Mike Ryan drifts a 200,000-pound dump truck

Some vehicles are better suited for drifting than others. Light weight, rear-wheel drive and a manual transmission make for a good hoonage platform, but that doesn't mean you couldn't get an all-wheel drive, automatic family sedan like, say, my mom's Passat into a four-wheel drift (which this writer definitely did not attempt back in college). But what about a 200,000-pound dump truck built for mining? That's what one tech company set out to do in this promo clip.

Seeking to align itself with the notions of "scale" and "agility," data protection firm EMC took a Caterpillar 789 dump truck - a piece of mining equipment with a 78-liter V16 diesel engine, a 200-ton payload capacity and around 2,000 horsepower on tap - out to a slab of concrete in Kentucky coal-mining country and set up a little slalom course with some data servers, a fish tank and a cluster of sports cars including a BMW M1, a classic Corvette and what we hope is a replica Shelby Cobra. Then they put Mike Ryan up the ladder and behind the wheel.

Now for those unfamiliar with Mike Ryan's exploits, what you need to know is that he's probably one of the best stunt drivers ever to steer a semi truck. He's drifted 'em Gymkhana-style, jumped 'em over mind-blowing ramps and raced them up Mt. Washington and Pikes Peak. So if there's anyone who could drift a 200,000-pound truck that's designed to scale open-pit mines, surely he's the man for the job.
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