For a time, reaching 200 miles per hour in a automobile was extraordinary. However as soon as that threshold was crossed, the automotive world instantly started eying the subsequent triple-digit benchmark. It took awhile, however the 300-mph line has been crossed, and a few automobiles have moved properly previous that seemingly insane pace quantity. Apparently, it’s not only one automobile or automaker within the 300-mph membership, as a big handful of fashions have earned a spot on the leaderboard.
The quickest automobile on this planet is: Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut (330 MPH)
That title goes to the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut, which recorded a staggering 330 mph high pace earlier in 2023. The automobile’s twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V8 lays down 1,600 horsepower and 1,106 pound-feet of torque, which performs a big function in delivering that pace, however Koenigsegg’s engineers have given the automobile much more than mind-blowing energy.
The Jesko Absolut has a super-slippery 0.278 drag coefficient and a nine-speed transmission that shifts so shortly it’s nearly imperceptible. Koenigsegg calls it a Gentle Pace Transmission (LST), saying its shifts occur at nearly gentle pace. Whereas that is perhaps a slight exaggeration, the gearbox is spectacular, bringing a number of moist multi-disc clutches and an excellent light-weight development.
How costly is the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut?
When you have been studying that and questioning how a lot the quickest automobile on this planet prices, the value tag is simply one other dizzying quantity on the Jesko Absolut’s spec sheet. All 125 Absolut automobiles supplied offered out at a value of virtually $3 million. In fact, having the ability to afford the Koenigsegg is simply step one in realizing its full potential. There are only a few locations on the map that may help a 300-plus-mph pace run, and the areas that do will not be conveniently situated. That mentioned, it’s doubtless that many individuals who shelled out the money for a Jesko Absolut will probably be proud of the bragging rights as an alternative of utilizing the pace.
So, the Jesko Absolut holds the pace crown and does so with various miles per hour to spare, however the different automobiles within the 300-mph membership are almost as spectacular.
Different automobiles that drive quicker than 300 mph
The Bugatti Bolide sees 1,847 horsepower and 1,365 pound-feet of torque from a quad-turbo 8.0-liter W16. Its high pace lands at 311 mph, and its styling is simply as wild and exaggerated.
Nonetheless, not like the Koenigsegg, the Bugatti is a track-only affair. Although it shares an engine and a few of its underlying construction with the road-legal Chiron, Bugatti opted to maintain the Bolide restricted to trace obligation. Whereas that’s a bummer, particularly on the roughly $4.4 million price ticket, not having to construct a automobile to satisfy street automobile laws gave Bugatti the liberty to create a brutal automobile with pace that defies logic. The Bolide can also be way more unique than the Koenigsegg, as Bugatti produced simply 40 of the intense automobiles.
The automobile’s suspension is much stiffer than the Chiron’s, and the automobile rides on Michelin slicks. It makes use of a revised carbon monocoque and is constructed utilizing an array of 3D-printed elements. With out the necessity to fear about curbs, pace bumps, and pedestrians, Bugatti may go wild with aerodynamics and bodywork, leading to a automobile that appears prefer it may reduce you.
What goes into making a automobile that may go quicker than 300 mph?
The Jesko Absolut and Bolide make reaching 300-plus mph sound simple, which you’d count on for his or her multiple-seven-digit value tags, however there’s quite a bit that goes into hitting their mind-blowing high speeds. Past the truth that it takes miles of glassy-smooth tarmac, the automobiles need to be exceptionally aerodynamic and have the ability to eat gobs of air, and gas consumption at these speeds is immense. Engineers need to form a automobile that simply slices by means of the air whereas additionally creating great downforce to maintain it on the bottom.
Including hundreds of kilos of downforce stresses nearly each a part of the automobile, particularly the suspension and tires. The dampers have to have the ability to help the quickly heavier automobile whereas additionally conserving the tires involved with the tarmac. At 300 mph, even refined imperfections within the street floor come quicker and far tougher, so the automobile has to have the ability to cope.
Tires take a very brutal beating throughout the top-speed runs, as their sidewalls get compressed with all of the downforce. They’re additionally subjected to excessive temperatures because of the friction that comes from rubber clawing in opposition to the pavement at 300 mph. At that pace, the tires rotate hundreds of occasions per minute, so they have to even be sturdy sufficient to carry their form by means of the tough rotational forces. Lastly, excessive speeds do humorous issues with the weights of auto elements, such because the tire stress monitoring sensors, which might weigh a number of occasions their regular quantity when rotating at 300 mph and trigger wheel imbalances and different points.
What in regards to the beforehand quickest automobiles from Ferrari and Porsche?
Whereas we’re now speaking about automobiles reaching speeds in extra of 300 mph, the primary automobile to cross 200 mph did so greater than 50 years in the past. The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona hit 200 mph in March 1970 at Talladega in Alabama. That’s proper, the primary automobile to 200 wasn’t carrying an Italian identify on its nostril, although lots of the most well-known automobiles within the 200 membership do. That mentioned, the Charger Daytona, just like the Bugatti Bolide as we speak, was not street-legal, and the primary road-going automobile to hit the benchmark was a Ferrari.
A number of years after the Dodge’s record-setting run, the Ferrari F40 (under left) reached 200 mph as the primary manufacturing automobile with the report. Its twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V8 cranked out 471 horsepower when new, giving it a 0-60 mph time of three.8 seconds and a high pace of 201 mph. Apparently, probably the most spectacular Porsche on the time, the 959 (under proper), fell simply in need of the F40’s pace, reaching “simply” 197 mph.
Electrical energy may change all the things
Because the automotive world strikes towards full electrification, there are questions on EVs’ high pace and battery energy, however there are a minimum of 5 fashions on sale as we speak with a 200-plus mph high pace. The slick Lucid Air Sapphire affords a 200-mph high pace and a 0-60 time of below 2 seconds. It tied the Tesla Mannequin S Plaid’s high pace however did 0-60 faster, because the Tesla takes 2.1 seconds to do the deed. The Lotus Evija additionally guarantees a 200-mph high pace, however the high two automobiles are serving to transfer the EV efficiency needle near the intense numbers seen from as we speak’s quickest fuel automobiles. The Pininfarina Battista affords a 217-mph high pace and a loopy 1.8-second 0-60 time, and on the tippy-top of the efficiency hill is the Rimac Nevera, which affords a 258-mph high pace and a 1.9-second 0-60 mph time.