Baja 1000 Trophy Trucks

[FutureBoy]

OK. I was curious about the Baja 1000 so started watching some YouTube videos.

For example:

So now I'm curious... Is EM saying that CT is supposed to be competitive with the Trophy Trucks? If so, all I have to say is:

Holy Expletive, Batman!!!!!! This is serious!!​

I mean the Jeep rock crawler community has been pooh-poohing the CT's capabilities as not really that great and that the CT would be better for general overlanding than for rock crawling. But if the overlanding capabilities of the CT are anything even remotely close to those trophy trucks, OMG rock crawling will be relatively boring. Let them have their jeers. They'll never catch up to a CT anyway.

And based on what I've seen of some rock crawling videos, a Baja Trophy Truck would kick the asses of all the Jeeps out there anyway with the one exception of very tight tracks where vehicle width is limited by canyon walls or large trees.

And the CT is going to be street legal? With transparent aluminum windows? And bio-defense air filtration? And no carburetor to clog up and destroy the engine? OMG, the Baja 1000 will never be the same if a CT can compete successfully. Why would one want to deal with all the flying mud, dust, and debris when they could be racing in conditioned air with full protection? Sure, wear a helmet for safety but I'm guessing you don't need individual air filters to a sealed space helmet like the rest of these Baja Trophy Trucks.

I have to say, I'm a bit on the older side and I tend to puke on roller coasters. So I personally will not be entering the Baja 1000. But if the CT is competitive in the Baja 1000 the backroads of America are never going to be the same. All those Jeep owners are going to be hacked off each time a CT silently races past them up a trail.

It's going to be a Roadrunner vs Coyote scenario. Good luck to all the Coyote's out there.

Color me excited! At this rate, my life will never be the same after getting my CT.

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[FutureBoy]

Interesting. According to Wikipedia, the trophy truck specs are not all that different from Cybertruck.

So for instance lets look at some specs:

	Trophy Truck	CyberTruck
Drive	2 wheel drive	4 wheel drive
Chassis	4130 chromoly steel tube-frame and roll cage	Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel structural skin
Engine	naturally aspirated V8	Tesla electric motors
Power	excess of 850-900 BHP	800 HP
Torque	900lb-foot	1000 LB-FT
Suspension Travel	24" front, 36" back	16” (8” either way) but EM is updating to better specs
Tire diameter	39" or larger on 17" alloy wheels	35"
Lights	LED lighting kits	LED headlights and overhead light bar

Looking at the Trophy Truck specs, there are a few things for EM to update. Mostly tire size and suspension. But I bet that if the suspension was strengthened and enlarged, the tires could be an aftermarket upgrade.

I'm sure there are other specs for EM to work on but overall. I'm really starting to think that trophy trucks are not really out of the realm of comparison here.

I'm gonna have to watch the Baja 1000 next year. Might be worth a field trip if everything is going well and the CT really is going to compete.

 

[Dids]

Interesting. According to Wikipedia, the trophy truck specs are not all that different from Cybertruck.

So for instance lets look at some specs:

	Trophy Truck	CyberTruck
Drive	2 wheel drive	4 wheel drive
Chassis	4130 chromoly steel tube-frame and roll cage	Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel structural skin
Engine	naturally aspirated V8	Tesla electric motors
Power	excess of 850-900 BHP	800 HP
Torque	900lb-foot	1000 LB-FT
Suspension Travel	24" front, 36" back	8" (4" either way) but EM is updating to better specs
Tire diameter	39" or larger on 17" alloy wheels	35"
Lights	LED lighting kits	LED headlights and overhead light bar

Looking at the Trophy Truck specs, there are a few things for EM to update. Mostly tire size and suspension. But I bet that if the suspension was strengthened and enlarged, the tires could be an aftermarket upgrade.

I'm sure there are other specs for EM to work on but overall. I'm really starting to think that trophy trucks are not really out of the realm of comparison here.

I'm gonna have to watch the Baja 1000 next year. Might be worth a field trip if everything is going well and the CT really is going to compete.

I think it was 16" of suspension travel.

 

[Luke42]

Musk didn't say which class of the Baja race he was talking about.

See:
https://score-international.com/raceinfo/rule-book/class-descriptions/

The best fit would probably be the "Stock Full Class" or the "Baja e Class", but there are several other options which could fit.

I'm not a Baja enthusiast, though, so this is just a guess. I just remember a lot of what I read well enough to search up the details later.

There are some people on this board who are actually involved in the Baja racing scene. Hopefully they will weigh in at some point.

There's no reason to assume the CT would be competing in the " Trophy Truck" class.

 

[Cropman]

Didn’t Henry Ford win a race that jump started the Ford Motor Company? Get in the race Mr Musk!

 

[FutureBoy]

Musk didn't say which class of the Baja race he was talking about.

See:
https://score-international.com/raceinfo/rule-book/class-descriptions/

The best fit would probably be the "Stock Full Class" or the "Baja e Class", but there are several other options which could fit.

There's no reason to assume the CT would be competing in the " Trophy Truck" class.

I agree that the CT would not fit into the Trophy Truck class. For instance the CT doesn’t have an aspirated engine.

But out of all the classes at the Baja the Trophy Trucks are the lead class that are always being shown. They are what everyone is wowed by. So if EM intends to “kick ass” at Baja, then the CT should be at least competitive with the trophy trucks.

I’m just predicting that CT will compete at Baja in whatever class is most appropriate and advantageous. But if EM is anything like I think he is, the CT will beat the race time of at least a majority of the Trophy Trucks. No idea how but that is my prediction.

 

[lqdchkn]

I believe Elon said it needs to be able to run the Baja not win

 

[lancethibault]

I think it was 16" of suspension travel.

