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If patience is a virtue, just call us speed demons. A technology is defined as a system of applied science, craft, or art. In other words, it's a way of getting things done. As tech lovers, it seems only natural that each iteration of a technology accomplish those things a little faster and more efficiently. Whether it's to move people over land, air, water, or snow; process bits; liquefy coffee beans; or chipify wood, we ain't hatin' on acceleratin'. With a little help from Guinness World Records and our sister publication T3 in the UK, we present the following supremely fast inventions.
BUGATTI VEYRON 16.4 SUPER SPORT
With an 8-liter, 16-cylinder, quad-turbocharged engine capable of making 1,001 horsepower, the Veyron 16.4 revs up from 0-60mph in less than 2.5 seconds—on its way to 250mph in about 42 seconds. Yeah, it's peppy. In June 2010 in Ehra-Lessien, Germany, one of these rare beauties set the land speed record for a commercially available automobile at 267.86mph. And when we say it's "available," that's kind of like saying Jennifer Aniston is available. Chances are the closest you'll get to experiencing this speedster is through TV and magazines. Proving us wrong on that count will cost you a base price of $2,426,904. That's right—AC is extra.
www.bugatti.com
BLOODHOUND SSC
To break the land speed record for a car, a vehicle must have four wheels, and the Bloodhound SSC complies. Other than that, this thing is basically a rocket with a passenger seat. A rocket and a jet engine provide 47,000 pounds of thrust. Three years in the making and built with the express purpose of shattering the land speed record, the Bloodhound SSC is expected to break 1,000mph later this year. The speed of sound is 768mph, just a bit faster than the current land speed record of 763mph from the Thrust SSC, which was designed by the same Richard Noble-lead team now working on the Bloodhound.
www.bloodhoundssc.com
LIGHTNING MOTORCYCLES FLYING BANANA MK II
The apocryphally named Flying Banana MK II is actually a new version of the Lightning Motorcycles SuperBike production motorcycle. This August at the Bonneville Salt Flats, the Lightning bike set a new land speed record for electric bikes of 206.1mph. That speed was an average of several runs, and the top speed overall for the Lightning hit 208.4mph. Not only was that a record for battery-powered bikes, but it was also the first time an electric motorcycle broke into the exclusive 200mph club (which includes only 65 dino-powered bikes).
www.lightningmotorcycle.com
SUZUKI HAYABUSA GSX1300R
It's named after a peregrine falcon that can dive bomb at speeds of 180 mph, so the Hayabusa had better be slick. With a six-speed transmission, its 16-valve, liquid cooled engine delivers 1340cc for achieving flight-like speeds of 194mph. At that velocity, you'll be applying another layer of dust to the already dingy Harley riders in your wake. Or maybe you could just keep yourself and your $13,699 investment safe and not weave between multiple lanes of slow-moving cars on gridlocked highways. Yeah, right.
www.suzukicycles.com
Comments are closed on this article
choffstadt
October 11, 2011 at 9:39am
The recently unveiled Tuatara produced by Shelby SuperCars is claiming to have a 275mph+ top speed. Much of the details are still secret but what is known is that the car will sport a ~1350Hp Twin turbo 7 Liter DOHC V8 engine in one gorgeous looking cockpit.
Peace Bugatti.
streetking
October 11, 2011 at 2:12pm
if they include the bloodhound ssc, they should definitely include the tuatara, since neither have yet to prove their dominance, but are very likely to
there's also the matter of the Dagger GT: http://www.gtr-xs.com
blackdog
October 11, 2011 at 6:17am
Not to mention that after the Hayabusa was made the major motorcycle companies agreed to stop making faster sport bikes due to the fact that just anyone regardless of skill could buy one of these monsters and be let loose on the road with it. Glad I got mine before that came into affect, I have been riding for 25+ years and I do shudder when I think of a novice getting behind the controls of one, the temptation is soooooo strong to twist it up. (And ya it's a blast)
mainlander
October 10, 2011 at 3:44pm
Did anybody else notice that the supercomputer consumes more power than the train?
AETAaAS
October 10, 2011 at 10:54pm
Well, the picture MaxPC has on for the Supercomputer is deceptive. A supercomputer almost NEVER looks like that. Imagine dozens if not hundreds of those units taking up the space of a ballroom and you have an idea why it uses so much power. :p
Neufeldt2002
October 10, 2011 at 2:33pm
And the Horsepower was upped to 1200BHP from the standard 1001BHP.
