You'd think it would be an uncomplicated question. What is the fastest car in the world? Far as I know, there's only one world, right? However fast any bunch of cars can go, presumably, at some point, one is going to be the fastest. At worst, maybe there might be a couple tied for fastest? Right?
However, it turns out to not be anywhere near that straight forward at all. Crowning an automobile the fastest car in the world it turns out involves a number of considerations you might not have expected. As it happens, it was precisely ambiguity about the definition of what constitutes a "car" in the phrase, "what is the fastest car in the world" that led to quite a bit of controversy in 2013.
First though let's introduce the players. There are three cars particularly that we'll want to be familiar with as our story unfolds. First there is the Bugatti Veynon Super Sport. A bit like the European Union, this car is the product of a Franco-German collaboration. It is owned by Volkswagen, but assembled in Molsheim, France. This car accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 2.4 seconds, toting an 8.0 liter W16 engine that generates 1,200 bhp. It has been certified by the Guinness Book of Records as obtaining average track speed of 267.8 mph. It is generally acknowledge as the current occupant of the throne.
The challengers are, first, the Hennessey Venom GT, with a speed of 265.7 mph. With its 7.0 liter V8 twin turbo engine producing 1,244 bhp. It has a certified acceleration speed of going from 0 to 186 mph in 13.63 seconds. That's kind of fast, too. The other challenger of note is the SSC Ultimate Aero. This car has the distinction of having been twice crowned the world's fastest car. Uncontroversially, in 2007, the Aero recorded a certified speed of 256.18 mph, to win its first title. It kept that crown for nearly three years. The second time it was crowned fastest car in the world, though, was a little more sensational. We're almost ready to dive into that story, but first, one more thing: we also have to know the rules by which the game is normally played.
When a claim is made that a car is the fastest car in the world, in this context, the usually unstated premise is that it is the fastest "production" car in the world. The meaning of this is that the cars which qualify must be cars consumers can purchase on the open market. One may use the word "car" to designate vehicles which are only legally driven on the Utah salt flats. Such vehicles, though, don't count as cars in this context. A car has to be legal and available to buy (even if at a hefty price) and drive on public streets. That alone is what qualifies as a production car.
Only such cars qualify for the race, as it were. Those that have been modified from their retail form, so as to amplify their race track speed obviously are disqualified. Who would quibble with that, if the point is to speed test actual production cars? That would seem like a pretty straightforward matter. Well, as it happens, not really so straight forward after all.
It all began in 2010 when Bugatti took the crown of world's fastest car away from the SSC Ultimate Aero. And so the German-French fusion reigns, until April of 2013. Early in that month, John Hennessey, mastermind of the Venom GT, claimed that his car had set the production car speed record by hitting 265.7 mph earlier in the year. This though was not a certified run, so the speed, even if accurately recorded posed no threat to the Bugatti record, which anyways was still higher than the Venon GT, at 267.8 mph. However, Hennessey also mentioned that in fact his speed made his the fastest production car in the world, because, he pointed out, Bugatti attached a speed limiter to their commercially sold cars.
It turned out that this was true. Bugatti Venyon Super Sports that were bought commercially had a safety system in place to prevent them travelling in excess of 258 mph: pretty much a full 10 mph below the track recorded record speed. When the folks at the Guinness Book of Records got wind of this bit of information a whirl wind of controversy ensued. They concluded that this constituted the kind of modification for speed testing purposes which disqualified a candidate as a production car. Consequently, the Bugatti's crown was revoked. However, since the Hennessey's speed had not been officially certified the crown reverted back to the prior fastest car in the world, the SSC Ultimate Aero.
A strange situation this one surely was: the point of a rule against modified cars was, one would understand, to disqualify cars not sold commercially. For instance, cars taken off a commercial production line, and modified specifically for racing purposes where intended to be excluded. The present situation, though, was a little more difficult to align with the rules. The Bugatti, after all, wasn't modified for advantage on the track, but for safety on the street. This was certainly a modification that made the car faster on the track than on the street, yet the production car hadn't been modified to be faster, but rather to be slower. Clearly this was an unusual situation; how exactly was the rule to be applied?
To this day there are rather strong feelings among auto aficionados about what is the correct interpretation of the rule and whether the limiter-less Bugatti should be allowed to compete. For its part, though, Guinness finally came to the conclusion that such a ruling was contrary to the spirit of the rule and just days later did a full about-face, reinstating the Bugatti as reigning champ as fastest car in the world.
However you slice it, though, it is a bit funny to call these cars production cars. They are patched together from a host of system sources, hand crafted in elaborate processes and result in a tiny handful of such cars only ever actually being purchased. So "production car" may be in the eye of the beholder. And, heck, aren't rules made to be broken?
