Terminal Speed Trucks[Photos 116-0604.SCUP 9A and 9B on disc.]What's the world's fastest production pickup truck? Last year Ford proudly proclaimed it was its own SVT F-150 Lightning, which during an August run around Ford's Michigan Proving Grounds hit a blazing 147.54 mph. At that time we predicted that Dodge would respond to Ford's claim to this spot in Guinness Book of World Records when its V-10-powered, 500hp Ram SRT-10 went into production.
The SRT-10 Ram is now in production, and just as we predicted, Dodge has responded. Dodge took an SRT-10 fresh off the Saltillo, Mexico, production line to its own proving grounds in Chelsea, Michigan, early in February, put NASCAR Nextel Cup rookie sensation Brendan Gaughan in the driver seat, and shattered the Lightning's record by running a two-lap, both-directions average speed of 154.587 mph in the flying kilometer. Gaughan did pilot a Ram to six wins in NASCAR Craftsman Truck racing during 2003, so nearly 155 mph probably didn't seem that fast to him.
This sort of behavior on the part of OEMs is thoroughly heartening.
Up-North Entertainment[Photos 116-0604.SCUP 10 on disc.]Last February 6th, residents of Anchorage, Alaska, attended the 5th Annual Duct Tape Ball in formal wear made completely of duct tape. The event, sponsored by Duck brand duct tape was a benefit for Special Olympics Alaska and the Rainbow Connection, and had an under-the-sea theme.
If you're spending the winter in Alaska, making a cocktail dress out of duct tape may well be a rational way of fighting encroaching cabin fever. And who are we to criticize? After all we haven't upholstered a car with anything but duct tape for over a decade.
No Air, No Problem[Photos 116-0604.SCUP 11 on disc.]Since 1895 when Andre Michelin first attached one to a car, virtually all automobile tires have been pneumatic air-filled rubber bladders. If Amerityre's fondest dreams come true, all that is about to change.
Amerityre (www.amerityre.com) currently produces a line of polyurethane tires for industrial uses (golf cars, wheelbarrows, hand trucks, and so on) that use closed-cell foam that puts the air into millions of little pockets rather than a single bladder. The result is a tire that will retain its shape and structure no matter how many times they're punctured. Now it's developing similar technology for road cars.
Amerityre has submitted prototypes to an independent laboratory to see if the tires can pass the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 109, which sets the parameters for bead unseating resistance, strength, endurance, high-speed performance, and overall tire dimensions. They call this new tire the "Arcus."
We don't know if this will work out or not, but we wouldn't want to be in the valve stem cap business right now.
They Are A Camera[Photos 116-0604.SCUP 13A and 13B on disc.]Delphi, the OEM parts supplier spun off from GM, has equipped the trucks used by the Indy Racing League's Safety Team with an onboard camera system that will transmit real-time information to doctors and other members of the rescue team.
The front-facing camera in the truck is there to record the extraction of the driver from the munched race car, with the video feed going straight to a medical facility where doctors can monitor the action looking for indications of injury. The truck's rear-facing camera will monitor the firemen who ride back there and oil dry distribution so that teams can critique their performance.
Onboard cameras are nothing new, but the technology is advancing so fast that it's no longer exotic. At some point there will be so many video cameras in America that everyone will be a star.
H/O 0407Straight ScoopTom, The Leno Piece Is Optional. If You Use It, Pick 3 Or 4 Photos At Most
Top 10 ListJay Leno Photos[Photos 116-0704.SCUP 2A through 116-0704.SCUP 2J on disc. Photos keyed to text in brackets]