Where are land speed records set?
There are only a handful of places on earth where these hypercars can truly stretch their legs. The Nardo Ring in Italy is a 7.8-mile-long circular track, and its banking famously allows cars to travel at up to 149mph with no steering input required from the driver. Bugatti uses its Ehra-Lessien facility with its 5.4-mile straight, while Hennesey prefers the space shuttle runway at the Kennedy Space Centre. Closed sections of autobahn and airstrips have also been used.
What was the first car to set a speed record?
The Mercedes Velo was the first production car, so became the unofficial holder of the world’s fastest car accolade in 1894. Some 1,200 Velos were built, and they could achieve a dizzying 12mph.
What was the first car to go 200mph?
Road legal cars had gone faster, but in terms of regular production cars, the Ferrari F40 was the first to break the 200mph barrier. Ferrari claimed a 4.1sec 0-62 time and a 200.88mph maximum. This, along with its stunning chassis and technological advances means it’s still considered one of the greatest Ferraris ever made.
Can a car go 400mph?
Short answer: not yet. Since 2019, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport has been the only car proven capable of more than 300mph, but the Koenigsegg Jesko and Hennessey Venom F5 could yet beat it. Speeds like these pose engineers a stern challenge in terms of power, aerodynamics and even tyre wear, so it’s hugely complicated and expensive to achieve even a small gain.But still manufacturers keep trying, so the prospect of a 400mph hypercar is a very real one. Just one that we’re not going to see any time soon.
What is the fastest land speed record ever?
The current land speed record holder, rather surprisingly, doesn’t wear number plates. Thrust SSC was powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey jet engines – as used in the RAF’s Phantom II fighter – and achieved 763mph in October 1997, and in so doing became the first car ever to break the sound barrier. That its record has stood for more than two and a half decades is proof of the technical complexity, cost and danger of these runs.