Banks Power twin-turbo Pikes Peak car
Hyundai is in the process of a hard media push for its Pikes Peak efforts this year, but the PM580, as impressive and unique as it is, isn't the most interesting car to run up the mountain this year. How do we know? This is the Banks Power "Dallenback Special" Unlimited class car, and it packs 1,307 horsepower and 1,206 pound-feet of twin-turbocharged fury into its tiny frame.
Massive wings help hold the car to the surface, but only the rear wheels are used to apply all that power to the ground--uncommon among Unlimited class cars for Pikes Peak and borderline maniacal considering the power output.
The team, like all the rest of the Unlimited class, is shooting for the 10:01 record ascent of the hill, set by Nobuhiro Tajima. Paul Dallenbach will pilot the Banks machine, which must be both a driver's dream and worst nightmare at once.
Cool factoid about the Banks racer: it features an altitude compensation system borrowed from Banks' military division that allows infinitely variable boost pressure to match driver demand to the thinning atmosphere as the car climbs to the 14,110-foot summit.
