Unimog U 5023 sets a new world altitude record for wheeled vehicles

Loz Blain

The team's mission was to install emergency radios at high altitude, but there was time for a little record-setting, too
The team’s mission was to install emergency radios at high altitude, but there was time for a little record-setting, too.  Daimler.

Mercedes-Benz’s squat little Unimog trucks have proven their expeditionary prowess yet again with the announcement that a U 5023 truck has set a new altitude record for wheeled vehicles, reaching 6,694 m (21,962 ft) above sea level.

The mission: install four emergency radios at high-altitude campsites around the Ojos de Salado in Chile – the tallest active volcano on the planet, summiting at 6,893 m (22,615 ft) and rising out of the Atacama desert. The trucks: a pair of specially prepped Unimogs with extreme off-road tires and big winch units.

In order to handle the steep, mountainous terrain without toppling, the trucks were also fitted with a system allowing them to move weight forward and backward to modify the vehicles’ centers of gravity.

A special system allowed the team to shift weight forward and backward to help balance the Unimogs' center of gravity

A special system allowed the team to shift weight forward and backward to help balance the Unimogs’ center of gravity.  Daimler.
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Expedition leader Matthias Jesche broke his own altitude record, which he set in an older Mercedes Zetros in 2014. Getting up that high wasn’t strictly necessary for the mission – the team had all four radios installed by the time the Unimogs got up to the Amistad high-altitude camp at 6,100 m (20,013 ft). But, hey, as long as you’re there, you might as well take a little time to make history, eh?

Frankly, we’re impressed that the Unimog’s Euro 6-compliant, 4-cylinder gasoline engine was able to breathe up that high. We’d be huffing and puffing at half that altitude. Enjoy the photos, they’re spectacular.

Source: Daimler

 

(For the source of this, and many other equally curious articles, please visit: https://newatlas.com/automotive/unimog-u-5023-world-altitude-record/)

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