Need for Speed: The 12 Fastest High-Tech Gadgets In the World

Posted 10/10/2011 at 1:57pm | by Markkus Rovito and Rob Temple

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As the technological parade marches forward, it tends to step a bit livelier with every passing innovation. It's in this spirit of momentum that we salute the fastest stuff on Earth.

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.

Fastest Production Car

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

Fastest Thing on Four Wheels

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

Fastest Electric Motorcycle

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

Fastest Production Motorcycle

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