G-Power sets new 4 door sedan top speed record with M5 Hurricane RS

Top speed numbers are all about bragging rights, but how many owners of said supercars actually drive them to even half of their limit? The likelihood that one can find a long enough track to sustain speeds over 200 miles per hour, let alone have the cahones to do so is slim. But if you could arrange a top speed race with someone that owns some form of two door supercar, this would be your opportunity to embarrass that someone with your four door speed demon.



Brabus has long held the four door speed record, first with E V12 that hit 206 mph in 1996 and most recently upping that mark to later upping the mark to 227.23 mph with the CLS "Rocket". With that number set in their sights, BMW tuner G-Power took an upgraded version of their M5 Hurricane to the ATP High-Seed test track in Papenburg, Germany last month hoping to set a new record. That they did, eclipsing the Rocket's top speed with a best run of 228.4 mph. Lest Brabus seek to take back the title, G-Power claims that they can improve on the number by increasing the boost from the twin superchargers mounted to the BMW's V10.





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After the record for the world's fastest BMW sedan, G-POWER did it again and broke the long-standing record of the BRABUS Rocket for the fastest sedan in the world.



In November 2008 the 750 hp strong G-POWER M5 HURRICANE RS realised a top speed of 228,4 mph. This speed has been clocked and certified at the ATP High-Seed test track in Papenburg. With it the since October 2006 valid record of 365,7 km/h has been broken.



The G-POWER high-speed world record has been realised with a 20 hp stronger evolution of the famous G-POWER M5 HURRICANE which has been clocked with 360 km/h earlier in 2008 and holds the record for the fastest BMW sedan. The extra power of the G-POWER M5 HURRICANE RS is the result of two modified superchargers from G-POWER's technology partner ASA, with enlarged capacity. In the following the boost level of the G-POWER BI-Kompressor system could be raised from 0,7 bar rel. to 0,8 bar rel.



But still the G-POWER BI-Kompressor system has not yet reached its limit. According to CEO and engineer Christian Stöber:" ...we can rise the boost level up to 1,0 bar rel. and more" and CEO Zoran Zorneke is of the opinion:" we can still improve, if we see the need for it."



We are curious if this will be necessary...

The fastest car in Europe, a 252 MPH Pontiac Trans Am

One would imagine that the fastest car in Europe would be some form of super car, an exotic such as a Lambo or Ferrari. But one would be wrong, as the car that lays claim to that title is actually a 1987 Trans Am.



Not your average Trans Am, of course. This one is complete with 1400 horsepower, and the goods to back up all that power. The 8.9 litre V8 has officially been clocked at a startling 407 kph, or 252 miles per hour.



Needless to say, there isn't much that is stock about this car. Built by Polly Motorsport of Norway, there's a wealth of expertise under the normal looking skin. And the best part is that the car is allegedly street legal!



Check out the video here.



Subject: Fastest street legal official road car in Europe!



A 1987 Trans Am fastest official street legal road car in Europe!



Paul brought his Pontiac to the Papenburg car testing track, one of the newest and most advanced test tracks in the world. Mercedes where testing their new AMG sports models the same day as Pal was going for his personal speed record. Some engineers from AMG team criticized the optimistic Norwegian team for bringing an 80's trimmed American car to this super test track for the advanced European supercars. But what they didn't quite comprehend is that Pal Arvil Blytt and his Polly motorsport team from Norway works at a motor tuner garage in Godvik Norway and most important of all nothing more than the shell of this car resembles the stock Pontiac. With a brisk 8.9L V8 producing a whopping 1407 HP, Pal was soon doing AMG top speeds of 300km/h in his warming laps. After driving a couple of rounds around the track, Paul felt ready to see what his road machine would do! And after pressing the pedal to the metal the ARP technician Christoph Tharrey came over with his laptop computer with a big grin. Here we have the official numbers: 407.134 km/h



You may say well the 9FF team drove 409km/h in an extremely rebuilt Porsche 911 at the same track; this speed was recorded with their own equipment and therefore can be fixed and therefore is not recorded as an official speed record. Bugatti Veyron 407km/h is also recorded with their own equipment.



As the Papenburg track is to small for the Pontiac to reach its potential top speed of 435km/h and Volkswagen's test track costs 25.000 Euro an hour to rent. Paul is bringing his road legal car to the US in 2009 to challenge Shelby supercars official record of 412km/h.

2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

638 horsepower and 604 lbft of torque, astounding numbers indeed. "Shock and awe" was the initiative from Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter, and it appears that it has been achieved. Juechter's goal was more performance with a higher level of refinement, added in with a series of technological advancements. What they ended up with was the most powerful car in General Motors 100 year history.



Anything more than a 2500 rpm launch will simply melt the Michelins. The MSRC system detects a dragstrip launch and programs for zero jounce and 100-percent rebound stiffness to encourage maximum squat (and rear weight transfer) with no wheelhop. Acceleration to 60mph comes in a GM estimated 3.4 seconds.



Close-ratio spacing puts the engine at about 4500 rpm, keeping the exhaust backpressure low (the muffler valves open above 3000) and the backpressure on the driver relentless through 90 mph. A shorter jump to third brings 4900 rpm, and if you keep shifting up at the 6500-rpm redline, the quarter will flash by in a conservatively estimated 11.3 seconds at 131 mph en route to a 205-mph top speed (established in a two-way average at Papenburg, Germany). If you're heading downhill or with the wind, you may hit a limiter at 210 mph.



The huge four-wheel carbon-ceramic brakes scrub speed tremendously. The run-flat Pilot Sport PS2 ZPs exhibit tremendous grip and instill confidence that more speed can be achieved than most are willing to use. But fear not, for Chevrolet will pay for it's ZR1 buyers to attend racing school, probably at Bob Bondurant in Phoenix or Spring Mountain in Pahrump, Nevada.



Here's some more numbers to digest: 1.01 g steady-state lateral acceleration, more than 1.2 g braking grip, and a 0-to-100-to-0 mph time of under 11.0 seconds, besting the Dodge Viper and Shelby Cobra benchmarks by at least a second or two. Oh, and let's not forget Mero's production-car Nurburgring lap record time of 7 minutes 26.4 seconds.



All of this visceral performance comes at a price of course, and that price is fairly high for a Vette. Starting off at $105,000, you can add up to $10K to the price by opting for hand-stitched leather, full-power/memory seating, and a Bose Nav/audio system.



Which is all and good for the Lambophiles and Ferrari fans. But for those of us who don't need wild boulevard head turning styling, the ZR1 will do just fine.



Check out CorvetteGuys.com selection of 2009 Corvette Parts.