However, it turns out to not be anywhere near that straight forward at all. Crowning an automobile the fastest car in the world it turns out involves a number of considerations you might not have expected. As it happens, it was precisely ambiguity about the definition of what constitutes a "car" in the phrase, "what is the fastest car in the world" that led to quite a bit of controversy in 2013.
First though let's introduce the players. There are three cars particularly that we'll want to be familiar with as our story unfolds. First there is the Bugatti Veynon Super Sport. A bit like the European Union, this car is the product of a Franco-German collaboration. It is owned by Volkswagen, but assembled in Molsheim, France. This car accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 2.4 seconds, toting an 8.0 liter W16 engine that generates 1,200 bhp. It has been certified by the Guinness Book of Records as obtaining average track speed of 267.8 mph. It is generally acknowledge as the current occupant of the throne.
The challengers are, first, the Hennessey Venom GT, with a speed of 265.7 mph. With its 7.0 liter V8 twin turbo engine producing 1,244 bhp. It has a certified acceleration speed of going from 0 to 186 mph in 13.63 seconds. That's kind of fast, too. The other challenger of note is the SSC Ultimate Aero. This car has the distinction of having been twice crowned the world's fastest car. Uncontroversially, in 2007, the Aero recorded a certified speed of 256.18 mph, to win its first title. It kept that crown for nearly three years. The second time it was crowned fastest car in the world, though, was a little more sensational. We're almost ready to dive into that story, but first, one more thing: we also have to know the rules by which the game is normally played.
When a claim is made that a car is the fastest car in the world, in this context, the usually unstated premise is that it is the fastest "production" car in the world. The meaning of this is that the cars which qualify must be cars consumers can purchase on the open market. One may use the word "car" to designate vehicles which are only legally driven on the Utah salt flats. Such vehicles, though, don't count as cars in this context. A car has to be legal and available to buy (even if at a hefty price) and drive on public streets. That alone is what qualifies as a production car.
Only such cars qualify for the race, as it were. Those that have been modified from their retail form, so as to amplify their race track speed obviously are disqualified. Who would quibble with that, if the point is to speed test actual production cars? That would seem like a pretty straightforward matter. Well, as it happens, not really so straight forward after all.
It all began in 2010 when Bugatti took the crown of world's fastest car away from the SSC Ultimate Aero. And so the German-French fusion reigns, until April of 2013. Early in that month, John Hennessey, mastermind of the Venom GT, claimed that his car had set the production car speed record by hitting 265.7 mph earlier in the year. This though was not a certified run, so the speed, even if accurately recorded posed no threat to the Bugatti record, which anyways was still higher than the Venon GT, at 267.8 mph. However, Hennessey also mentioned that in fact his speed made his the fastest production car in the world, because, he pointed out, Bugatti attached a speed limiter to their commercially sold cars.
It turned out that this was true. Bugatti Venyon Super Sports that were bought commercially had a safety system in place to prevent them travelling in excess of 258 mph: pretty much a full 10 mph below the track recorded record speed. When the folks at the Guinness Book of Records got wind of this bit of information a whirl wind of controversy ensued. They concluded that this constituted the kind of modification for speed testing purposes which disqualified a candidate as a production car. Consequently, the Bugatti's crown was revoked. However, since the Hennessey's speed had not been officially certified the crown reverted back to the prior fastest car in the world, the SSC Ultimate Aero.
A strange situation this one surely was: the point of a rule against modified cars was, one would understand, to disqualify cars not sold commercially. For instance, cars taken off a commercial production line, and modified specifically for racing purposes where intended to be excluded. The present situation, though, was a little more difficult to align with the rules. The Bugatti, after all, wasn't modified for advantage on the track, but for safety on the street. This was certainly a modification that made the car faster on the track than on the street, yet the production car hadn't been modified to be faster, but rather to be slower. Clearly this was an unusual situation; how exactly was the rule to be applied?
To this day there are rather strong feelings among auto aficionados about what is the correct interpretation of the rule and whether the limiter-less Bugatti should be allowed to compete. For its part, though, Guinness finally came to the conclusion that such a ruling was contrary to the spirit of the rule and just days later did a full about-face, reinstating the Bugatti as reigning champ as fastest car in the world.
However you slice it, though, it is a bit funny to call these cars production cars. They are patched together from a host of system sources, hand crafted in elaborate processes and result in a tiny handful of such cars only ever actually being purchased. So "production car" may be in the eye of the beholder. And, heck, aren't rules made to be broken?
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