Revhead Ramblings: We Need to Hit 300mph

It’s getting a bit boring now isn’t it? We all love speed, but the obsession we have with 300mph is becoming absurd; I can’t wait for it to be over…

Obviously, we want our cars to be fast and fun, but by designing cars to reach these speeds, they can’t be. With the likes of the Bugatti Chiron and Hennessey Venom GT, if you mash your foot into the accelerator for more than 4 seconds, you’ll lose your license.

These cars are simply too fast, you’re constantly on edge in a Chiron as there’s no such thing as a straight, the car eats them in the blink of an eye.

Chiron

Achieving the speeds we’re at now hasn’t been easy. A 240mph wind is enough to blow a city over, but a decent number of cars have been designed to take that punishment whilst being piloted by any idiot with a few million pounds spare.

When Bugatti were developing the Chiron, they had to use a rig in America, normally reserved for aircraft tyres, to test the tyres to their limit. One cubic metre of air per second has to be pushed through the combustion chamber to achieve so much power.

Current Record

It’s not as if the current record is conservative, the Koenigsegg Agera RS achieved a top speed of 284.55mph on a closed road to take the crown of fastest production car in the world. The time, money and effort that it took to produce this though is ludicrous.

One of the biggest hurdles is the tyres used on these cars. The Tyres on the Agera RS weren’t rated for such high speeds, their supposed threshold was set much lower.

Why is Speed the Benchmark?

How much credit does a car really get for its top speed now? Knowing your car can hit 200mph is nice, but I’d rather know it can lap the Nürburgring in 8 minutes. Useable performance is key here.

Driving a slow car fast is always going to be more fun than driving a fast car slow. How could you be happy taking your new Ferrari out knowing you’ve only really used a quarter of the horses under the bonnet?

The Final Barrier

When America landed on the moon, Russia’s attempts were pointless. They might make it, but they’d always be second best. I hope that when one mad manufacturer finally hits that 300mph target, the others simply crawl off and sulk.

We don’t need cars that can hit these speeds, other than bragging rights there is no purpose for a car that can travel anything more than 200mph. There’s less than a handful of places to truly unleash it.

What Next?

Once we end the top speed war, what’s next? McLaren are already working on weight reduction, that has benefits not only speed but handling too. Lighter cars mean smaller engines, which is also a positive for the environment; win-win.

Some of the best cars we have today aren’t high horsepower, fire breathing monsters. Cars like the Alpine A110 and the Fiesta ST make us happy with less than 300bhp.

On demand speed is fun, but only for so long. When you’re flying down straights at biblical speeds, do you really get chance to truly enjoy yourself?

To ensure you don’t miss out on any of Alex’s ‘Revhead Ramblings‘ be sure to follow him on Twitter at @AlexClickDealer!

For more information about ClickEngage™, or to learn about Click Dealer’s brand new blog service and content from our specialist automotive industry writers, get in touch today on marketing@clickdealer.co.uk, 01782 478 220 or through our contact page!