up drift race in a quarry track...

[Source: Streetfire]

Continue reading VIDEO: Heavy duty double feature -- drifting semi, loader wheelie

VIDEO: Heavy duty double feature -- drifting semi, loader wheelie originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

JCB's Dieselmax land speed record vehicle has recently passed the 200 MPH mark in testing, which is a major step towards beating the current diesel record of 235 MPH.

While each of the vehicle's two 5.0L turbodiesel powerplants were recently certified at 750 HP during dyno testing (neatly matching the engineering estimates), they were dialed back to a mere 600 HP for the purpose of these trial runs. When the vehicle finally unleashes all 1500 HP - expected to happen later this month at the Bonneville salt flats - it's estimated that it will exceed the 300 MPH mark. When producing maximum power, the two production-based engines consume a stunning 3.3 tons of air per hour.

The plan is to make the record runs using low-sulfur pump fuel, and the vehicle will also employ particle traps to keep the exhaust smoke-free. LSR veteran Andy Green will be manning the Dieselmax; his job qualifications include the current world land speed record run of over 763 MPH in 1997.

[Sources: JCB, Diesel Forecast]

JCB Dieselmax speedster clears 200 MPH mark originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Aug 2006 12:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.