Clik here to view.
The PowerStroke-powered Rocket Ranger ran 215.091 mph at Bonneville, setting a C/Diesel Truck class record
Originally, the concept was for the Rocket Ranger to be a gasoline-powered record-setter, and indeed it was, with a Roush-built turbocharged Ford V-8, before going into an Iowa museum.
Then it was dusted off and retrofitted with diesel power. The Rocket Ranger ultimately reigned last month at Bonneville Speed Week, ringing up an SCTA-certified two-way average of 215.091 mph. That’s a new record in the C/Diesel Truck class, including a backed-up one-way best of 222-plus.
The Rocket Ranger is jointly sponsored by SPAL USA and Hypermax Engineering, with Hypermax’s Max Lagod, a veteran of the SCCA Trans-Am Series, keeping it straight across the salt. Power comes from a highly modified version of the Navistar-built Ford PowerStroke V-8 diesel, displacing a stock 6.0 liters, but retrofitted with dual Hypermax intercooled turbochargers connected in series, a Hypermax fuel system, Mach 7 control module and dual SPAL cooling fans. The diesel turned a ZF six-speed transmission.
Is there more left in the can? The team may return to Bonneville next month and try to find out.
(This post originally appeared in the September 6, 2007, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)
