All week long, the Honda Racing F1 team has been out at the Bonneville Salt Flats pursuing a lofty goal: setting a new Formula 1 car land speed record over the Bonneville flying mile with an average speed of 400 kph. Honda simply called the mission the Bonneville 400.
The instrument being used to make the attempt was a V10-powered Honda 007. For the runs out on the salt, the car was outfitted with an upright rear fin instead of the standard wing, and also employed the use of a parachute to help slow itself at the completion of each attempt. Driver Alan van der Mewe was behind the wheel for all the early-morning record runs, and through the course of the week, Alan, the team, and the car have broken F1 class records three times.
During today's final set of attempts, the Honda produced two land speed records for Formula 1 cars. Over the Bonneville flying mile, the car hit an average speed of 397.360kph (246.908mph). The second record set was over the flying kilometer, where it averaged 397.481kph (246.983mph).
The magic 400 kph average remained out of reach, though earlier this week, the car did hit 400.454 kph on one pass of the measured mile. It wasn't able to match the feat on the return trip, unfortunately.
While disappointed that they didn't set the record at 400, all parties involved deemed the week a success. Given the time and effort that they put into the event and the challenges they faced running an F1 car on the salt flats, you can't help but agree.
Check out the Bonneville 400 site for a host of info, including full coverage of the week, images and video of the attempts.
(Additional photos after the jump)
[Source: Honda Racing F1]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jon @ Jul 21st 2006 6:22PM
Uhm, great. How about going fast on actual F1 tracks now?
Mike from Scarborough @ Jul 21st 2006 6:31PM
Big deal eh?They such on the track.
ruggels @ Jul 21st 2006 9:59PM
soo the veyron IS offically faster then the fastest F1 car? ok got it.
laserwizard @ Jul 21st 2006 10:00PM
Yawn. Honduh will stoop to no low to make a name for itself in something other than production cars. Guess they have to. They have the dullest lineup of vehicles made by any company - even blander than Toyoduh or Ford.
Andy @ Jul 21st 2006 11:24PM
laserwizard -
No doubt this is a publicity stunt, but I think the Honda S2000 & the Fit are more exciting that what Toyota & Ford have to offer.
epp_b @ Jul 21st 2006 11:39PM
["Yawn. Honduh will stoop to no low to make a name for itself in something other than production cars. Guess they have to. They have the dullest lineup of vehicles made by any company - even blander than Toyoduh or Ford"]
I don't know about *that*. I'd sure rather have an S2000 than a Mustang or...well, Toyota doesn't *have* any interesting cars. Celica? I don't think so.
The Accord with a V6 and 6-speed is actually a pretty hot car, especially compared with the likes of Toyota and Ford. Toyota has the, uh...well, they don't have a sports sedan or coupe. Ford has the 500 vanilla-mobile (no manual there) and the Gillette-designed-front-grille Fusion, which only pairs a 5-speed with the 4 cylinder engine.
More bland than Toyota or Ford? Do some research next time, buddy.
Scott @ Jul 21st 2006 11:45PM
Don't Champ cars hit over 250 mph on the straights of some superspeedways?
Fooman @ Jul 21st 2006 11:49PM
3. Wah??? The Veyron hits 240 if it is lucky this is almost 400mph...
epp_b @ Jul 21st 2006 11:56PM
["The Veyron hits 240 if it is lucky this is almost 400mph..."]
Read the story again (or read it, period; because, by the looks of things, you just saw 400 and thought "400 MIllELES AN HORU!!#11!!!!ooneeleventy111!!1!!"). It's 400 KILOMETRES per hour. 400 / 1.62 = 247 MPH.
The Bugatti 16.4 Veyron's top speed is 253 MPH. And that's carrying nearly two tons of luxury. Kind of makes this look futile.
Alex Nunez @ Jul 22nd 2006 12:24AM
epp_b,
I agree that this serves to further illustrate just how sublime the Veyron really is, but if you watch the video on the Bonneville400.com website, you get an idea of just how difficult it is to maintain traction on the salt.
While the Honda's record-breaking speed may seem "slow," it's not as simple as just getting out there on pavement and hammering it. I have a new appreciation for all the salt flat racers who go out to Bonneville. Setting a land speed record there takes a ton of preparation and doesn't look easy by any stretch of the imagination.
Comparing the Veyron's top speed on pavement to an F1 car's average top speed over a timed distance -- on salt -- is not the same thing. I love the Veyron, but I don't think that it's an apples-to-apples comparison in this case.
That said, I'm dying to see a Veyron owner (or Bugatti itself) send a car to Bonneville to see how it does in the flying mile.
