These racers give new meaning to extreme 4x4ing

Even if you are an adrenalin junkie, extreme 4x4 may still scare you - even if only a little.

June 12, 2018

Matthys Ferreira 1 minute read

The challenges and the dangers of this sport demand in the first instance that your “pipe car”, as it is sometimes referred to, must be designed and built to both withstand extreme circumstances for structural integrity, will keep you safe should you roll and of course, it must be fitted with an engine which develops copious amounts of torque, can handle high revs and also offer explosive acceleration.

The local leg of the Hankook Extreme 4×4 took place over the weekend of May 26, with competitors from Mbombela, Ermelo, Rustenburg and Johannesburg congregating in a donga near Cairn.

Yes, the competition happens inside a donga sporting 8-10m just-about-vertical walls. So your entry and exit points, more often than not, are these walls. And another thing: the run-up to these walls, especially on the up, seldom offers more than 10m, which means these cars have to offer explosive acceleration. And they do!

At these performance levels, drive and side shafts are put under severe pressure and are often the first parts that give way. Sometimes on-site repairs are possible and the driver can continue. Johan Strauss from Ermelo, intent on defending his title, rolled down the brutal Obstacle 3 and broke a side shaft – and that was his race.

Lukas Holtzhausen from Rustenburg, in his beautiful and extremely advanced Moonhopper, attracted a lot of attention and eventually finished first among the Super Modifieds. Most of these cars offer individual steering and braking for each wheel and to watch this in action when they get stuck in the many tight spots along the course is something to behold.