Autoblog

click above to view more high-res images o fhte G-Power Hurricane M5

Coaxing more power from an engine as finely-tuned as BMW M-division's 500-horsepower V10 is no easy task. But that didn't stop German aftermarket tuner G-Power, which managed to get total power output up to a staggering 730 hp for its Hurricane M5, claiming the hotly-contested mantle of the world's fastest and most powerful street-legal Bimmer.

To extract that kind of juice, G-Power fitted not one, but two superchargers – one for each cylinder bank – with stratospheric spooling redlines of 100,000 rpm. They've also fitted an overhead intercooler, swapped in a bigger oil cooler and tinkered with the M5's notoriously intricate electronics. The result: half a second off the M5's already supercar-like 0-60 time, now down to just 4.2 seconds. With all that extra power and the electronic limiter removed, the aptly-named Hurricane is claimed to hit a top speed of 340 km/h – that's over 211 miles per Autobahn-storming hour.

More after the jump, including all the specs and G-Power's official press release, and be sure to scope out the photos in the gallery below.

[Source: G-Power]

Click the Fusion for high-res images from Bonneville

Matt Zuehlk and his team comprised of engineers and technicians from Ford, Roush and Ballard Power Systems finally hit the Bonneville Salt Flats this past weekend after months of preparation and weeks of vehicle integration testing. On Sunday, Driver Rick Byrnes made a qualification run at over 161 mph with the hydrogen fuel cell-powered Fusion.

Now the team will be spending the rest of this week working their way up to over 200 mph as they try to establish a land speed record for a production-bodied fuel cell car. The Ford team is also working with the Ohio State University team who are trying to get their Buckeye Bullet 2 streamliner up over 350mph.

[Source: Ford, via AutoblogGreen]

click on above image for more high-res pics of the SSC Ultimate Aero TT

Back in March, SSC went for the mantle of World's Fastest Production Car with its Ultimate Aero TT. The attempt failed due to a number of factors, one of which was bad weather, but SSC is still determined to take the title away from the Koenigsegg CCR, which is the current record holder with an official run up to 242 mph. (The Bugatti Veyron has reportedly gone 253 mph in an unofficial run.)

Winding Road recently spoke with Junus Khan, SSC's marketing director, who claims that the Ultimate Aero TT hit 241.4 mph during a transmission temperature test on May 22. At the time, the driver was reportedly using only 71 percent of the car's available throttle, which implies it's got plenty of reserve to break the official record of 242 mph. With 1,183 bhp on tap behind the driver's head, we're sure the SSC Ultimate Aero TT will shatter the record soon once the company organizes another official attempt. Khan says they'll be going for it in the "very near future."

[Source: Winding Road]

"We all know the great drivers – they're the ones who win the world titles – but what about the truly quick ones?" That's the question F1 Racing magazine asked, and answered with a study published in the January issue. They surveyed the insiders – from team leaders to former world champions – and compared driver's stats to the performance of their team-mates to arrive at a list of the Top 50 quickest drivers of all time.

The late, great Ayrton Senna took the top honors, followed by the recently retired Michael Schumacher in second place. Reigning world champion Fernando Alonso took eighth place, but more importantly was the top-ranked driver currently racing, coming ahead of Kimi Raikkonen (13th) and well ahead of Jarno Truli (42nd), Mark Webber (43rd) and Jenson Button (49th). Shockingly, Alonso also finished ahead of some of history's greatest like Gilles Villeneuve (11th), Alain Prost (14th) and Niki Lauda (18th).

Will Alonso continue to live up to the rank F1 Racing attributed to him? We'll enjoy finding out.

[Source: F1 Racing via F1i.com]

Video of what may be the world's fastest street legal car made its rounds around the blogosphere last night, and we have to say the Red Victor One, a 1971 Vauxhall Victor powered by a 2,200 bhp, twin-turbo 9.8-liter V8, is a rather impressive beast, if not incredibly limited in its abilities. Built by Andy Frost, a 45-year-old Brit who estimates he's pumped about $187,000USD into the car, the Victor One is basically a street legal drag car capable of reaching 60 mph in 1 second and running the quarter in 7.8 seconds at 183.07 mph. Surely the Red Victor One is an impressive machine, able to embarass Veyrons and Enzos all day long in a straight line. Turning, however, is a different story, as this street legal drag racer probably handles like the QE2.

The car, however, actually isn't in a class by itself, it just benefits from a rather sensationally titled YouTube video. We thought for sure someone had built a street legal Supra that could match the Red Victor One, but couldn't locate one on the internets. A quick survey of the tubes, however, revealed a 1966 Chevelle that back in 1994 did the quarter in 7.85 seconds at 172.41 mph using a 632ci big-block and many liters of nitrous. Of course, one thing the YouTube video doesn't specify is whether Red Victor One takes its passes on street tires or slicks, which would make a significant difference. Still, props must be given to Andy Frost and the Victor; both are truly insane.

[Sourcce: Engadget]

This came as a bit of a shock to us, but the Bugatti Veyron is not actually the fastest production car in the world according to that authoritative tome of useless and wonderful knowledge, the Guinness Book of World of Records. It seem Bugatti just never got around to scheduling an official high-speed run that could be officially considered by Guinness. In late October, Bugatti plans to rectify that and make an official top speed run at the Ehra Lessien test track near VW's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. The track has an unbroken straight of 9 km (5.6 miles), which should offer ample room to reach the Veyron's "unofficial" top speed of at least 253 mph. Currently the Veyron only holds the record for the Most Powerful Production Car.

If the official fastest production vehicle isn't the Veyron, then what is? The answer is the Koenigsegg CCR, the 806-hp super Swede that has been officially clocked at 245 mph. The Veyron may not be king of the hill for long, however, as the CCX that Autoblogger Frank Filipponio got to pilot can theoretically reach 258 mph.

[Source: Motor Authority]