Fast and furious: cars that exceed 400 km/h

It was during a trip from Tokyo to Nagoya aboard the Shinkansen that Ferdinand Piëch spoke, for the first time, of realizing his dream. . Supported by a few improvised sketches in a used envelope, the once strongman of the Volkswagen Group entrusted an engineer from his team with what he had had in mind for many years. From then on, nothing stopped the exploit of Bugatti Veyron the supercar that revolutionized the automotive industry, bringing far greater benefits than any other brand at the time.

And it is that until April 19, 2005 no car in series had crossed the magic barrier of 400 km/h . A few months earlier, the Swedish manufacturer Koenigsegg had come close by reaching a top speed of 387 km/h with its CCR supercar. Yet such a feat was reserved for the Veyron, which was born for it. And without exaggeration, since Piëch’s order book included this objective and that of 1,000 horsepower as maximum power, which he never tired of remembering when tuning the car.

Well, on that April day almost two decades ago, at Volkswagen’s spectacular test track in Ehra-Lessien, northern Germany, the Bugatti Veyron puts its name to the top of the industry , becoming the fastest production vehicle in the world. At the controls of the pilot of the brand Uwe Novacki, the French machine scored an impressive 407 km / h of maximum speed.

This feat inaugurates a new category of cars, that of hypercars, and whets the appetite of several manufacturers to aim for the record. And although the first to beat it was the SSC Ultimate Aero TT in 2007, more recent history has seen Koenigsegg become Bugatti’s main competitor when it comes to speed and acceleration. Even if in the club of 12 to more than 400 km / h there are several that you probably do not even know.

Hailing from Austria, the Milan Red is made by rookie Milan Automotive and has a jaw-dropping design. It is said to cost US$2.3 million and is powered by a 6.2-liter turbocharged V8 engine, which produces 1,307 hp, accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 2.47 seconds and has a top speed of 400 .7 km/h. At least on paper.

The second-generation Tesla Roadster boasts the most impressive spec sheet: 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, with a claimed top speed of 250 mph. While those numbers are yet to be confirmed, the Roadster’s 200kWh battery pack is big and will no doubt take EVs to another level.

Additionally, Tesla founder Elon Musk said the Roadster will have a range of 998 kilometers.

The limited-edition McLaren Speedtail is powered by a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain built around a V8 engine, although McLaren is not disclosing any further technical details at this time.

The system is known to generate 1,035 hp with which it could reach a top speed of 402.3 km/h, making it the firm’s fastest car in its history. Production of the Speedtail will be limited to just 106 units and is priced close to $2.2 million. It’s still a car, though, and doesn’t fall into the “production” category.

Aston Martin has teamed up with Red Bull Racing to develop the Valkyrie, a supercar that benefits from technology proven in the Formula 1 paddock. While the final version has not yet been released, we know it will use an engine 6.5-liter V12 with 900 hp combined with an electric block with which together it could reach 1,130 hp and which would reach a maximum speed of 402 km/h, placing it in the select group of supercars that exceed 400 km/h. h.

While the fight for the production car has always been more concentrated between Bugatti and Koenigsegg, for a moment an unknown company took the scepter.

Shelby SuperCars (SSC) held the title of fastest car in the world in 2007, when it reached 411 km/h, breaking the record for the non-sport version of the Veyron. Speed ​​was achieved thanks to a 6.3-liter V8 engine developing 1,287 hp.

The Croatian firm Rimac Automobili stood out in 2016 with the presentation of its Concept One supercar, and two years later, at the Geneva Motor Show, the brand presented the Concept Two, its replacement, even faster and more powerful according to the case.

Everything about this Concept Two is crazy. Rimac claims its four electric motors produce a combined 1,914hp, accelerating from 0-60mph in 1.85 seconds, making it the world’s fastest-accelerating production car, electric or not. and its top speed is 415.2 km/h

Rimac intends to manufacture only 150 units of the model and its price is around one million dollars.

Volkswagen’s objective in acquiring Bugatti was clear: to build the fastest production car in the world. Priced at $1.7 million, the Veyron hit the mark thanks to a 1,000 horsepower quad-turbo W16 Charger Block. However, the Veyron record was short-lived and was dethroned by SSC Ultimate Aero so Bugatti decided to invest in the Veyron Super Sport. The result was a 1,200 horsepower Veyron-Plus and changes to the aerodynamic design to gain a few extra miles per hour.

It reached a speed of 431 km/h, recorded on the Volkswagen Ehra-Lessein track. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest production car in the world. Meanwhile, the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse (the convertible variant) is the fastest in its segment, reaching a top speed of 408 km/h.

It is perhaps the most controversial of all the models with its registration, made at the Kennedy Space Center. And it is that the Hennessey registered at a speed of 434 km/h but in one direction only and generally the route is in both directions, the average is recorded and the wind conditions are taken into account. Additionally, there is the debate over whether the car’s roof is handcrafted and therefore whether the Venom GT can fit into the production vehicle category. This is why Hennessey’s monstrous record is not recognized by the Guinness Book of Records.

Koenigsegg did its homework in front of witnesses, and in order to establish its brand, the company asked the Nevada Department of Transportation to close an 11-mile stretch of Highway 160 between Las Vegas and Pahrump. It was there, on a public road, that the Swedish supercar (1,160 hp) at one point reached 457.9 km/h during its first run, and 436.4 km/h during its second, which averages 447.2 km/h. .

Hennessey Performance Engineering has been ahead of the competition for almost a decade now. If it was the Venom GT first, clocking 434 km/h in 2014 (although unofficial), the figure was enough to top the exclusive list of fastest cars for a long time.

Here’s how impressive the Venom F5’s spec sheet is, too. With an (alleged) top speed of 300 mph, the Venom F5 exceeds the previous top speed figure by over 30 mph.

To achieve this, Hennessey worked on a new carbon-fiber chassis and fitted a 7.4-liter twin-turbo V8 unit that produces 1,600 horsepower.

It was driver Andy Wallace who was responsible for bringing the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ to almost 500 km/h in August 2019, crowning himself at the time as the fastest car in the world. The limited edition of the French hypercar.

Although many manufacturers claim to have exceeded 480 km/h, Bugatti preferred to go to the Ehra-Lessien (Germany) test track and did it for real and with certification.

The special model features an advanced 1,600hp engine over the regular Chiron. And although the same driver assures that the model would be able to exceed 500 km/h, the French brand has already indicated that, for the time being, it will stop chasing speed records to focus on other projects.

Founded in 1998 and based in Washington, Shelby SuperCars (SSC) is the current top speed record holder. It was test pilot Oliver Webb who reached an average speed of 508.7 km/h (certified by Guinness) on a closed section of US Route 160 in rural Nevada.

The Tuatara, fitted with road tires and not using racing fuel, hit 300 mph on its first lap, then raised the bar to 332.9 mph on its return; his record was obtained by averaging the two tours.

The new Guinness speed record mounts a 5.9-liter V8 twin-turbo engine and 1,750 hp (with E85 fuel) or 1,350 hp (with 91 octane).