Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[REPORT: South African man sets speed record for blind - in 200 mph SL Black Series!]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/09/report-south-african-man-sets-speed-record-for-blind-in-200-m/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/09/report-south-african-man-sets-speed-record-for-blind-in-200-m/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/09/report-south-african-man-sets-speed-record-for-blind-in-200-m/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black - Click above for high-res image gallery

Looks like Luc Costermans (a.k.a. the Blind Belgian) is no longer the world's fastest sight-challenged driver. The latest person to snatch the world land speed record for the blind is South Africa's Hein Wagner. Wagner, who has been blind since birth, pushed a borrowed Mercedes-Benz SL65 Black Series to 322.5 km/h, just a tick over 200 mph. That puts him in the Guinness Book of World Records, ahead of Costermans, and it's not the first record for Wagner, though.

This is the same man who became the first South African to set a world land speed record, sighted or not, back in 2005 when he pushed a Maserati to 167 MPH. The deposed champion, Costermans, can take consolation in being the first blind man to break the 300 km/h barrier. Wagner himself might have to be content with being the first to break 200 mph, as previous record holder Mike Newman hopes to take an 1,800-hp Keating TKR supercar well past that figure later this month. In fact Newman is going after the overall production car speed record of 257 mph currently held by the SSC Ultimate Aero.

For now at least, the record belongs to Wagner. His record run was achieved on the runway at the Upington International Airport in Northern Cape, South Africa, with copilot Ray Wakefield of Speedrecord SA riding shotgun. Wagner has always had an adventurous streak, having previously run the New York Marathon (in 4:27!), skydived (skydove?) from 10,000 feet, completed the Construction du Cap bike race solo, competed in the Cape-to-Rio yacht race, and he has even climbed the ten highest peaks in the Western Cape. Wagner is raising money for his Vision Trust organization, which makes technology more accessible to the blind.

So what's up next for Wagner? He plans to fly a Boeing from London to Johannesburg -- with passengers. It was probably hard enough to find one passenger for the drive in the Benz, getting a full load of passengers for the flight might take a bit more persuading. But what the heck, it's for a good cause, right? Thanks for the tip, Dean!

Gallery: 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series

[Source: News 24]

REPORT: South African man sets speed record for blind - in 200 mph SL Black Series! originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Click above to watch the video after the jump

When Great Britain's Brooklands motor racing circuit opened in 1907, it was the first purpose-built motorsport venue in the world. At 2.75 miles, the course is an oldie but a goodie, and the perfect place to make automotive history. To that end, on August 16, legendary slot racing brand Scalextric, along with hoards of volunteers, built the world's largest slot car track around the Brooklands circuit in Surrey. The track was built using 20,000 sections, built over roads, water, wilderness and just about any other condition one could imagine. That's an impressive feat that is more remarkable when considering that power and remote control had to be built into the Guinness record braking track.

The recordbreaking slot track race will be featured by Top Gear host James May in his new BBC2 series James May's Toy Stories. May even raised the checkered flag at the conclusion of the world's longest slot car race. Hit the jump to watch the building and racing of this amazing slot track, as well as a second video that features May waving the checkered flag at the conclusion of the race.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: World's longest Scalectric track assembled at Brooklands, James May officiates

VIDEO: World's longest Scalectric track assembled at Brooklands, James May officiates originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Porsche Human Performance Center is a part of Porsche's Driving Experience Center at Silverstone. At the latter facility they'll show you how to be the best racing driver. The former facility is to train you to become the fittest racing driver, with a team of instructors to assess and create driver-specific training regimes.

Porsche wants to show just how good its instructors are by setting twelve of them on a treadmill during this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed and seeing how far they can run. The distance record for relay runners on treadmills over 48 hours is 495.76 miles -- that averages each person running more than 20 miles each day. If you tire of the on-track festivities and want to work off some pastries, there will be a second treadmill where you can pace yourself against them.

[Source: Inside Line]

Porsche to break Guinness World Record using treadmills originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>etcgoodwoodgoodwood festival of speedGoodwoodFestivalOfSpeedguinness book of world recordsGuinnessBookOfWorldRecordslifestylemarathonporscherunningFri, 26 Jun 2009 08:01:00 EST<![CDATA[Guinness Attempt: Biggest-ever Subaru gathering planned for Illinois in July]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/24/guinness-attempt-biggest-ever-subaru-gathering-planned-for-illi/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/24/guinness-attempt-biggest-ever-subaru-gathering-planned-for-illi/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/24/guinness-attempt-biggest-ever-subaru-gathering-planned-for-illi/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Thunder will descend upon Itasca, Illinois on July 11th, even if the sky is clear. The rumbling will be of the horizontally-opposed variety as Subaru of America's Great Lakes Region goes for a Guinness world record. The particular accomplishment Subaru is after is the "largest Parade of Subaru Cars," and Subie owners interested in participating in the event can hit a Subaru website to register.

