Bugatti will no doubt be cracking out the bubbly and party streamers tonight because the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport has just been given back its title as the world’s fastest production car.
The £1 million, 1,183bhp quad turbo-charged Veyron was originally awarded the record by the Guinness World Records back in 2010 but the claim was disputed and revoked, due to a number of issues. Most prominent of these was the fact the production car is limited to a top speed of 258mph to help prevent its tyres exploding the tyres, whereas the car that set the record was completely unrestricted.
However, within the last few days Guinness World Records announced it had handed back the title to the Italian monster.
“Following a thorough review conducted with a number of external experts, Guinness World Records is pleased to announce the confirmation of Bugatti’s record of Fastest production car achieved by the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport,” it said.
“The focus of the review was with respect to what may constitute a modification to a car’s standard specification. Having evaluated all the necessary information, Guinness World Records is now satisfied that a change to the speed limiter does not alter the fundamental design of the car or its engine,” it added.
With driver Pierre Henri Raphanel at the helm, the Veyron achieved a scarily fast 267.8mph (431.072km/h) in July of 2010. To put that into perspective, every single second a distance of 119 metres is travelled ─ think the Wembley pitch lengthways and then some in the time it takes to sneeze.
Astute Recombu Cars readers will perhaps be wondering where the Hennessey Venom GT fits into all of this. It actually became the fastest production car while the Veyron was being investigated, achieving a top speed of 265.7mph (427.6km/h) at the United States Naval Air Station in Leemore, California, but the run was not officially verified by Guinness.
With the right scrutineers on hand, it’s surely only a matter of time before the Venom wrestles the title from the German powerhouse. If you watch the video below, you’ll see the Venom driver fluffed a gear change when going from fourth to fifth. Without the error, 270mph is conceivably achievable. As Hennessey pointed out, the fastest production car you can buy is still the limiter-less Venom GT.
Source: The Telegraph
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