Tag: record

Report: Bentley Continental Supersports “Ice Speed Record” Convertible coming to Geneva

Filed under: Motorsports, Convertible, Performance, Geneva Motor Show, Bentley, Luxury

Bentley Ice Speed Record Continental Supersports

Bentley “Ice Speed Record” Continental Supersports Convertible – Click above for high-res image gallery

It looks like Bentley isn’t wasting any time when it comes to capitalizing on the company’s latest feat of speed. According to Cars UK, the automaker is planning to roll out 100 special-edition models to commemorate Juha Kankkunen’s recent record-breaking ice-speed run. Officially called the Bentley Continental Supersports Ice-Speed Record Convertible, the special-edition cars will be available with one of three unique paint colors; Beluga, Quartzite and Arctic White. Red detail accents will be found all over the vehicle, and a special dark gray soft top caps off the whole shebang.

Under the hood, buyers won’t be disappointed to find a 6.0-liter W12 engine with a galactic 631 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque on tap. Those numbers are identical to the standard edition, though given that Kankkunen’s record-breaking vehicle was powered by the same lump, we can’t exactly fault Bently for not turning up the heat.

Bentley isn’t saying exactly how much the new special-edition vehicle will set you back, but we do know that the drophead is supposed to show its face at this year’s Geneva Motor Show next month. Expect to hear more then.

Gallery: Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible sets world speed record on ice

[Source: Cars UK]

Report: Bentley Continental Supersports “Ice Speed Record” Convertible coming to Geneva originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: See Bentley’s record-setting 205 mph run on ice

Filed under: Motorsports, Convertible, Performance, Europe, Videos, Bentley, Luxury

Bentley ice speed world record

Bentley sets an ice-speed record – Click above to watch video after the jump

When we first heard that Juha Kankkunen and Bentley had managed to set a new ice-speed record off the coast of Finland, we immediately wanted to see footage of the action. The thought of watching a race-prepped Continental Supersports Convertible dash across just 20 centimeters of Baltic Sea ice is the kind of thing that haunts our daydreams. Fortunately, the automaker has been so kind as to slip the world a quick clip of the record-smashing run, complete with angles from the sky, the ice and the cockpit.

Kankkunen demolished his old ice-speed record of 199.83 mph set in 2007. At the time, the World Rally champion was shooting to cruise past the 200 mph barrier but just barely missed his mark. He had no such trouble this go-round. His drop-head clicked off a top speed of 205.48 mph.

Interestingly enough, aside from a set of winter tires, some safety kit and a couple of aero additions, the Continental Supersports Convertible that Kankkunen used as his weapon of choice was essentially a bone-stock machine. Hit the jump to check out the clip for yourself.

Gallery: Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible sets world speed record on ice

[Source: Bentley via YouTube]

Continue reading Video: See Bentley’s record-setting 205 mph run on ice

Video: See Bentley’s record-setting 205 mph run on ice originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bentley sets new land ice speed record

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Etc., Europe, Bentley, Luxury

Bentley Continental speed record on ice

Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible shatters ice speed record – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Baltic Sea, sitting off the coast of Finland, is a white wasteland of ice and snow during the winter portion of the calendar. Local hero Juha Kankkunen, a four-time World Rally Champion, looks out over that vast expanse and sees a blank slate on which he can make his mark. What exactly is that mark? It’s 200 miles per hour… on ice.

Kankkunen is no stranger to going fast over less-than-ideal driving conditions. However, his rally cars never hit 200 mph and he wasn’t driving them on 70 centimeters worth of ice, four kilometers away from the Finnish coast. This fast Fin had previously taken a shot at the 200-mph mark, back in 2007 using a Bentley Continental GT. He came up just short, but his official speed of 199.83 mph did shatter the previous ice speed record of 184 mph, which was set in 1995 in a Bugatti EB110 Supersport.

This time around, Kankkunen was piloting the Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible, which boasts 621 horsepower under the hood. The only modifications made to the car included a roll-cage, Pirelli winter tires, a rear parachute and some light aero mods to help with stability on the rather slippery surface.

His Bentley gurgling at the start line like a British school boy who just discovered Pop Rocks, Juha Kankkunen pushed the accelerator to the velvety soft carpet of his Supersports ice rocket. One thousand meters later and the world has a new record for driving quickly over ice… 205.48 mph. Onnittelut Juha ja Bentley!

