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
0-100 km/h time is more important for me
Straight line speed stats are only good for d..k measuring contests and premiums on everything.
That said, it’s interesting, living in a period when a car performing as a 488GTB gets called less crazy…
we all know that Top Speed figures don’t matter to us petrolheads, but they are an important criteria for us to love a car. and they do give us bragging rights
For me if it goes beyond 260 kph it is fast enough to a point where i probably won’t ever reach its top speed.
I’d have more fun in a rally car that tops out at 120mph than any car that does 200+mph car.
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Since there is no place on earth where it’s normal to blast down the road @ 400kmh then the top speed figures are actually pointless. And of course, at this speed tires would fail quite badly.
This is almost a trick question. If it’s a hypercar then no, I don’t care too much about top speed. On the other hand if its a Chevy Cavalier, then yes I would care about top speed.
The hypercar wars now are like the muscle car wars in the late ‘60’s. Sure there are a few that handle quite well, but in the end it’s a giant pissing contest.
I don’t think any reasonable petrolhead has ever bought a car just because of its top speed… I think it’s more about the experience. Take Phil for example. Its a car that can’t reach anywhere near the Bugatti in any way shape or form, but it can give you an experience that you will never forget. It’s not about top speeds or acceleration. It’s about how the driver feels and what the car makes the driver feel when hitting the perfect apex or blasting down the highway.
How can you NOT be impressed by a 500 kph speedometer?
Yea, its amazing, but I will never own a car that will go anywhere near 350kph and even if Im able to afford such a car, Im not going to spend all my money on a single supercar. I would rather buy 20 older icons.