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In the run-up to the discharge of the 2024 Bugatti W16 Mistral the blokes at Molsheim dropped an enormous trace to their plans by celebrating the tenth birthday of the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, which achieved a record-breaking 254.04 mph (408.84 km/h) at Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien take a look at observe in 2013. That actually hair-raising prime velocity made the Vitesse the world’s quickest manufacturing convertible, an honor it holds to today, as we reported simply earlier than Monterey Car Week.
“Hold it right there!” mentioned Hennessey, or phrases to that impact, in an electronic mail to us after we posted about Bugatti’s anniversary. Mike Harley, VP of Marketing and Communications for the power-crazed Texan firm reminded us that the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder had damaged the Veyron’s report in March 2016 when it reached 265.57 mph (427.4 km/h) at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. And Hennessey hopes to smash that report once more with its personal new high-speed convertible, the 1,817 hp (1,842 PS) twin turbo 6.6-liter Venom F5 Roadster.
So had Bugatti merely forgotten about Hennessey’s report run, or was it selecting to disregard it for some motive? The firm made clear on the launch of the Mistral that one of many key challenge targets was to construct the world’s quickest convertible, but it surely clearly believes it solely has to surpass the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse’s velocity, and never the Venom GT’s, to achieve that aim. We requested Bugatti why it believed it was nonetheless the report holder regardless of Hennessey having video and knowledge proof that it had gone sooner, and a spokesperson advised us:
“Bugatti produced 150 examples of the [convertible] Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport and Grand Sport Vitesse, and 300 examples of the Veyron 16.4 coupe, so the mannequin is taken into account a manufacturing automotive.
“[Hennessey] produced significantly fewer vehicles, so it is not really considered a production series car. Furthermore, Bugatti’s top speed was recorded and verified by the independent German TÜV Saar.”
Related: $5M Bugatti W16 Mistral Roadster Gets Chiron Super Sport 300+’s 1,578 HP Engine, Is Limited To 99 Units
Let’s check out the manufacturing angle first. Bugatti constructed 450 Veyrons, 92 of which have been the Grand Sport Vitesse that the corporate believes nonetheless holds the report. Hennessey, alternatively, constructed solely six Venom Spyders, plus seven coupes – relatively lower than the 29 Venoms Hennessey steered it might construct on the time.
There is not any official definition (by quantity) of what constitutes a manufacturing automotive, however Bugatti definitely seems extra credible right here, and, you would possibly nicely observe that the Veyron, like the brand new Venom F5, is a novel automotive, whereas the older Venom GT is loosely primarily based on one other producer’s automotive (the Lotus Exige). But since Hennessey constructed a number of examples of the Venom, every with its personal VIN quantity, it believes it’s completely inside its rights to name the Venom a manufacturing automotive.
Then there’s the difficulty of who ratifies the information. There is nobody group answerable for ratifying these type of velocity information throughout the globe. Essentially, anybody with an information logger and couple of GoPros can declare to have set a velocity report. Bugatti’s run was noticed by TÜV, a bunch of corporations which has been concerned within the enterprise of testing and certifying machines and processes for nearly 160 years. If TÜV Saarland mentioned the Grand Vitesse did 254 mph then you haven’t any motive to doubt it and could be rattling certain web sleuths gained’t later uncover that the true velocity was at the least 50 mph (81 km/h) decrease, as occurred to SSC and its farcical Tuatara prime velocity run in Nevada.
Hennessey didn’t have TÜV available in California in 2016, but it surely factors out that its run was verified and authorized by revered automobile knowledge outfit Racelogic. What’s extra, Racelogic’s personal technical director was available to do this verifying, whereas SSC merely used Dewetron’s timing gear, and never its operatives.
Related: Hennessey Chops The Roof Off Venom F5 To Create $3 Million Roadster
What about Guinness, they of “most donuts consumed in one minute” fame? Can’t we simply hand over the verification of prime velocity information to the individuals identified for marshaling loopy feats in each different discipline? We might, as a result of Guinness World Records does ratify velocity information, however you’ll observe that neither of the convertibles duking it out on this put up function in Guinness’s database of speedy vehicles.
The motive is that sure situations should be met for Guinness to ratify a report. I requested Guinness for a full listing of guidelines a automotive should fulfill to turn into the world’s quickest automotive, however its workforce was unable to offer them as a result of the factors is at the moment being up to date. But current information, a kind of is that the automotive in query should have its velocity recorded in two instructions on the identical stretch of highway inside 60 minutes to report a mean.
Both the Grand Vitesse and Venom Spyder recorded their runs in a single route solely, as did the the Venom GT coupe (which recorded 270.49 mph / 435.31 km/h in 2014) and the 304.77 mph (490.48 km/h) Chiron Super Sport 300+, which is why none of them are acknowledged as report breakers by Guinness.
Cars should even be in showroom inventory situation, in the identical spec that homeowners obtain their vehicles, for a report to depend. Back in 2013 Guinness voided the Veyron 16.4 coupe’s 267.8 mph (431 km/h) run from 2010 and its “world’s fastest car” title after discovering that manufacturing vehicles have been outfitted with 258 mph (415 km/h) velocity restrictors not fitted to the report automotive. Production variations of the Super Sport 300+ have been additionally restricted, in that case to 273 mph (440 km/h).
And whereas there may not be an trade definition by quantity of what constitutes a manufacturing automotive, Guinness does have its personal definition. Guinness insists that at the least 30 examples should be constructed for a automotive to qualify for a report try in its eyes. We don’t but know whether or not Bugatti and Hennessey will ask Guinness to adjudicate on its future information, however primarily based on the deliberate manufacturing volumes (99 Mistrals, 30 F5 Roadsters), each would fulfill Guinness’s manufacturing necessities.
Neither firm has made any prime sped claims for his or her new fashions, however a line in Bugatti’s press launch stating that the devices are designed to be “easily visible at up to 420 km/h (260 mph)” leads us to suppose that the corporate is perhaps concentrating on a prime velocity solely barely larger than the 254.04 mph (408.84 km/h) achieved by the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse in 2013, and probably lower than the 265.57 mph (427.4 km/h) recorded by the Venom GT Spyder three years later.
Or maybe a manufacturing model might be restricted to 260 mph, however a report try is perhaps made with a derestricted automotive able to going sooner, although for aerodynamic causes, it gained’t come near the 304.77 mph (490.48 km/h) of the Chiron Super Sport 300+ regardless of packing the identical 1,579 hp (1,600 PS) quad-turbo W16 motor. Hennessey, in the meantime, claims a 311+ mph (500 km/h) prime sped for the Venom F5 Coupe and says the F5 Roadster is “engineered to exceed 300+ mph (483 km/h),” although that might be with the roof panel in place.
Do you imagine the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse or the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder is the professional holder of the quickest manufacturing convertible report? And what number of vehicles do you suppose an automaker must construct for a mannequin to be thought of a manufacturing automotive? Leave a remark and tell us.
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