LUDICROUS SPEED

HYPERMAX ENGINEERING’S INCREDIBLE DIESEL DRAGSTER

Diesels are known for making some serious horsepower and torque, but if you want to skip past all that and go straight to ridiculous there’s the Hypermax dragster. By the numbers alone it’s an astounding vehicle. Sixsecond quarter-mile times and 3,000 horsepower from a 540 cid (8.8L) Dt466-based engine. Engine speed is also wild, at a maximum redline of 6,000 rpm. Even the weight of the digger is massive at 3,600 pounds.

Pulling Roots

Based out of Gilberts, llinois, Hypermax Engineering is a company that’s known throughout the industry for making sled-pulling parts for both tractors and pickups. Occasionally they venture out of their comfort zone, like in ’06, when they built a 215mph, 6.0L-powered Ford Ranger. Even more ambitious was their dragster project, which has been in the works for a number of years. The idea was to take a proven tractor pulling platform and show the world what it could do on the drag strip.

A Pound-foot Per Pound

Before the team could go racing, however, they needed a chassis that would be up to the monumental task of handling 3,500 lb-ft of torque. For that task they turned to Spitzer Race cars, which built a chassis that would be up to the task. The rest of the driveline is equally stout, with a three-speed Lenco transmission backed up by a four-disc Molinari clutch. The rear end is your standard Top