Altitude record by car: two SUVs and a 7.000-meter volcano

The motor world is full of challenges that many brands try to overcome to carve out a niche for themselves in history. Of all of them, one that is not usually heard too often is that of the car altitude record. A feat involving a technical difficulty or with a effort for your teams which far exceeds other more striking ones such as acceleration or speed records.

La Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, a brand dedicated to building supercars like the SCG003S has made the leap to off-road with the reappearance of Low Boot. A curious horse vehicle between a buggy and a military SUV of which it will only manufacture 25 units for the whole world. These will be the chosen vehicles to try break the altitude record by car and two of those units will be modified to climb a 7.000 meter volcano in South America.

The extreme conditions of a car altitude record

Before going through the workshop and receiving the necessary modifications to break this record, the Baja Boots already have outstanding offroad qualities thanks to its 4×4 traction, a suspension with a travel of 50 cm and a naturally aspirated V8 engine. However, this last feature is the Achilles heel of these units in its serial version to move at high altitudes. With less and less oxygen available as you go up, engines that get air for combustion naturally (without any system to force it in), drastically lose power. Especially when reaching the heights necessary to break this record.

For this reason, the Baja Boot that will try to reach 7.000 meters will have a turbo engine, capable of forcing air into the engine in order to maintain power in these conditions. A very high CV requirement taking into account that it must be able to transport its own weight, the extra fuel and water tanks, the spare wheels, the support materials and the four occupants that will go on the mission.

However, the difficulties that these cars will encounter are not limited to the lack of oxygen. Weather and extreme conditions of the field would leave them out of play if they were not wearing extra insulators For low temperatures, a military grade door sealing and some underbody reinforcements to the level of the steep slopes that you must overcome. This last element is of vital importance given that the route to be completed is not exactly a walk on the highway. The road built at the highest altitude of the world is situated at only 4.693 meters and crosses through the mountains of Karakoram and China, but they must climb much higher. Without a doubt, once modified, these Baja Boot will be among the most capable off-roaders in the world.

The altitude record in a vehicle to date

Currently, the altitude record is held by Matthias Jeshke's team with a mercedes zetros, which managed to reach 6.706 meters on the Ojos de Salado volcano, in Atacama (Chile). Of course, the Zetros is not exactly a car, but rather a six wheel drive off road truck, which is often used for military purposes, in rescue operations or in transport to particularly inaccessible areas.

Within a category of vehicles more similar to the Baja Boot, there is the record achieved with a Modified Suzuki Samurai, which was driven by Gonzalo Bravo and Eduardo Canales to reach 6.688 meters in Chile. An equally creditable record considering that only two people completed it. In this type of company it is necessary to have a qualified team to unblock the vehicle if necessary or to clear the path through vegetation, rocks or some shifting ground. In 2019, we will know if the team chosen by Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus manages to break both records.