Imagine being nearly two miles above sea level and speeding through 156 turns over the course of 12.42 miles up to a finish line at 14,110 feet. Add to the challenge some sections of road without guard rails along with steep drop offs and 130 MPH blind crests. Some might think that racing on such a course would be crazy or suicidal. For Pikes Peak International Hill Climb competitors, it’s the ultimate rush and the pinnacle of accomplishment.

Conquering The Mountain

Man and machine have raced up the hill since 1916. Recognized as the World’s premier hill climb competition, teams from around the globe make the trip to Colorado Springs in a variety of competitive classes to brave the winding and treacherous course. In recent years, automotive technology and ambitious hill climb competitors have pushed themselves to break records and claim victories.Professional rally driver Rod Millen, who has competed in a variety of motorsports throughout the world, was drawn to the world-famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Since the gravel and dirt course resembled rally stages, Millen was comfortable and confident to race up the mountain. The plan was to attack the course in an effort to set a world record. He came prepared with a purpose-built, 900-horsepower, all-wheel drive Toyota Celica GT. Beneath the Celica GT shell, a rally-based chromoly tube frame chassis formed the backbone of the racecar. Equipped with a 2.1-liter,turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the horsepower reached the wheels through an all-wheel drive system. In 1994, Millen debuted the Celica at Pikes Peak, establishing a new world record by reaching the peak in ablazing quick 10’04”06 elapsed time. That time shattered the previous record by forty seconds. What’s most impressive is that the course was primarily gravel and dirt. Millen made it his new goal to be the first driver to break the nine-minute mark, but he was unable to best his own record and the nine-minute timeslip escaped him.

Changing Times While Chasing Times

The course surface has changed over the years, with larger portions ofthe course becoming paved. Millen’s good friend and rally competitor Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima, was also drawn to the mountain. At the Olympus Rally in Washington, Monster was invited to compete at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. After finishing third in the Showroom Stock Division, he was hooked. He continued to compete annually and finally, in 2007, he broke the old record behind the wheel of a Suzuki XL7 Hill Climb Special racecar with a time of 10’01”408. This accomplishment was made when the course featured a mixture of gravel and pavement surfaces. The gap had been narrowed as the race to be the first driver to break into the nines continued. Monster made revisions to the XL7 Hill Climb Special and tried again in 2008 despite losing the motorsports budget from Suzuki. While he captured his third consecutive overall victory, course construction prevented anyone from making a clean, record run. Monster was short of his previous record by almost 17 seconds.

Stepping Stones To SX4

Monster Tajima started his own company, Tajima Motor Corporation, back in 1983. Two subsidiary companies, Monster Sport and Tajima Motor Corp.Research and Development divisions built upon the knowledge gained from the record-setting XL7 racecar and applied that knowledge to the2009 Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special. This chassis is based loosely on the previous designs, taking proven technologies and adapting to the changing conditions at Pikes Peak. The gradual reduction of gravel sections has had a tremendous impact on vehicle design and aerodynamics.

Basic Structure

A chromoly space frame serves as the build foundation. Double wishbone arms rely on Reiger dampers and King springs to absorb the bumps and weight shifts while Brembo forged monoblock calipers put the pressure on specially-formulated Winmax brake pads to shave speed. The carbon-Kevlar composite wheel wells house 295/40R20 Falken Ziex S/TZ01 tires mounted on custom 20x11-inch HRE P43S wheels dubbed the “TajimaSpecial”.

Too Much Is Never Enough

Between the rear wheels, a pair of Garrett turbochargers forces air into the3,071cc Monster Sport Special V6 engine hanging within the lattice workof the chassis. A dual injector setup with Denso 270 cc/min primaries backed by Denso 650 cc/min secondaries spray Sunoco Maximal 116-octane into the intake ports. With a MoTeC M800 engine management system regulating fuel delivery and spark timing, the boost pressure was dialed up to 38 psi and the fuel and ignition maps were refined. A reported 910ps (~897 whp) and 650 lb-ft of torque were produced at the wheels at sea level. Tajima felt that this level of power would give him the push needed to break his old record, especially at higher altitudes when the air density is noticeably reduced. An Exedy triple-plate clutch harnesses the power at the crankshaft and transfers it through a Monster Sport sequential six-speed transmission and all-wheel-drive driveline. Hydraulically-controlled differentials split the power between the wheels while a mechanical multi-plate center differential splits the front-to-rear torque.

Keeping Up With Downforce

Generating tremendous horsepower is a waste if the wheels are spinning or sliding instead of gripping. Monster notes that the 2011 track surface would feature even less gravel than in 2010 so some of the biggest changes to the 2011 car would be to aerodynamics. Therefore, preparing for a primarily tarmac course by increasing downforce and lightening the chassis along with different tires and wheels were part of the gameplan for breaking the record in 2011. The front wing underwent a thorough redesign along with the rear wing and diffuser.