Gallery: Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible sets world speed record on ice

[Source: Bentley]

Continue reading Bentley sets new land ice speed record

Bentley sets new land ice speed record originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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History’s land-speed record cars profiled in poster

Filed under: Etc., Design/Style

Land Speed Record Holders by Stefan Marjoram

As a species, we’ve been obsessed with pushing ourselves ever faster since we first took to two legs. It should be no surprise, then, that the internal combustion engine and the land-speed record have evolved at roughly the same pace over the last century or so. In order to celebrate the Bloodhound SSC’s quest for land speed supremacy, designer Stefan Marjoram took on the ambitious project of creating a massive poster commemorating and comparing history’s official land-speed record holders. Even better, if you have the wall space and are so inclined, you can pick up a massive 16.5 x 23.4-inch copy for yourself.

Marjoram says that he did his best to keep the vehicles size relative to one another in order to underscore just how much land-speed record vehicles have changed over the years. While the drawings are simplified, stylized interpretations of the quickest machines throughout history, this sucker is something we’d be proud to hang on our wall. If you’re interested, head over to StefaanMarjoram.com for more details.

[Sources: Stefan Marjoram, Hemmings]

History’s land-speed record cars profiled in poster originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: 136 recall campaigns in 2010 have covered 17.2M autos, and it’s still not a record year

Filed under: Recalls, Safety

Toyota recall pedal fix parts

It’s been a banner year for big recalls, or at least it feels that way. What with high profile recalls from Toyota for everything from runaway vehicles to brake issues and a host of smaller problems from nearly every automaker in the market, it certainly felt like 2010 was at the top of the recall heap. Only it wasn’t. According to Ward’s Auto, a total of 136 recalls sent 17.2 million vehicles back to the dealer this year, and while that’s an impressive sum, it still falls short of the record. Way back in 2000, manufactures recalled 24.3 million vehicles due in part to the now infamous Ford Explorer/Firestone tire scandal.

Still, while this number’s figure falls short of the big double-oh, recalls crept up by 800,000 units compared to 2009. Not surprisingly, Toyota led the way with 17 recalls covering around 6.6 million vehicles in 2010, but according to Ward’s, the automaker still has plenty of work to do on some of the recalls from last year. Toyota is still only 65 percent of the way through repairing the 5.6 million vehicles that were recalled this year for faulty floor mats. That figure includes 80 percent of the trapped-pedal cars that were recalled in 2009.

And what of other automakers, you ask? Ward’s reports that combined, the Big Three brought back around 4.6 million vehicles. Head over to Ward’s Auto to see the full breakdown for yourself.

[Source: Ward’s Auto]

Report: 136 recall campaigns in 2010 have covered 17.2M autos, and it’s still not a record year originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: 19 teenage girls cram into Smart ForTwo for new world record

Filed under: Etc., Videos, Hatchback, Smart

19 girls in a Smart Fortwo

19 girls in a Smart Fortwo – Click above to watch the video after the break

It’s the question that’s been racking the brains of the best and brightest the world over, and finally, we have an answer: 19. No, it’s not the answer to life, the universe and everything… it’s the number of teenage girls that have managed to cram themselves inside a Smart Fortwo in Pakistan.

Because you’re dying to know, we’ll gladly inform you that the previous record, set in Australia, saw 18 girls – crucially one fewer than 19 – poke and prod their way into a Fortwo. Naturally, the event was witnessed by representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records, so we can all expect to see the new record in the next installment of the group’s massive book of ridiculous achievements.

Video? Come on now, did you really have to ask? Find it after the break. Thanks to everyone for the tips!

[Source: ePakistanNews via YouTube]

Continue reading Video: 19 teenage girls cram into Smart ForTwo for new world record

Video: 19 teenage girls cram into Smart ForTwo for new world record originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BBC: At nearly $7.30/gal and climbing, UK gas prices hit record high

Filed under: UK

UK Gas

Think fuel prices are high in the United States? What Yanks pay is nothing to what our former colonial masters are forced to shell out at the pumps, as reports come in of record-high prices in the UK.

According to the BBC, prices have hit an all-time high of 121.76p per liter in the United Kingdom. The numbers work out to $7.27 per gallon in American terminology, but the record doesn’t take inflation into account. To put the current British petrol prices into perspective, consider that it will now cost English soccer moms in Chelsea over $163 (!) to fill up their BMW X5s.

