The monster hill climb of Pike’s Peak in Colorado is a good one – if you are not familiar with it, it has 156 turns and climbs almost 5,000ft to reach more than 14,000ft at the top. It is a race against the clock that has existed since the start of the 20th century and also goes by the name of Race to the Clouds. It is not the only one of its kind, far from it, but you can definitely say the Pikes Peak is at its peak when it comes to racing up a mountain.
The popular Knox Mountain Hill Climb over in Canada is just over 2 miles long and climbs 800 feet, with an average gradient of 6.7%, not unlike the Pikes Peak average gradient of 7%, although the Pikes Peak climb reaches a whopping 12 miles.
In England, the longest continuously running hill climb is the Shelsley Walsh, which has an even higher average gradient of 11% but only measures around 900m in length and you can get to the top in less than a minute. The record currently stands at 22 seconds achieved by Martin Groves reaching 147mph. You can see the video here.
The Suzuki Shield
Moving on to the Escudo, which was based on and evolved from the Suzuki Escudo or Vitara small off-road car, it has raced in various forms up to Pikes Peak but arguably its biggest universal claim to fame was its inclusion in Gran Turismo. It also went through a couple of different versions in the series culminating in a version that was capable of 1,900hp and well over 250mph, although it was of course a virtual racing car.
The first real version of the car had two 1.6-liter turbo-charged engines, one in the front and one up back, both harmoniously linked together inside the small frame, making 450hp each, for a total of 900, in a car that also weighed 2,000 lbs. The body was made of carbon fiber and apart from the design on the outside extraordinarily little remained of the road car. The driver of this car, Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima went on to race this version of the car in 1995 and reached 2nd place.
Monster At The Wheel
The next year at Colorado the Escudo had evolved into a new bi-turbo V6 version, which was the star of the Gran Turismo 2 game in which it appeared, with the single-engine residing in the middle of the car instead of having two like before, although it still made 1,000hp owing to the boost provided by the twin-turbochargers. This is the more famous of the two first versions, always remembered by its red paint and huge downforce appendages. These aerodynamic aids were the combination of a mighty rear wing, a huge front spoiler with diagonal fins at the edge, and a rear-splitter at the underside of the car. It looked imposing even in a field of other monsters. It managed to make a 10:21 time.
Previously around 1994, the Millen-Toyota Celica made the trip to the top in around 10 minutes-4 seconds which it did making the most of the 1000hp available to its highly modified 2.1-liter engine.
A Challenging Little Road
Monster managed six different victories at Pikes Peak between 2006 and 2011. It must have been a riot driving the Escudo considering the performance on offer at around 2 seconds to 60mph combined with the downforce and lightweight body. The wheels needed all the traction they could get considering the power on offer, but the un-asphalted parts of the track would have been working against the machine continually as it defied gravity for over 10 minutes.
The track at Pikes Peak only started to be paved with the work beginning in 2002, with 25% gravel surface still remaining in the last year of 2011. This means that these cars were pushed to the limit on a narrow track with so many corners and little protection to stop vehicles from coming off the road by mistake. The current record stands at under 8 minutes with an average speed of over 90 miles an hour, this was achieved by the Volkswagen I.D. R.
A Nobu-Hero
Since the Escudo, Nobuhiro managed to be the first driver to beat the 10-minute time in a Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special car in 2011. The racing driver continued to push boundaries just like the Gran Turismo car and is currently focused on electric-powered vehicles. From 2012 Tajima, the driver of the Escudo left Suzuki and the E-Runner was conceived of. It made 885hp from its electric motor and battery drivetrain.
Whether it was successful as other cars or not the Escudo stuck in the minds of a generation, particularly in the virtual world where the speed was alarming and the sound from the engine reminiscent of the devil. New machines will continue to race the now 100% asphalted hill for as long there are drivers willing to race and money to develop cars into record breaking-monsters, but as the electric and hybrid age is seemingly entering full swing, we will not see anyone more Escudos. There is nothing stopping you from taking a normal Suzuki Vitara/Escudo though – which you could buy for change - and throwing a little time and money into donating a couple of turbocharged engines, fitting a huge wing, and having a go yourself on the nearest 12-mile hill. Or just take the virtual thing for a spin on Gran Turismo.