Category Archives: Planes Trains and Automobiles

The ultimate off-road runner is back, with the all-new 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor. A twin-turbo Ecoboost V6 engine. A 10-speed transmission. And it’s six inches wider than the standard model.

Ford’s not saying how much power the new Raptor has, but only that the turbo V6 will have “more” than the last generation’s 411-horsepower, 434-lb.-ft. 6.2-liter V8. But the story of the Raptor was never really about the power, as lots of things have power. It was about sheer mind-boggling off-road speed capability.

To help out with that, it’s got a new steel frame underneath the aluminum body tech it shares with all new Ford F-150s, helping it save more than 500 pounds of heavy metal. It’s got even beefier FOX Racing shocks, presumably to help it stop cracking under the most extreme pressures. And it’s got more suspension travel, too.

Here’s what we know so far: that wonderful flat plane crank V8 with at least 500 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque; Ford’s first ever magnetic ride suspension; 130 pounds lighter than the GT350; and no air conditioning or a rear seat.

See my little drawing in the subject?  Now, imagine that was all that was left of your full size Chevy Silverado:

Read the whole story at OregonLive.com (no really, go read it!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHy08ZPav88

The SR-71 holds the “Speed Over a Recognized Course” record for flying from New York to London distance 3,508 miles (5,646 km), 1,435.587 miles per hour (2,310.353 km/h), and an elapsed time of 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds, set on September 1, 1974 while flown by U.S. Air Force Pilot Maj. James V. Sullivan and Maj. Noel F. Widdifield, reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). This equates to an average velocity of about Mach 2.68, including deceleration for in-flight refueling. Peak speeds during this flight were probably closer to the declassified top speed of Mach 3.2+. For comparison, the best commercial Concorde flight time was 2 hours 52 minutes, and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes.

Wikipedia Link