By Jeff Glucker
It’s dubbed the SuperQuad, and the name is accurate. Although I’d also accept Insane-O-Machine or Batshit Bomber. This four-wheeled monster was once a Suzuki LT500R, but it’s now so much more. Every bit of it has been reworked and its original two-stroke motor was ditched in favor of the 1,000-cc engine from a GSX-R. That mill sends 140 horsepower to the rear wheels of a very light vehicle. One that has no problem absolutely torturing the tarmac of the now legendary Leadfoot Festival in New Zealand.
The pilot manhandling this thing is Ian Ffitch. And aside from the wild active aero (Yes, it’s active – watch the straight section around the 0:44 mark), we assume Ffitch gets it to slide through corners using his own personal oversized bits of ballast.
Hillclimbs rule. Ian Ffitch rules. And the SuperQuad is both wickedly scary and resoundingly awesome.
D E A T H T R A P .
Those people are insane.
No just Kiwis
OK. So how do we describe those handling characteristics?
It displays:
– Lift-off oversteer,
– Power oversteer,
– Braking oversteer,
– Oversteer when it goes light over bumps and brows,
– Oversteer on weight transfer…
…except for all the times it is understeering.