The record attempt coincides with Itasca Fest, a weekend of family-friendly frenzy. Parade participants can save money on a hotel room, and Subaru's not solely seeking notoriety. Homeless pets in Chicago find refuge with PAWS Chicago, and Salute, Inc. is a non-profit organization that supports military personnel, veterans, and families. Both organizations will receive $15 per participating car from Subaru, up to a total of $7,000. If you've got a Scooby with a taste for the open road, strap the whole family in and light out for Itasca, all wheel drive churning, and turbocharger awhirl. Press release posted after the jump.

[Source: Subaru, Photo: WickedBigMeet]

Continue reading Guinness Attempt: Biggest-ever Subaru gathering planned for Illinois in July

Guinness Attempt: Biggest-ever Subaru gathering planned for Illinois in July originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The VW Jetta TDI has proven to be quite popular in the short time it's been on sale here in the U.S.: it has put sales of the Tiguan in the cooler and the ones that are available are very hard to get. Now the fairest Jetta of them all has set a Guinness World Record by traversing the lower 48 U.S. states while returning 58.82 mpg thanks to John and Helen Taylor.

The Taylors took 20 days to cover the 9,419 miles in a counter clockwise direction, and this wasn't a hypermiling slow-as-you-can-go affair - they stayed within 5 mph of the speed limit. Their car was completely stock as it consumed just 11 tanks of ultra low sulfur diesel and traveled 853 miles per fill up. With that kind of mileage and handling high up on the fun factor, the Jetta TDI makes an excellent case for itself if you like driving and want to lower your fuel consumption.

VW also recently told us that the go-fast Jetta TDIs in the TDI Cup Series are returning an average of 25 mpg and doing their entire 7-race series on just two tanks of gas, which includes qualifying. If that's true, there's got to be another world record in there somewhere...

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

VW Jetta TDI sets Guinness World Record of 58.82 mpg originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And the award for Top Speed Achieved by a Production Automobile goes to: Shelby Supercars' Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo. Claiming a stretch of public road in Washington State for the effort, the SSC UATT made two runs in accordance with Guinness Book of World Record rules, one in each direction. The first run clocked 257.11 MPH, the second, return one came in at 254.55 MPH. The average: 255.83 MPH. That bests all challengers -- yes, even the Veyron -- by at least 3 MPH.

For comparison, the SSC's V8 packs 1,183 BHP and 1,094 ft-lbs. as opposed to the Veyron's 16 cylinders, 1,001 HP, and 922 ft-lb. In addition to a bigger punch, the SSC also carries less weight: 2,700 pounds versus the Veyron's 4,162. Much of the Veyron poundage no doubt is attributable to its interior, which is a splendid place to be even when you're not doing 250+. SSC still needs to submit the paperwork and get official certification from Guinness before it's run is, as we say, officially official. Intriguing, though, that of all the names mentioned, the one not broached was the previous holder of the top speed record: the Callaway Sledgehammer.

[Source: Jalopnik]

SSC (almost officially) takes top speed record originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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]

Making it official: Bugatti Veyron going for fastest production car originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>fastestguinnessguinness book of world recordsGuinnessBookOfWorldRecordstop speedTopSpeedveyronworld recordWorldRecordTue, 12 Sep 2006 18:44:00 EST<![CDATA[Malaysian students set record for most crammed into a MINI Cooper]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/20/malaysian-students-set-record-for-most-crammed-into-a-mini-coope/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/20/malaysian-students-set-record-for-most-crammed-into-a-mini-coope/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/20/malaysian-students-set-record-for-most-crammed-into-a-mini-coope/#commentsFiled under: ,

A team of 21 students from a college in Kuala Lumpur took four minutes to stuff themselves into a lime green 1999 MINI Cooper, waited the 20 seconds it would take, and made it into the Guiness Book of World Records, so they say. What's more is that the team repeated the feat for a TV crew that showed up too late to catch the first time around.

The students said that it was hot and stuffy in there for those agonizing 20 seconds, but that the organizing crew that helped them in their mission was largely to thank for the good communication and efficient stuffing.

The students claimed that they met the Guinness Book requirements that said those participating must be over 4' 11". They have yet to send video footage to Guinness for official proof, but they say that they beat the previous record, set by 18 women in 2000.

[Source: IOL]

Malaysian students set record for most crammed into a MINI Cooper originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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