The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is once again the world’s fastest production car, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Last week Guinness stripped the record from Bugatti after complaints from rival hillbillies carmaker Hennessy claiming the Veyron Super Sport had its speed limiter removed and was therefore not “production” spec.
A statement from Guinness can be read after the break.
[Source: Autoblog]
The good old boys from Hennessey reckon their cobbled together supercar, built on a Lotus Exige chassis, has the balls to mess with the rather more sophisticated garcons from Bugatti. The Hennessey Venom GT, powered by a 1244hp (927kW) 7.0 litre twin-turbo V8, has just achieved a a top speed of 265.7mph (427.6km/h) on a two mile runway in California.
Hang on a minute, hasn’t the Veyron Super Sport earned itself a nice certificate from the Guinness Book of Records for topping out at 268mph (431km/h)? Well, yes it has. So while we’re splitting hairs here, what is Hennessey playing at?
You see, in factory production spec Bugatti limits its cars to a feeble 258mph (415km/h), so Hennessy boasts that in, production trim, their Venom GT can top anything the Veyron can in do without being fiddled with.
“While a Veyron Super Sport did run 267.8mph, Bugatti speed-limits its production vehicles to 258mph,” said John Hennessey. “Thus, at 265.7mph the Venom GT is the fastest production car available to the public.”
One thing is clear, the Venom GT is mighty fast. It’s already knocked off the Koenisegg Agera R for the title of fastest vehicle to accelerate to 300km/h (13.63 seconds). And it might actually be a half decent steer too. This is what Richard Meaden from Evo had to say about the car:
To my mind the Venom GT is in the mould of the Porsche Carrera GT and, in some respects, the McLaren F1. Its defiantly analogue approach makes it unique amongst its contemporaries, while its no-prisoners attitude ensures it will never be less than a challenge to master. If anything, the Hennessey’s handling is a little more flattering and forgiving than either, though there’s no doubt it’ll bite if you take liberties. If you ask me, that’s exactly how a supercar should be.
You can watch a video of the Venom GT’s high-speed run after the break.