Nokian’s two-wheel speed record is not what you’d think

Traveling at 115 miles per hour on two-wheels might not see like anything too extraordinary, but for Nokian Tyres and Vianor it was a record-breaking effort.

The two companies teamed up with well-known stunt driver Vesa Kivimaki to set a new world record for the fastest car on two wheels — reaching at 115.742mph on the runway of an airport in the European country of Finland.

Check it out here:

The car was fitted with Nokian tires, obviously — which is quite the advertisement for the company’s Aramid Sidewall technology.

The role of the tires was crucial in breaking the record, as the strength of the tires is very important at extreme speeds when driving on two wheels. Nokian Tyres Aramid Sidewall technology allowed for constructing a sidewall that is particularly resistant to wear and cuts.

Aramid fiber is super strong

“When driving on two wheels, the sidewall maintains the road contact, so we had to design a special tire for this purpose,” said Matti Morri, technical customer service manager for Nokian.

“The Aramid fiber added to the sidewall rubber compound strengthens the sidewall and gives it substantially better tear strength. This unique sidewall compound technology combined with a special structure created a specification that is suited for speed records.”

Aramid Sidewall technology uses extremely strong aramid fiber that is also found in aviation and defense industries. Nokian uses the tech’ in SUV tires such as the Hakkapeliitta 8 SUV.

“I have made earlier attempts to break the record for the fastest car on two wheels, but have not been successful” said Kivimaki. “At some point, I realized that the key to record-breaking speed is to have tires that are exceptionally durable. Cooperation with Nokian Tyres and Vianor made it possible to break the record.”

What it takes to make a record

The world record for the fastest car on two wheels was set according to the rules defined by Guinness World Records. The car needs to be mass-produced, not a manufactured prototype, for the record to count.

Within one hour, the car must drive both ways through speed measurement gates that are located one 328 feet apart. The world record is the average of these two measurements.

The record run was made on a 1.2-mile-long, 164 foot wide runway. The distance used for the average speed measurement was 328 feet.

The previous record was from 1997, when Swedish Goran Eliason drove on two wheels at a speed of 112.62 mph.

Tagged: World record

Nokian’s two-wheel speed record is not what you’d think