(Cummins)
Horsepower and speed generally go hand-in-hand, so you’d expect a 4,000-horsepower engine to sit between the fenders of a particularly wild resto-mod show car. In the case of the 4,000-horsepower Cummins Hedgehog, however, we can name a single car large enough to accommodate the diesel engine’s bulk.
The Hedgehog, you see, wasn’t designed for cars or over-the-road trucks. Instead, the massive 95-liter engine was built to power mining dump trucks, the largest locomotives or generators with enough capacity to power 3,500 average houses.
Each of the engine’s 16 cylinders displaces over six liters, roughly the size of an average Cummins-powered delivery truck or city bus engine. In addition to making 4,000 horsepower, the Hedgehog engine also cranks out some 11,800 pound-feet of torque, yet still complies with upcoming European Tier 4 Final emission standards.
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If you’re holding out for something with just a bit more grunt than the current Hedgehog has to offer, fear not. Cummins is working on a future 120-liter variant with 20 cylinders, 5,000 horsepower and an estimated 14,750 pound feet of torque. That ought to be enough to get the job done, no matter what that job actually is.
If you want to see the impressive bulk of the Cummins Hedgehog in person, you’ll have a chance at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The engine will be on display in the Cummins stand, and we’ve got a feeling the exhibit will be hard to miss.