The worst news for British motorists is that this isn’t even the end of it: with both the Value Added Tax (VAT) and fuel duties scheduled to rise again in the new year, next month is anticipated to go even higher. As Edmund King, head of the UK’s Automobile Association put it, “for those people dependent on road transport, it’s not looking like a very happy Christmas or indeed New Year.” Indeed.

[Source: BBC News | Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty]

BBC: At nearly $7.30/gal and climbing, UK gas prices hit record high originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EPA: U.S. average fuel economy hit new record in 2009

Filed under: Government/Legal

window sticker shopping

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, which first started keeping track of such things way back in 1975 around the time of the first fuel crisis in America, the average fuel economy of all vehicles sold in the U.S. hit a record high in 2009. For those favoring hard data, that equals 22.4 miles per gallon. Not surprisingly, average fuel economy has been on an upward path over the last several years (minus a small dip in 2008).

These mileage increases are being achieved through all sorts of electronic gadgetry, despite significant gains in both horsepower and overall vehicle weight. It’s also interesting to note that the percentage of trucks sold dropped from 47 percent to just 40 percent.

It should be pointed out that the way the EPA figures fuel mileage varies greatly from the numbers used to determine an automaker’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE. The EPA’s numbers, which are about 20 percent lower than those use for CAFE reporting, are said to be more realistic representations of everyday usage.

For what it’s worth, the EPA is currently predicting that a new, slightly higher record will again be set in 2010: 22.5 mpg. Yes, that’s just a tenth of a mile per gallon higher than ’09, but let’s take what we can get, shall we?

[Source: The Detroit News | Image: Tim Boyle/Getty]

EPA: U.S. average fuel economy hit new record in 2009 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: AMS Alpha 10 claims new quarter-mile record for Nissan GT-R

Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Performance, Videos, Nissan

AMS Alpha 10 GT-R at the starting line

AMS Alpha 10 Nissan GT-R claims a quarter-mile record – Click above to watch the video after the jump

AMS Performance has broken its own quarter-mile record in a Nissan GT-R, this time gussied up with its Alpha 10 package. The most important thing you need to know about the suite of changes is that it takes the car up to 1,100 horsepower. The details include an Alpha 10 turbo system on top of a blueprinted engine, with all that horsepower routed through an Alpha 10 transmission. Naturally, just about everything else from the turbo inlet pipes to the fuel injectors to the downpipes have been upgraded or reworked.

The result was a 9.33-second run at 153 miles per hour. That takes 0.56 seconds off AMS’ time from March of this year in its GT-R SR850 at the TX2K10 Supra & GTR Nationals. Video footage of the run (completely with overly dramatic music and buildup) is after the jump, and a few shots of the runner itself are in the gallery of images below. Thanks to everyone for the tips!

Gallery: AMS Performance Alpha 10 GT-R

[Source: AMS Performance]

Continue reading Video: AMS Alpha 10 claims new quarter-mile record for Nissan GT-R

Video: AMS Alpha 10 claims new quarter-mile record for Nissan GT-R originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Frank Sprongl weighs in on Travis Pastrana’s Mt. Washington Auto Road record

Filed under: Motorsports, Audi, Subaru

Frank Sprongl in his Audi Quattro

Frank Sprongl in his 1983 Audi Quattro

Frank Sprongl would like to chat with Travis Pastrana. You see, we recently reported that Mr. Pastrana established a new record for driving up the Mt. Washington Auto Road. Travis’ time of six minutes and 20.47 seconds in a rally-prepped Subaru WRX STI bested the previous time laid down by Sprongl. In 1998, Frank Sprongl and his 1983 Audi Quattro S2 attacked the Auto Road and set an official record time of six minutes and 41.99 seconds. Technology has advanced quite a bit in the 27 years since Sprongl’s Audi Quattro was new, as well as the 12 years since he set the record.

“It’s unofficial to begin with… it’s basically just a test day and he did it with a co-driver and pace notes,” states Sprongl. He adds, “The course has 76 turns and I ran it with no co-driver or notes, I memorized every turn.” He further notes that the Auto Road had longer gravel sections when he made his official run. It has since received more paving. In Frank Sprongl’s opinion, this run is simply Red Bull and Travis performing a stunt for advertising. He does say that he believes Travis put in an amazing effort and it was certainly an excellent run… but was it official or not?

Continue reading…

[Image: Mount Washington Auto Road]

Continue reading Frank Sprongl weighs in on Travis Pastrana’s Mt. Washington Auto Road record

Frank Sprongl weighs in on Travis Pastrana’s Mt. Washington Auto Road record originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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