THE WORLD’s fastest diesel-powered car is in Cyprus, where it is on display for the public to see.
On August 23, 2006, the JCB Dieselmax broke the land speed record for a diesel-engined vehicle when it averaged 350.092mph (563.4 km/h), over two runs on the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA.
The previous diesel land speed record was 236mph (380 km/h), set in August 1973.
The JCB dealer in Cyprus, Uniplant Ltd, arranged to transport the record-breaking machine to Cyprus, in co-operation with JCB senior management, to the delight of car organisations and enthusiasts on the island.
It arrived last Sunday and will be on display at Uniplant’s headquarters in Latsia until tomorrow.
Project Director Dr Tim Leverton is also on the island, where he gave a lecture on Wednesday.
The JCB Dieselmax is a ‘Streamliner’ car which was driven by Wing Commander Andy Green, a serving RAF Officer who previously broke, and still holds, the absolute land speed record in the ThrustSSC.
According to Uniplant’s Christos Kyprianou, “the Dieselmax measures nine metres in length, is 1.1 metres wide and 979mm high and was designed entirely by computer.
“It is powered by two specially-tuned versions of the production JCB444 powerplant, developing up to 750 bhp each and featuring four cylinders and five litres of displacement, accompanied by two stage turbochargers, intercooler and aftercooler.” One of the dual engines drives the front wheels while the other drives the rear. Each engine is rev-limited to 3800 rpm.
The fully-laden weight of the vehicle, including fuel, oil, ice, water coolant and the driver, is slightly less than 2,700 kg.
Speaking after the feat, Green said: “It was the most amazing privilege, to have been part of the remarkable team and to have driven the car for them, faster than any other diesel powered vehicle in history. This is about making people’s dreams come true and it’s a wonderful thing to have been involved in.”
He added that, “driving a car faster than anyone else – ever – has never been simple. Malcolm Campbell, after one of his records at Daytona Beach in the 1930s, said he had one hell of a job keeping the car straight. Nothing has changed since then.
“On the slightly slippery salt surface of Bonneville, controlling the power of the JCB Dieselmax was very challenging, with the enormous torque of the engines trying to force all four wheels to spin, even at 300mph or more. The secret in any record drive is to control the enormous forces involved, which requires a good design together with confident, precise and quick-reacting driving inputs.”
In a live interview from Utah on BBC News 24, Green said that the car was not running at its full potential, due to problems finding suitable tyres and that this speed was achieved while the car was still in fifth gear (the car has six). He also reported that the vehicle traveled 11 miles (18km) on about a gallon (3.8 litres) of fuel.
JCB Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford praised British engineering expertise for the success of his company’s quest to establish a new record.
“This was an enormous challenge and it not only shows how good our engineers are at JCB but also shows how good Britain is at engineering. Far too often, I’m afraid to say, our engineers are not seen in the right light in this country but remarkable projects like this do showcase exactly what we are able to do. Certainly the amazing JCB Dieselmax experience has helped my company but also, hopefully, it’s stirred up more widespread enthusiasm towards engineering. I believe we’ve proved it to be exciting.”
JCB is one of the world’s top five privately-owned manufacturers of construction equipment which has been operating over the past 68 years.
