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 competition for Bugatti is, 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 been certified as accelerating from 0 to 186 mph in 13.63 seconds. And second is the SSC Ultimate Aero, which has twice been crowned the world's fastest car, in the past. It has recorded a certified speed of 256.18 mph, giving it the title the first time around, which it kept for almost three years. It was the second time wearing the crown, though, which involved all the controversy. Before getting to that, in addition to identifying the players, we have to also know the rules.
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.
The story begins in 2010. It was then that Bugatti first took the crown as the world's fastest car away from the then reigning champ, the SSC Ultimate Aero. And Bugatti remained top of the hill, until April of 2013. In the early days of April, John Hennessey, proprietor of the Venom GT, announced that his car had set the production car record with a dizzying speed of 265.7 mph, back in February. This though had not been a certified test. As a consequence, such a run posed no threat to Bugatti's record. And, anyway, the Venyon Super Sports speed record was officially higher than the Venon GT, at 267.8 mph. So, what was the big deal? The big deal turned out to be, Hennessey also remarking that in fact his speed did made his the fastest production car in the world. His reasoning was that, as he pointed out, Bugatti placed a speed limiter in their commercially purchased cars.
And this was true. Commercially purchased Bugatti Venyon Super Sports did have a safety system implemented to prevent the cars moving at speeds in excess of 258 mph. This was almost a full 10 mph below the track recorded record. The folks at the Guinness Book of Records heard about this and a several days long fiasco ensued. The Guinness officials decided that the speed limiter posed a modification for speed testing purposes. Consequently, it disqualified the Bugatti as a production car. The crown was revoked. Since there was no official certification of the Hennessey's speed, the crown reverted back to the former record holder, the SSC Ultimate Aero.
This obviously was a peculiar situation, since, presumably the point of a rule against modified cars was to prevent cars not sold commercially - perhaps taken off a commercial production line, but modified in ways unavailable and or illegal for legal street driving -- of entering the contest. In this situation, though, the car wasn't being modified for advantage on the track, but was modified for safely on the street. It wasn't made faster for the track, but slower for the street. This was obviously a modification that had the effect of making the car faster on the track than on the street, yet the production car wasn't modified to be faster, but rather it was modified to be slower. Clearly this was an unusual situation for which the rules had not been calibrated.
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.
When you consider it, though, it is a bit strange to call any of those production cars. They are pieced together from a diversity of system sources, hand crafted in meticulous manual processes and result in a tiny number of such cars only ever being purchased. So, maybe, the lesson here is that "production car" is a judgment in the eye of the beholder. Be that as it may, I'm quite sure that rules made to be broken. 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 competition for Bugatti is, 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 been certified as accelerating from 0 to 186 mph in 13.63 seconds. And second is the SSC Ultimate Aero, which has twice been crowned the world's fastest car, in the past. It has recorded a certified speed of 256.18 mph, giving it the title the first time around, which it kept for almost three years. It was the second time wearing the crown, though, which involved all the controversy. Before getting to that, in addition to identifying the players, we have to also know the rules.
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.
The story begins in 2010. It was then that Bugatti first took the crown as the world's fastest car away from the then reigning champ, the SSC Ultimate Aero. And Bugatti remained top of the hill, until April of 2013. In the early days of April, John Hennessey, proprietor of the Venom GT, announced that his car had set the production car record with a dizzying speed of 265.7 mph, back in February. This though had not been a certified test. As a consequence, such a run posed no threat to Bugatti's record. And, anyway, the Venyon Super Sports speed record was officially higher than the Venon GT, at 267.8 mph. So, what was the big deal? The big deal turned out to be, Hennessey also remarking that in fact his speed did made his the fastest production car in the world. His reasoning was that, as he pointed out, Bugatti placed a speed limiter in their commercially purchased cars.
And this was true. Commercially purchased Bugatti Venyon Super Sports did have a safety system implemented to prevent the cars moving at speeds in excess of 258 mph. This was almost a full 10 mph below the track recorded record. The folks at the Guinness Book of Records heard about this and a several days long fiasco ensued. The Guinness officials decided that the speed limiter posed a modification for speed testing purposes. Consequently, it disqualified the Bugatti as a production car. The crown was revoked. Since there was no official certification of the Hennessey's speed, the crown reverted back to the former record holder, the SSC Ultimate Aero.
This obviously was a peculiar situation, since, presumably the point of a rule against modified cars was to prevent cars not sold commercially - perhaps taken off a commercial production line, but modified in ways unavailable and or illegal for legal street driving -- of entering the contest. In this situation, though, the car wasn't being modified for advantage on the track, but was modified for safely on the street. It wasn't made faster for the track, but slower for the street. This was obviously a modification that had the effect of making the car faster on the track than on the street, yet the production car wasn't modified to be faster, but rather it was modified to be slower. Clearly this was an unusual situation for which the rules had not been calibrated.
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.
When you consider it, though, it is a bit strange to call any of those production cars. They are pieced together from a diversity of system sources, hand crafted in meticulous manual processes and result in a tiny number of such cars only ever being purchased. So, maybe, the lesson here is that "production car" is a judgment in the eye of the beholder. Be that as it may, I'm quite sure that rules made to be broken. Right?
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