On the One Hand: Monster Trucks

By Dashka Slater

October 7, 2014

On the One Hand: Monster Trucks

ON THE ONE HAND . . .

The practice is known as "rolling coal." Yahoos with something to prove modify their jacked-up diesel pickups to spew huge plumes of black soot whenever they rev their engines. The stunt requires a smoke switch that dumps extra fuel into the engine, causing it to improperly combust, and costs from $500 to $5,000. Coal rollers like to post videos of themselves on social media gassing Prius-drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and other perceived cultural enemies.

ON THE OTHER . . .

The engine sound is more of a whine than a roar, and there are no clouds of black smoke, but the new all-electric Odyssey Battery Bigfoot No. 20 is all monster truck. Bigfoot is the original and best-known maker of monster vehicles; its electric car-crusher is outfitted with four 66-inch Firestone tires and 36 Odyssey PC 1200 car batteries, weighing 38 pounds each. The result is a 350-horsepower motor with 850 foot-pounds of torque. "Developing a custom electric monster truck is part of our efforts to keep up with ever-changing technology," explains Jim Kramer, vice president of research, technology, and driver development for Bigfoot. Try coal-rolling this, sucker.