Just like boxing’s mythical ’pound-for-pound’ title, the unofficial designation of being the world’s fastest production car doesn’t have any trophies. Sure, there’s the Guinness World Records, but really, the whole thing about which car can hit the highest top speed is a conversation best served for those who really do care about it. Say, somebody like Bugatti who is the current record-holder for the fastest production car on the planet, the Veyron Super Sport. This company clearly lists speed high on their level of priorities and the company’s new CEO, Wolfgang Durheimer, is aiming to keep it that way by stating that Bugatti will continue to produce the world’s fastest cars.
In an interview with CAR Magazine, Durheimer made no bones about the company’s obsession with always being the fastest, saying that its a cornerstone of the modern Bugatti philosophy.
’It is vital that Bugatti produces the world’s fastest car,’ he said. It’s hard to take his words with a grain of salt because the company has a history of one-upping cars that take the claim of being the fastest in the world away from them. Remember when the SSC Ultimate Aero arrived and overtook the Veyron in the top spot? Bugatti responded by releasing the Super Sport, a juiced up version of their Veyron supercar.
"It’s human nature," Durheimer said. "We are always going to want to find out who runs the 100m the fastest. It’s the same with cars."
Say what you want about Bugatti’s apparent obsession with being the fastest of them all, but you can’t deny that they’ve come out swinging and hit home runs when the situation calls for it.
While we can feel bad about Bluebird Electric’s failed attempt at setting the land speed record for an electric car, we can at least give due props to another team that set an electric car record of their own this past weekend.
We’re not all too familiar with the "Schluckspecht" EV car, but we’re definitely sure about how EV range has been one of the biggest challenges facing electric cars these days. But if you’re one that can feel at ease about the possibility of having an EV that can travel over 1,000 miles on a single charge, the Schluckspecht EV just might prove that it’s an attainable goal after all.
The whole collaboration came as a result of partnership between Pforzheim University, the University of Offenburg, and the Fraunhofer Institut EMI, the Schluckspecht - apparently, it translates to "heavy drinker" - shattered the previous EV range record, traveling a distance of 1,103 miles (1,631.5 km), which is almost twice as far as what the previous record - 623 miles - was able to accomplish.
The Schluckspecht is powered by 14 lithium-cobalt battery packs and was driven by four drivers in a 36-hour span. The vehicle comes with a lightweight chassis that uses two in-wheel hub motors. It took over 14 years of development before the vehicle finally had its turn in the spotlight. But if you ask anybody associated with the project they’ll tell you that all those years spent building the car was all worth it in the end.
For the past few months, Don Wales and the Bluebird Electric Team have been preparing to break the existing land speed record for an electric car. Ultimately, fate would play other games on the team as the attempt came to a premature end.
With the team primed and ready for the record attempt at the Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on August 13th and 14th, 2011, Don’s son, Joseph, got the opportunity to enter the record books, continuing a family legacy that went all the way back to the patriarch, Malcolm Campbell. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be as limited visibility within the cockpit of the Bluebird and an alarming slide towards the sea at speeds in excess of 100 mph caused the Bluebird to bounce severely on the uneven surface and hit a soft pothole of sand. The impact caused by the accident severely damaged the vehicle’s bodyshell, steering components, and the bottom wishbone.
“When you can’t see the ground in front of you for 60 meters or 70 meters you’re in trouble before you’ve seen it,” Don Wales said just after the accident.
The only good thing that came out of this doomed attempt was that Joe Wales was able to control the car enough that the damage it incurred was as minimal as it could have been given the circumstances surrounding the entire debacle. Nevertheless, the team is understandably dismayed about the failed record attempt, but they know more than anybody else the extenuating circumstances that can torpedo their record-setting quests. As for the future, the Bluebird Team is optimistic that another attempt is in the oven, although the time frame has yet to be determined.
“We’ll take the car back to Pembroke Docks and see what need to be fixed and see where we go from here," said Wales.
Well, it seems that Bugatti has decided to bring out the new Veyron 16.4 Super Sport long before its official debut at the Pebble Beach Concours weekend in mid-August. And not only did they unveil official details on it, but the supercar has already entered the Guinness Book of Records with an average top speed of 431 km/h (267 mph). The new model will go into production in the fall of 2010, and the first five units will be sold as limited "World Record Editions." They will feature a special black exposed carbon and orange finish, and yes, they are already sold out!
The new Veyron 16.4 Super Sport comes with four enlarged turbochargers and bigger intercoolers that have been used to boost the power of the 16-cylinder engine to a total of 1200 HP, the chassis has been extensively redesigned to maintain safety at extreme speeds – thanks to a slightly raised main-spring travel, stronger stabilizers, and new shock absorbers with a complex architecture originally developed for racing cars.
UPDATE 08/11/2011: Chris Harris from the British magazine, Evo, had the chance to get behind the wheel of the new Veyron Super Sport, testing the 0 to 60 mph sprint time. Hit the jump to see if he got the same time proposed by Bugatti.
Hit the jump for more details on the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport.
Racing teams and automakers alike are always striving to prove their strength and dazzle us with the impressive technology used in their vehicles. Many times, they succeed in doing so when they manage to break some records. There is, and will always be, a war in terms of record-breaking and this week, Subaru Rally Team USA is stepping ahead of the pack with a speedy trek up the famed Mt. Washington Hillclimb.
On Sunday, July 26, 2011, Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins took to the famous course with a SportsCar-prepped Subaru WRX STi rally car equipped with BFGoodrich RC01 Rally tires. With this beast, Higgins managed to finish the hill climb in only 6 minutes and 11.54 seconds - that’s about 30 seconds faster than Frank Sprongl’s previous record from 1998. Higgins also beat the unofficial record of 6:20.47 set by Travis Pastrana last year.