John F @ Jul 22nd 2006 1:10AM
I don't think half of you understand that the car had to hit this speed in A MILE. I doubt the Veyron could hit its top speed of 250 whatever in one mile.
Perry @ Jul 22nd 2006 1:27AM
First, F1 cars suffer from open-wheel drag. Their CD is something like .62, so they need a lot more power to overcome the drag. Second, this is FLYING MILE, which means you get a runup and rundown and get timed in the middle. It would be called the STANDING MILE if you got just 1 mile to reach top speed. You better bet that car has 800HP+, the veyron is 1000HP.
ruggels @ Jul 22nd 2006 1:36AM
"Comparing the Veyron's top speed on pavement to an F1 car's average top speed over a timed distance -- on salt -- is not the same thing"
yeah i'm sure a supercar with all wheel drive will have a hard time hitting vmax on sand compared to a rwd f1 car with insane amounts of torque. O_o.
oh and per Topgear: In a speed race, the McLaren F1 could be allowed to reach 120 mph before the Bugatti started, with the Bugatti still being first to reach 200 mph... so given that kind of accelleration, I'm thinking it would do a-ok.. since nothing ever built for the road has been able to compare to that kind of accelleration.
and from leftlane:
Everyone knows the Bugatti Veyron is fast. Perhaps the fastest road car in the world. So what does that really mean? Columnist Adam Towler attempts to quantify that experience with numbers and testimony. "After 2.8sec we’re past 60mph, proving Bugatti’s point about the Veyron versus an F1 car. The single-seater, in fact, might not be as quick to 60mph because it doesn’t have the Bugatti’s 4wd hardware," writes Towler. "And then it dawns on me: the rate of acceleration, even at 70mph, is actually increasing. Even now, as I type, that realization makes the hairs on the back of my neck go stiff." But it's not over. "Third gear is real Armageddon. This ratio is the one that makes you feel like test pilot Chuck Yeager in the movie The Right Stuff, as he broke the sound barrier for the first time." Looking for some hard numbers? Try 0-30 mph in 1.5 seconds, 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds, 30-50mph in 1.0 seconds, 70-100 mph in 2.0 seconds. Oh, and the surface Mr. Towler was driving on was less than ideal. "Next time – and there will be one – we will do a full test on a decent surface. Then, we have no doubt, the fastest car in the world will go faster still," concludes Towler.
Chris @ Jul 22nd 2006 1:50AM
I think Honda should have used their time and money to make their loser F1 worth a damn.
Tired_Watcher @ Jul 22nd 2006 2:48AM
Chris is right. Their performance at France wasn't that great. Well their performance for the past couple of races weren't that great either.
J @ Jul 22nd 2006 3:27AM
6.The Accord with a V6 and 6-speed is actually a pretty hot car, especially compared with the likes of Toyota and Ford. Toyota has the, uh...well, they don't have a sports sedan or coupe.
Not sure why Toyota is getting the dis here? Uh, they have a coupe - the '07 Camry comes in a coupe. The V6 Camry in sedan or coupe puts out more ponies than the Accorn - 268 to 244 and more torque - 248 to 211 @ a lower rpm. You also will get more car w/Camry, more cargo space, etc. Better gas mileage 22/31 to 20/29. All at about the same price point $27K +- options. Have not driven the acorn, but the Camry sedan is pretty impressive.
Drawback for me is the non-existent hood view (I'm 6'4" and can not see where the hood ends). I am sure my counterpart would have no trouble finding out there is something attached in front of that windsheld:>)
Proud Japanese @ Jul 22nd 2006 3:56AM
Erm, the F1 car can go much faster than this. It all depends on the surface. For example they did a shakedown test and got 256mph. Pretty sure it can go faster on a circuit.
http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/honda/hondas-f1-bonneville-speed-record-attempt-back-on-187303.php
danny @ Jul 22nd 2006 6:15AM
Yeah if they did it at Nardo or something I'm sure the car would go way over 400km/h.
RacetrackOwner @ Jul 22nd 2006 7:08AM
Did I just read a claim that an Accord is "a pretty hot car"? LOL Since we're talking about fast cars, we might as well compare top-of-the-line apples to apples... hmmm... Ford GT vs. NSX. Yeah, not really a contest.
As for the 256MPH shakedown test, that run was on tarmac at the Mojave airport, so just as everyone was saying, it's irrelevant to the Bonneville run. And you can bet there was zero downforce, which would make it irrelevant to real racing conditions. Pretty much any F1 car ought to be able to run in that range on tarmac in a straight line.
Richard Warren @ Jul 22nd 2006 9:20AM
Or, you could take your old Indian motorcycle to the sand and hit 206 mph with none of the high technology showcased here, with no team either.
Anyone seen the "Fastest Indian" or read about ole Burt Munroe?