Do You Care About Crazy Top Speed Figures?
At this week’s Geneva motor show, we’ve had a lot of speed freaks. We’ve had the bonkers - and overambitious - 2080bhp Arash AF10 which could theoretically do 300mph, the Bugatti Chiron with its 261mph top speed , and the Koenigsegg Regera which - while lacking a top speed figure - is said to be capable of 0-250mph in just 20 seconds.
The thing is though, do you actually care about these top speed figures? With a less crazy supercar like a Ferrari 488 GTB you could feasibly hit the top whack at a runway-based event like V Max, but if we’re talking about top speeds that are the exciting side of 250mph, you’ll struggle to find somewhere to actually achieve it.
The Nardo test track in Italy is famously not that smooth, and who can forget Top Gear’s efforts at maxing out the Veyron and Veyron Super Sport, which actually involved going to VW’s own Ehra-Lessien test facility, where’s there’s a massive straight. In fact, it’s 5.4 miles long - so long that one end cannot be seen from the other thanks to the curvature of the Earth.
When the Hennessy Venom GT hit 270mph, it did so on the Kennedy Space Center’s 3.22-mile runway. Not the sort of places you’d be able to rock up and ask if you can have a quick punt, in other words.
There’s also the problem of tyres to think about - the new Chiron’s boots have been developed especially for the car by Michelin, but even they aren’t able to take the car past 261mph, which is why the car has an electronic limiter. Should any of the current crop of ambitious start-up supercar company’s products actually be made and not remain vapourware, they’d run into the same trouble while trying to prove the top speed claims.
In a lot of ways, top speed figures are more about bragging rights for the owners. But as petrolheads, what do you think of such stats? Vote in the polls below to voice your opinion.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Never have and never will. I don’t care about going over 200km/h
That’s pretty slow lol
Yes, but not for actually being done. It’s something to brag about and get penis points for.
“Can any of your cars do 261mph? No? Only me then”
I’ve heard that a supercar owner’s penis shrinks by 5 mm every time he mentions his car’s top speed and by 1 cm every time he mentions its price
Yes because you get penis points from Salomondrin
Penis points are BS, they only get Salomon not girls.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s more important to get to whatever speed you woukd like in a faster time. No point having a car that’ll do 200mph, but takes 30 seconds to 60mph. I’d rather have a car that’ll only do 100mph but gets to 60 in 2 seconds.
Both cars seem fairly unrealistic, I think.
It’s fun to know there are cars that can achieve those speeds, but I would take an Alfa 4C or Cayman all day.
Bugatti when they heard that the arash could do 300mph.
A Bugatti has become a status symbol anyway. Even if it was slower than the old one, it would still sell. Koenesggesggnegs are for arab kigs and russian mafias.
No… i’m a classics guy, not a speed demon
I don’t care about top speed whatsoever because I never drive at such speeds
In fact if I was offered to half the top speed (make it 75 instead of 150ish mph) and half the 0-60 time (3.6 seconds instead of 7.2) of my car I’d be 100% happy with that!
I’ll admit that in the complete madness that is the world of high-performance cars, it’s important, but really only important as an accolade. It’s just one more number in the “arms race” that modern supercar development has become. Like with ridiculous horsepower figures, it looks impressive on paper or in a presentation but it’s ultimately just a source of bragging rights, and doesn’t really speak to how good the car is in terms of enjoyment and more immeasurable qualities that the car might have.