Pikes Peak. For anyone with even a drop of gasoline in their veins, just hearing the name sends a shiver down their spine and gives them goosebumps. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, also known as the “Race to the Clouds,” is no ordinary hill climb.

Nearly 20 kilometers long. 156 corners. More than 1,430 meters of grueling elevation gain. No guardrails, no safety nets – just asphalt, rock, sheer drops, and fear has been part of the ride since 1916. The Race to the Clouds is legendary. It gained iconic status in Germany thanks to Walter Röhrl’s record run in 1987, when he became the first to break the 11-minute barrier on the gravel course back then. For several years now, we’ve been directly involved through our KW suspensions brand.

Time and again, race cars and concept vehicles from various classes take part in the summit assault and rely on our engineering. Replicas of the Audi Sport Quattro S1, Porsche 935, Ken Block’s Hoonipigasus, Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport, Tesla Model 3, or Mad Mike’s Mazda 3 “Bullet” with 1,400 hp Wankel turbo power are just a few of the competitors that line up in the Rocky Mountains utilizing KW technology.

For several years, we have also supported automaker Ford with our engineering expertise whenever they take their electrified concept vehicles compete at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with. This collaboration began back in mid-2021 with the Ford Pro Electric SuperVan Concept developed for the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2022. That van is essentially the spiritual predecessor of Ford’s current Pikes Peak racing machines.

This expertise helped Ford claim victory at the 2024 summit run, with the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck clocking a time of 8:53.553 minutes. The man behind the wheel? Romain Dumas, of course. He returned to conquer Pikes Peak once again in 2026—this time piloting the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E EV Demonstrator to a stunning finish of 8:18.202 minutes.

This achievement marks Romain Dumas’s sixth overall victory at Pikes Peak. For us, it’s the fourth joint project alongside STARD and Ford—following the Ford Pro Electric SuperVan Concept, the Ford SuperVan 4.2, and the 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. You probably also remember Romain Dumas’s record run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2025—again in the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck.

What sets the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb apart from any other hill climb or circuit race is the location itself. The course starts at around 2,860 meters (9,390 feet) and finishes at 4,300 meters (14,115 feet). With every meter of altitude gained, air density drops, reducing vehicle efficiency. Internal combustion engines lose power with every meter of elevation, and downforce decreases as well.

Naturally aspirated engines lose nearly ten percent of power per 1,000 meters of elevation. That’s why turbocharged or supercharged engines were long the go-to solution at Pikes Peak. The thinner the air, the faster the turbos spin and risk overheating—yet even turbo engines lose some power. It was only a matter of time before more and more competitors in the “Race to the Clouds” switched to electric powertrains.

Just like the Lightning SuperTruck and the various evolution stages of the Ford Pro Electric SuperVan Concept (also known as the Ford SuperVan 4.2), Ford developed the Mach-E EV Demonstrator in partnership with Austrian rally and motorsport specialists STARD (Stahl Advanced Research and Development).

Three STARD UHP 6-phase motors deliver serious power to the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E EV Demonstrator. These electric motors differ from conventional production motors mainly because they use a total of six power lines (phases). Simply put, each motor receives alternating current through six lines to create a rotating magnetic field inside.

This setup allows far more current to be delivered in a very compact space, resulting in enormous power density. It also creates a much more uniform magnetic field that drives the motor shaft. Power delivery is far smoother and more precisely controllable. Another big advantage is reliability: If one circuit fails in a conventional 3-phase motor, the motor typically stops immediately. A 6-phase motor, however, continues running at reduced power.

The three electric motors from STARD together produce more than 1,400 horsepower. Ford and STARD use lightweight Li-Polymer NMC pouch cells with 50 kWh capacity for energy storage. The battery is roughly 118 kg (260 lbs) lighter than the one in the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck while maintaining the same 799-volt system voltage. The system can also recover up to 710 kW of braking energy.

The F-150 Lightning SuperTruck was already an aerodynamics beast with 2.7 tons of downforce at 241 km/h (150 mph). The Mach-E EV Demonstrator takes it even further. In its Pikes Peak configuration, the EV Demonstrator produces around 3.1 tons (6,900 lbs) of downforce via its active aero at 241 km/h (150 mph).

Our suspension is pushed to its absolute limits over the grueling 20-kilometer, 156-corner climb. But it gets even crazier: in its ‘Road-Course Setup’ at 322 km/h (200 mph), the aerodynamics generated a massive 5.4 tons (12,000 lbs) of downforce in the wind tunnel!

The Super Mustang Mach-E features a double-wishbone suspension with pushrod linkage. Pushrods and rocker arms transfer wheel movements to centrally mounted, five-way adjustable KW V6 Racing dampers.

This pushrod suspension design allows precise tuning of the motion ratio between wheel travel and damper travel. Central damper placement also improves weight distribution and reduces aerodynamic interference. One standout feature of the suspension jointly developed by STARD and Ford is our third damper: the four-way adjustable KW V5 Racing damper acting as the so-called “Third Element” on both axles.

While the two outer KW dampers mainly control single-wheel and roll movements, the central KW V5 Racing damper as the Third Element specifically manages pitch movements—such as nose dive under braking, squat under acceleration, or load shifts. The rear axle setup is even more robust, with vertically mounted dampers, while the front dampers are installed more horizontally. Together, this special configuration creates a stable vehicle platform under high aerodynamic loads. At Pikes Peak, the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E EV Demonstrator generates around 3.1 tons of downforce.

Pikes Peak and Romain Dumas basically tell their own story. The quick Frenchman still holds the all-time track record of 7:57.148 minutes. After setting a time of 8:53.553 minutes in the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck in 2024, he once again crowned himself “King of the Mountain” with the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E EV Demonstrator and a blistering 8:18.202 minutes on America’s oldest hill climb course. This latest success also highlights our own standards: As a longtime partner of the KW Berg Cup and with our successful motorsport efforts both on hill climbs and circuits, we have once again proven our uncompromising performance at the highest world-class level.

Photos: Ford, PPIHC, Archive