It think it was 16" of ground clearance. I don't think suspension or travel specs have been released yet.

 

[Dids]

It think it was 16" of ground clearance. I don't think suspension or travel specs have been released yet.

Yes ok but if it has 16" of ground clearance when it's raised up does that mean that the suspension is now topped out? Would be pretty useless if it was. So then it has 4" of suspension top. Same thing is true when it's lowered 8 inches it still has 4 inches of suspension bottom. 4+4+8 = 16 inches.

 

[FutureBoy]

I believe Elon said it needs to be able to run the Baja not win

I didn't say he had to win. But is there anything that EM hasn't won yet? I'd say that so far he is in the winningest win streak of anyone currently competing in anything.....

 

[lancethibault]

Yes ok but if it has 16" of ground clearance when it's raised up does that mean that the suspension is now topped out? Would be pretty useless if it was. So then it has 4" of suspension top. Same thing is true when it's lowered 8 inches it still has 4 inches of suspension bottom. 4+4+8 = 16 inches.

I would hope the total wheel travel is not be limited by the ground clearance adjustment. Total wheel travel should be the same when the CT is set to 16" or 8".

Where are you getting the 4" number from? At the CT release the site said 4" of travel. I immediately jumped on that and sent a text to a friend stating this was unsat. That spec has been removed and I'm sure it will be better then that with the finished product. Depending on the engineering, the wheel may not have the same travel down as up. It almost certainly will not have equal travel up and down when the truck is at it's max low and high ride settings. To the earlier point; if travel is limited when riding at the highest clearance, I would expect it would only be limited for down wheel travel. Meaning if your wheel begins to leave the ground, it will only have...lets guess a couple inches of down travel before it actually maxes out and leaves the ground. When at this max ride height, I would expect far more travel out of the wheels moving up (absorbing bumps and impact)...lets guess about a foot. Also, the rear travel might be different then the front.

Most of us are more concerned with how far it will travel up, as we don't plan on leaving the ground very often nor doing extreme off-roading, which requires massive articulation measured by Ramp Travel Index (RTI). Incidentally, the best RTI might come with the truck set to the exact middle ride height allowing for the most wheel travel in each direction and therefor the most articulation. I'm all for it if it does post some extreme numbers. I just can't imagine it will. It's a truck, built to work. I don't think they are building a rock crawler. If they were, they would have built it with a shorter wheelbase. I expect its travel to be similar to a Raptor (13-14 inches...total travel. So 7" up and 7" down when riding at the middle height. Or maybe 12" and 2" down when riding at 16" of clearance.). I personally think the Raptor is the truck EM wants to dominate. If that is the case...then maybe 16" of total travel is right. I would just like to see official specs from Tesla start to come out. Aren't we supposedly a year our from first deliveries?

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

Elon Musk pasted it up on the unveiling that it would be +/-4” of height adjustment with a maximum clearance of 16”. If it changes later, fine, but that is what it is in all the reviews. I would just love to see the CT in any serious off-road cond

 

[Dids]

I would hope the total wheel travel is not be limited by the ground clearance adjustment. Total wheel travel should be the same when the CT is set to 16" or 8".

Where are you getting the 4" number from? At the CT release the site said 4" of travel. I immediately jumped on that and sent a text to a friend stating this was unsat. That spec has been removed and I'm sure it will be better then that with the finished product. Depending on the engineering, the wheel may not have the same travel down as up. It almost certainly will not have equal travel up and down when the truck is at it's max low and high ride settings. To the earlier point; if travel is limited when riding at the highest clearance, I would expect it would only be limited for down wheel travel. Meaning if your wheel begins to leave the ground, it will only have...lets guess a couple inches of down travel before it actually maxes out and leaves the ground. When at this max ride height, I would expect far more travel out of the wheels moving up (absorbing bumps and impact)...lets guess about a foot. Also, the rear travel might be different then the front.

Most of us are more concerned with how far it will travel up, as we don't plan on leaving the ground very often nor doing extreme off-roading, which requires massive articulation measured by Ramp Travel Index (RTI). Incidentally, the best RTI might come with the truck set to the exact middle ride height allowing for the most wheel travel in each direction and therefor the most articulation. I'm all for it if it does post some extreme numbers. I just can't imagine it will. It's a truck, built to work. I don't think they are building a rock crawler. If they were, they would have built it with a shorter wheelbase. I expect its travel to be similar to a Raptor (13-14 inches...total travel. So 7" up and 7" down when riding at the middle height. Or maybe 12" and 2" down when riding at 16" of clearance.). I personally think the Raptor is the truck EM wants to dominate. If that is the case...then maybe 16" of total travel is right. I would just like to see official specs from Tesla start to come out. Aren't we supposedly a year our from first deliveries?

I am not certain that it has 16 inches of suspension travel. I was responding to a post that said 8 inches which I think is incorrect based purely on reported 8 inches of height adjustment. I am also not certain that they are targeting a work truck over any other type of truck, but rather attempting a transformer that can do it all. My hope is that it does it all well.

 

[OneLapper]

The CT certainly doesn't have 16" of wheel travel. That's better than most dirt bikes and side by sides. The length of the control arms would need to be 24" long (estimated guess on that length btw).

The 8" of travel sounds correct. Plus or minus 4" when the truck is in Normal ride hight.

A max clearance of 16" infers a clearance of 12" when in Normal ride height, and 8" when in Low. Total suspension travel of 8".

Baja trophey truck the CT is not. Nor should it be.

 

[Kaz109]

The Gen 2 raptor and Ram TRX has 14 inches of travel, would be amazing if CT got close to that.