Before you start to research on the world’s fastest car, you need to understand what ‘fast’ means here. ‘Fast’ can be referred to as moving fast, however, in a straight line. It is without a doubt that Lewis Hamilton F1 car takes the lead. Besides professional racing teams & racetrack cars, there are top-speed missiles that be considered. A better benchmark, when compared to the top speed set, is 0-60 in today’s exotic car world.
Which is the fastest car in the world?
The land speed record was first set in 1997 by Rolls Royce experimental Thrust Supersonic Car. Its wheels were made from solid aluminum & had twin turbine engines. It achieved 1240 km/hr speed covering a distance of 30km on an empty flat desert. Although several attempts have been made to-date, this record still survives. But Thrust SSC is not included in the word ‘car’. It has rocket fuel placed on its wheels & made from ten tons of metal. A parachute is fitted to stop the vehicle. Being powerful, it flies off the road, thus termed as a fighter jet, but without the wings.
When ‘world’s fastest cars’ are concerned, it means a bit slower & cooler cars. In short, these are mass-produced ‘production cars’ meant for the general public. Such cars are meant to be driven on roads.
Bugatti
When production cars are concerned, Bugatti Super-Sport Chiron 300+ is by far the fastest car in the world in 2020. Andy Wallace drove this car on a challenging German racetrack on 2nd August 2019. His goal was to surpass the 480 km/hr (300 mph) unbreakable limit. The Super-Sport prototype is said to be the basic Chiron’s heavily modified version. The AWD award-winning platform was improvised using laser height sensors, which lowered & raised its chassis. This ensured that the car hugged the ground as much as possible. Its passenger seat got removed, chassis elongated and a carbon-fiber roll cage was fitted.
Also was upgraded its engine having a quad-turbo system. This helped to include 100hp to the conventional Bugatti model to derive 1580hp total power. It is similar to 7 fire trucks. With fins removed, its brake system was compact, and the gas tank had sufficient fuel just to allow a single run. The total weight was approximately 1980 kg.
To warm up its engine, Wallace drove for few laps and gunned the engine on the main drag. The car crossed the barrier of 300mph & hit 304 briefly before maxing its RPMs. It is somewhat fast like that of a maglev train or propeller plane at a good speed. After this achievement, the prototype entered the production stage. In 2020, around 30 cars have been manufactured, with each costing approximately 4 million British pounds.
The car’s top speed is credited mainly to its aerodynamic body, designed to reduce drag than raw acceleration. Bugatti achieved the speed of 0-60 in just 2.4 seconds, which is amazingly fast.
The Volkswagen owned Bugatti in 2005 had managed to create a record in the production car segment by hitting 254mph speed. Veyron Super Sport, in 2010, touched 268mph top speed in 2010. It achieved 268mph top speed in 2010 with Veyron Super Sport. However, on achieving the latest top speed, Bugatti confirmed retiring from the numerical records race.
Aspark
An ultra-light, low-profile, fully electric prototype Japanese Sportscar named the Aspark Owl is considered to be the fastest car ranging from 0-60. Optimizing electric vehicle technology advantages has helped to derive ridiculous acceleration. It also managed to reduce the disadvantages. Instead of the typical engine, the OWL is provided with 4 smaller engines as electric engines tend to scale down well. Each engine is linked with a wheel. With this setup, it became possible to reduce weight & improve power with the elimination of drivetrain & AWD transmission.
The OWL is an EV that is not provided with an exhaust system. This means catalytic converters are not essential for the production models. Most supercars may experience engine power loss by 2-3 percent. No air brakes are required by this vehicle since electric engines are designed to apply braking pressure. This is achieved by running in reverse. Also, there is no need for air intakes, turbo, central cooling or carburetor. Thus, it managed to reduce drag & weight.
The heavy batter considered to be the EVs Achilles heel has been reduced significantly. This vehicle is fitted with a small battery with a 450 km range, dropping at higher speeds. It allows ultra-high acceleration but tends to restrict its road functionality.
Without risking damage to the battery, maintaining max horsepower can be tough. At high speeds, 4-engine balance can be a bit wonky. It is such problems that did not allow this vehicle to get into the top slot. However, electric vehicles are the future when it comes to contesting in the acceleration segment.
