Supercharged Porsche 911 Turbo Aims to Break Major Speed Record
Motorcycle racer Zef Eisenberg returns to Great Britain this weekend in a Porsche to top the highest speed ever achieved on wheels.
Record-breaking racer Zef Eisenberg and the Mad Max Race Team returns to Pendine Sands, South Wales, this weekend (May 18 and 19) with hopes pinned on smashing the highest speed ever achieved by a wheel-powered vehicle.
Eisenberg, better known for racing motorbikes, makes a switch to four wheels in hope of hitting the 200 mph barrier and beyond in a crazy, 1200 hp, specially built road-legal Porsche 911 Turbo Sand Racer!
The record will not only supersede The Wire star Idris Elba’s “flying mile” speed record (180.361 mph) set at Pendine in 2015 but also emulates his hero, Malcolm Campbell, who first set the record at Pendine Sands in 1927 (174.8mph) in the iconic Blue Bird — a record that stood for nearly 90 years.
Just last month Eisenberg established a Flying Mile record racing a 400 bhp supercharged Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle that was built and prepared by his Mad Max Racing Team. His record comes less than two years since surviving Britain’s fastest-ever (230 mph) motorcycle crash. Since then, Zef has set numerous records including an ACU sanctioned flying quarter-mile, flying kilometer and flying mile.
Over the past 12 months the Mad Max Racing Team acquired a 2015 550 hp Porsche 911 Turbo and has been carrying out extensive research and development in preparation for the record attempt.
“Sand creates a lot of resistance and tire slip, so we had to work out that we’d need at least 1000 hp at the rear wheels, which equates to a crazy 1,200 hp at the engine, compared to just 550 hp from a factory car,” said Eisenberg in a recent press statement.
‘Weight is actually your friend on sand. It’s about stability: putting enough weight on the tires to increase traction. The car is also road legal, so I can drive it from the hotel on to the beach and, hopefully, to the pub after to celebrate.’
The team has built a bespoke 4.1-liter engine with new internals, plus a new E85 fuel system and cooling set-up. A lot of work was done to ensure that the monstrous power would come in as progressively as possible in order to limit wheelspin on the loose surface. To cope with such an extreme output, the transmission had to be upgraded, and the suspension modified to allow for different wheels and tyres. Apart from a full FIA roll cage, competition seats and safety harness, the Porsche’s interior is completely standard.
“Weight is actually your friend on sand,” added Eisenberg. “It’s about stability: putting enough weight on the tires to increase traction. The car is also road legal, so I can drive it from the hotel on to the beach and, hopefully, to the pub after to celebrate.”
The team have worked tirelessly on the engine to ensure that it can withstand 3 miles of full power with 1000 hp at the wheel – it’s no mean feat! Plus, many safety aspects have also been addressed. The recent testing at Elvington proved a great success – with just half the power the car was achieving 220 mph in the mile on tarmac.
Here’s hoping Zef and Mad Max Race Team will once again race into history books.
Spectators are welcome to attend the land speed record attempts in designated safety areas by keeping close to the sand dunes at all times.
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