Friday, September 17, 2010 3:45PM - By Chris Weiss
On July 3, with little more than nerves of steel, a pair of racing gloves, and a helmet, Pierre Henri Raphanel sped his way into the Guiness Book of World Records with a 267.86 mph speed. Oh yeah, he did have a little help from a a 1,200-horsepower quad-turbocharged Bugatti Veyron Super Sport that was more juiced up than Barry Bonds in his 73 summer of 2001.
After it broke the previous two-year-old record by more than 11 mph, you’d have think that the supercar gurus would have given Bugatti a little time to enjoy the fruits of its labor. They didn’t. The previous winner, Shelby Supercars, issued what looked to be a proclamation of war days later, and Koenigsegg, the leader before SSC also hinted at a possible go at the title.
A year from now, it’s anybody’s guess, but for now, these are the fastest production cars of all time.
Exotic cars, whether of the sport or luxury variety, are the artful masterpieces of the highway. These vehicles excel beyond all others both in terms of styling and performance, and they don’t need any aftermarket attention to make people stare in envy. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop tuners from trying.
With a proclivity for disaster, tuners have injected their own vision into these once-beautiful vehicles in an attempt to further enhance their illustrious beauty and brawn. Unfortunately, that didn’t go so well.
Mixing audacity, wasted skills and sheer, misguided insanity, each tuner involved in this list has failed pretty hard and executed unconscionable and egregious crimes against the automotive world.
A new Auto Express report is sure to raise a few eyebrows in the automotive world. Mine are certainly up. The report indicates that Bugatti is working on an electric supercar that could rival the power and performance of the Veyron. The car is said to sit on a Bentley Continental GT chassis and use a combination of li-ion batteries and two electric motors to put out 1,623 lb-ft of torque from the word go, along with the 800 horses. With all that torque available the minute the driver steps on the pedal, the EV reportedly delivers “absolutely unbelievable” acceleration.
You know you’re getting close to a big reveal, when information starts leaking about a car from the manufacturer’s own preview event. That’s what happened with the 2011 911 GT2 RS, and Porsche followed up with the official unveiling.
Specs are pretty similar, though not identical, to what was leaked yesterday. The new GT2 RS will get nearly 100 hp over the outgoing version, wrangling 620 horses out of its twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter flat six. The weight loss is a little less than rumored at 154 lbs, a fact that may lead to the slightly-slower-than-expected sprint to 60 mph (3.6 seconds). Top speed is 205 mph.
It’s a moment we’ve been waiting for for quite some time. While we’re still stuck with the same, tired renderings of the 599 GTO in terms of available pictures, we now have some serious track video. We appreciate the bootleg caught on an iPhone way back when, but this is the real deal. And not only do we have one video, we get two to double your Friday morning pleasure.
Ferrari test driver Dario Benuzzi took the GTO out on the track in Mugello, and you can get all up in the cockpit with him in the pair of vids below. What else can we possibly say: they sell themselves. [via MotorAuthority]
The title of fastest Ferrari is not one to be taken lightly. It’s comparable to hottest Victoria Secret model ever. Or drunkest, roudiest frat boy. We’re talking the best at what best does. And according to Ferrari, the new 599 GTO, which will be introduced to the world at the 2010 Beijing Motor Show, is the fastest Ferrari street car ever. That’s a very fitting way to revive the GTO legacy.
The McLaren MP4-12C hasn’t exactly been a stranger around these parts, but until today, it wasn’t official either. McLaren held a press conference in which McLaren Chairman Ron Dennis and Managing Director Antony Sheriff (killer name) outlined the future plans of the brand, first and foremost of which is the launch of the MP4-12C.
McLaren will produce 1,000 MP4-12Cs at its new, $60 million production facility. Unlike the McLaren F1, the MP4-12C won’t be among the top of the top supercars and will slide into the $190K to $270K market segment. Sales will commence next year through a global network of retailers.
Remember last week when we pondered if James Sikes was the victim that he portrayed himself to be? Car blogs weren’t the only ones wondering. Federal regulators have been investigating Mr. Sikes’ Prius and have been unable to reproduce the now-infamous unintended acceleration that Mr. Sikes reported as he barrelled down a San Diego freeway at speeds over 90 mph.
A memo from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reads: “In this case, knowing that we are able to push the car around the shop, it does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically, that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time.”
It’s been all but a verifiable fact that Prius would recall the 2010 Prius and today it is finally official. Amidst a global recall of around 400,000 models, Toyota recalled 133,000 2010 Prius models and 14,550 2010 Lexus HS 250h models in the U.S. According to the company, Prius vehicles produced since May 2009 and all HS 250h vehicles are subject to the recall. First- and second-generation Prius models use a different ABS and aren’t included in the recall.
