A supercar, an SUV, a sports car, and a truck all rolled into one – all of this applies to the KAMAZ-4911 vehicle of the KAMAZ-master team. Maxim Cherkashin, editor of the Auto project, joined Dmitry Sotnikov, winner of the Silk Way Rally, to the Bison Track Show race track, where he tested the legendary truck’s capabilities.
Many of us have seen episodes of the Paris-Dakar rally on TV news. There, white and blue KAMAZ trucks race boldly, overcoming steep dunes and kicking up fountains of sand. Frankly, they don’t look much like the ones that roll off the assembly line. These trucks were built practically from scratch using modern components and assemblies.
The only things this racing car has in common with regular KAMAZ trucks are the name and the cabin, and even that has been redesigned for racing. This 4×4 KAMAZ sports truck is capable of tackling virtually any off-road terrain. It features a reinforced frame, dual shock absorbers, and a 16-liter V8 engine from the Yaroslavl Motor Plant, producing 950 horsepower.
The KAMAZ runs on special off-road tires that can be inflated directly from the inside. This supercar can be used in extreme conditions, at temperatures ranging from -30°C to +50°C. The KAMAZ truck bed has a pair of spare tires; under extreme conditions, a tire could explode, forcing mechanics to change it right during the rally raid. An additional fuel tank is also installed in the body, since the fuel consumption of the rally KAMAZ is more than one hundred liters per hundred kilometers.
The cabin is ascetic: three bucket seats with five-point seat belts, there is not even air conditioning. The dashboard is equipped with various screens displaying information on the operation of all units and components.
The unique KAMAZ-4911 had no equal in terms of cross-country ability, maneuverability and dynamics. The “4911” was already dubbed the “flying truck”: this monster, pushing off from natural ramps, effectively took off above the ground. These vehicles are currently used as technical support vehicles by the KAMAZ-Master team, and more modern versions of KAMAZ trucks participate in the races.
Ayrat Mardev, Vladimir Chagin, and Eduard Nikolaev won the Paris-Dakar Rally in these trucks. Our KAMAZ-Master team pilot, Dmitry Sotnikov, won the Silk Way Rally in such a truck.
We decided to test the KAMAZ on the Don-25 highway, where the annual Bison Track Show is held. Of course, the conditions are far from those of the Dakar, and the Don route proved too easy for the KAMAZ. The 11-ton vehicle accelerates to 160 kilometers per hour. KAMAZ is capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour, but the technical regulations specifically limit the speed. The nearly 1,000-horsepower engine is controlled by a German ZF 16-speed gearbox.
The KAMAZ accelerates to 100 km/h in 11 seconds, raising a plume of dust behind it. Imagine what the KAMAZ crew experiences, overcoming special stages several hundred kilometers long in a day through sand, heat and terrible shaking.
The car is a true masterpiece of engineering thought, and it is a real sports car. Like a Porsche 911, only the KAMAZ is much cooler – it is a four-thousand-dollar 911. And the price of the KAMAZ, taking into account all the modifications, is comparable to a German or Italian supercar. To prepare a KAMAZ for rally raids, you need from 200 to 600 thousand euros.
