French V150 tops Veyron by more than 100 mph
Sister blog Gadling just posted this video of a French assault on the worlds fastest vehicle title. Forget the Veyron's 253 mph or the projected 273 that the SSC Ultimate Aero TT will do, this Gallic bullet just hit 357.2 mph! While the Bug and Aero have around 1,000 hp to help push them towards glory, this puppy packs a whopping 25,000 hp. And it's not just about top speed here, this baby corners like it's on rails. OK, it literally corners on rails because it's a train. It still rides on wheels. Fine, its a stretch, but it is a pretty amazing speed for a train. Although a Japanese bullet train still holds a slightly higher overall speed record at 361 mph, that was a mag-lev with no wheels touching the ground during the run. Semantics, sure, but fun none-the-less.
Actually, top-fuel dragsters are approaching these speeds, albeit in just a quarter mile, and various Land Speed Record streamliners have hit speeds in excess of 400 mph, but seeing something this huge hustling along the French countryside is breathtaking. This specially equipped TGV was pulling three double-decker cars and had larger diameter wheels fitted, plus it had a boosted engine and increased voltage in the overhead lines. But even the regular TGV motors along at around 300 km/h on a typical run. High speed trains are increasingly being pitched to markets as varied as China and California, so these tests serve not only to draw attention to this mode of transportation, but to test updates in track and engine configurations. The full video of the record run is after the jump.
[Source: Gadling]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris 11:16AM (4/04/2007)
I feel obligated to point out that "vehicle" includes aircraft, and that "worlds fastest vehicle title" should really be "world's fastest land vehicle title". Pretty much every passenger jet ever built puts the TGV (and the Veyron) to shame in terms of flat-out top speed.
cl
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Justin Glow 11:46AM (4/04/2007)
Thanks for the link-back guys!
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Logik 12:35PM (4/04/2007)
C'est extraordinaire!
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Mike 12:44PM (4/04/2007)
I think that is so cool! Until you have ridden on the French TGV at 180+, you are just missing out on a amazing high speed luxo-cruise!
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chewy 1:49PM (4/04/2007)
Very cool video. Awesome train.
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Yago Bal 2:58PM (4/04/2007)
It's hard when we think the US doesn't have the best cars, never was able to build a high speed train like those who cross Europe for the last 25 years (reaches over 200 mph in commercial use: the 357 mph value was a test run -an old one), and never could develop a supersoninc comercial aeroplane like the Concorde (30 years ago)...
Transportation isn't an american trait, I guess, but it's probably the country were a TGV would make most sense in the world...
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James Valley 3:10PM (4/04/2007)
It's just amazing to see the people inside the train: they look just like they are on a living room: not a single vibracion or whatsoever... Amazing.
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MikeW 7:29PM (4/04/2007)
But is it a hybrid?
If the Bugatti Veyron had 25,000 hp (Mr. Fusion) then it would probably go 574.8mph.
Mach 1/2 is fast enough for land vehicles. Too bad Amtrak will never get close.
Which is bigger? Texas of France: ~texas 678,000 sq kilometers, france ~675,000 and France has triple the population.
Maybe the USA is just too pretty to have the sights wizzing by at 200mph.
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Christian Bultel 10:37AM (4/05/2007)
To Chris that clarify the definition of "vehicle" let me point out that the vehicle that will propel
800 passengers as the TGV does and at higher speed will also be a French Airbus.
Christian
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Chris 10:52PM (4/05/2007)
Very nice video. And it's amazing how smooth the train is. However, reaching high speed on a nearly perfectly straight track on level terrain is a lot different than a track through the mountainous terrain that you find in the U.S. There are very few places where the terrain would be this level, except maybe in the Great Plains, and then it wouldn't make much sense where you have hundreds of miles of nothing but grassland and a few scattered small towns. An electrified railway is extremely expensive to build and maintain. It would be good to build this between major cities though, like between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, for example...but it would be a much bigger challenge because of the terrain.
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Ralph 1:33AM (4/08/2007)
I wouldn't want to ride on a train going that fast. Kiss your ass goodbye if it ever derails.
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