We love going fast and we love pushing the limits to see what our vehicles are capable of. The Bonneville Salt Flats provide a perfect setting for speed junkies of all kind to come and find out what they are capable of achieving. This dry lake bed has been dominated in recent times by the internal combustion engine and even jet power, but an older form of powering four wheels is about to take center stage once again.
The U.S. Land Steam Record Team will be attempting to beat the current record in their newest steam powered vehicle. In 2009, Team Inspiration from Great Britain broke the 1985 steam record by hitting 148.308 mph. The previous official FIA record of 127mph was set in 1906 by American, Fred Marriott, driving a Stanley steamer at Daytona Beach.
Driver and car designer, Chuk Williams, in conjunction with Cyclone Power Technologies will be the latest steam pioneers when they attempt the record breaking run in August 2011. The state of the art streamline design is projected to hit a top speed north of 200 mph, which would undoubtedly seal its position in the history books. We look forward to reporting more on the attempt once the team makes it to Bonneville.
Hit the jump for more details on the U.S. Land Steam Record Team
Everything in China these days is becoming bigger, higher, faster, and sometimes, a combination of all three. That’s what happens when you position yourself as one of the fastest growing countries – and in a sense, most powerful, too – in the world.
Straight from the country comes another monumental achievement, something that should prove to be a boon for a lot of its motorists. It’s called the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge and it was recently opened last June 30, immediately being cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest roadway bridge over water in the world.
So how long is this piece of architectural wonder?
From start to finish, it covers a distance of 26.4 miles, which is nothing to snicker about given its enormity. But as with bridges of this size, the name of the game is still about saving time on commutes, which ironically, the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge doesn’t quite adequately accomplish, saving only 19 miles and 20 minutes off of the commute time.
Having said that, there’s still something to be said for a bridge this long and the Jiazhou Bay Bridge accomplishes that by a mile, or 26.
You know how we always challenge our buddies in a smartphone typing contest to determine who’s the fastest texter of the lot? Well, good thing we’re not friends with this 16-year old from Australia.
Earlier this year at the LG Mobile WorldCup Championships in New York City, Australian texting wizard, Cheong Kit Au, broke the Guinness world record for being the fastest person to type on a QWERTY-style smartphone. The 16-year old from Melbourne, Australia blasted through a 264-character text in just one minute and 17.03 seconds, breaking the previous world record by a mind-boggling 43 seconds.
The characters had been preselected by the Guinness World Records to give all the contestants equal opportunity to speed through them using a QWERTY-style keyboard. In the end, Cheong out-typed a pool of some of the world’s fastest texters, giving him sole possession of the title of world’s fastest smartphone texter.
While we consider ourselves pretty fast typists on a QWERTY ourselves, we’re not even going to consider challenging this kid, lest we want to embarrass ourselves.
The cheetah may reign supreme as the fastest animal on land, but when you take into account the air above and the water below, the title of fastest animal on the planet belongs to the Peregrine Falcon.
When considering the broad scope of the fastest animal on the planet, the Top 10 list would probably consist mostly of birds, but in fairness to the land and water-based creatures, we’re going to hold the Peregrine Falcon and other high-speed birdies in a different category altogether. You see, when measuring the speed of birds based on traveling speed measured in level flying, the Peregrine Falcon isn’t the king of the air. Actually, it doesn’t even crack the Top 10. The title for fastest bird in this kind of flight goes to the Spine-Tailed Swift, which can hit a top level flying speed of 106 mph. Compare that to the Peregrine Falcon, which can hit a top speed of just about 60 mph in level flight - impressive in its own right, but not Top 10 material - and the Spine-Tailed Swift blows it out of the water.
So, how is this bird considered the fastest all around and how dare we compare it to a McLaren? Well, hit the jump to find out.
Just a few days after its official launch, the 2012 BMW M5 has just become the fastest sedan around the Nurburgring race track with an impressive time of 7:55. With this new time, the M5 will be placed above models like the Porsche Panamera Turbo (7:56) and the Cadillac CTS-V (7:59). This new lap time also matches the ’Ring time of the Ferrari F430.
The BMW M5 is powered by a high-revving 4.4-liter V8 engine with an M TwinPower Turbo package that delivers an impressive 560 HP at 6,000 – 7,000 rpm and a peak torque of 502 lb-ft from 1,500 rpm. The model will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and, when the speed limiter is removed, is capable of hitting an impressive top speed of 190 mph.
The record lap was completed by a BMW driver, but don’t put it in the record books just yet. This is actually an unofficial time, surely to be followed by the real thing shortly.
