On November 13 NASCAR driver Ryan Newman remotely operated a D11T Dozer near Tucson, Arizona from 150 miles away at the Phoenix International Raceway. Check out some key differences between our D11T and a typical Sprint Cup Series car:
- Max Speed: The D11T travels at a max speed of 7.3 mph in forward. That means it would take 8.2 minutes for it to complete one lap of the 1-mile tri-oval track at the Phoenix International Raceway. It would take it 68.5 hours to complete the 500 miles of the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500. NASCAR drivers complete the race in about 3 hours.
- Reverse Speed: The D11T can go faster in reverse than it does going forward. Max speed forward is 7.3 mph, while the dozer can travel 8.7 mph in reverse. But that’s still about 190 mph slower than the NASCAR cars will race.
- Engine Horsepower: The horsepower of the D11T is 850 hp — very close to the 860-900 hp made by a NASCAR Sprint Car engine.
- Rated Engine RPM: 1,800, compared to over 9,000 for a NASCAR Sprint Car.
- Transmission: Unlike the 4-speed NASCAR cars, the D11T has 6 speeds: 3 forward and 3 reverse.
- Fuel Tank: The D11T holds 425 gallons of fuel, compared to less than 18 for a NASCAR cup car.
- Pit Stops: The D11T has a Fast Fuel Fill System at ground level to make fueling easier and faster. There’s also a fuel shut-off to prevent spillage. Still not quite as fast as a Sprint Cup pit stop, which takes about 12 seconds.
- Safety: Like the NASCAR organization, Caterpillar is focused on finding ways to keep drivers safe in the cab. The D11T has both rollover protection and falling object protection, and optional impact resistant glass. There’s also an “operator not present” system that keeps the dozer from starting if the operator is not in the seat.
- Operating Weight: 229,800 pounds, compared to 3,300 pounds for a NASCAR car.
- Overall Length with ripper & blade: 34.5 feet — about 20 feet longer than a NASCAR car.
- Width with U-Blade: 20.7 feet, about 14 feet wider than the 6 ½-foot wide NASCAR car.
