In 2005, when Volkswagen unveiled the Bugatti Veyron with this 1000 HP, 16 cylinder, quad turbo rocket ship in the guise of a car, people around the world (including me!) were astounded. The 403 KPH top speed, the sheer lunacy of spending in excess of 4 million dollars to make a care and then selling it for a million left everybody agape. It was a feat that many of us thought would not be surpassed for decades…and then came SSC with its Ultimate Aero TT in 2007. With its V8 engine (albeit, turbocharger…twice!) it is truly an amazing achievement that it churned out 1199 HP and a top aped of 413 KPH. And it costs a meager $650,000 (relatively!). Ah, then I thought the matter was finally settled, it would indeed take a miracle to make production cars go faster…I could not have been more wrong…
The latest car with the claim to the title of “World’s fastest production car” is the Keating TKR. From a totally unheard-of upstart British super car maker ‘Keating Supercars’, the TKR is tipped to go all the way up to 430 KPH and pack a whopping 1,500 horses under the hood. The engine is the ever dependable LS8 from GM with a couple of turbos added to boot. The first run of the two required for Guinness glory has reportedly been completed in the famed Bonneville Salt Flats (where else?). From the looks of it, Keating are going to keep it straight and simple, a really light body weighing a mere 1190 Kg, a hugely powerful engine, rear wheel drive and not much else. The looks are also on the same lines, functional, aerodynamic but nothing particularly striking. The curves are there, the swooping lines are there but something about it just doesn’t send your senses tingling like it does when you look at say, the Ferrari 458.
The interesting bit of news is that the TKR has a little brother, the imaginatively named, SKR. This softer road going version will pack only 500-600 HP from naturally aspirated versions of the same GM engine. Nothing too fancy here either, with a 5 speed manual sending the power to the rear wheels. The dimensions of the car are also ridiculously small, measuring a tiny 4.3 meters X 1.8 meters. The cars have steel sub-frames, as of now but a carbon fiber body and frame are optional extras (that’s quite a new concept…it’s like choosing options to build a whole new car!). That’s about all the bases covered regarding the latest World’s fastest production car. I will be back shortly with news of the next in the line…
December 16, 2009
[...] crown “Fastest car in the World” could be quite tricky to sworn on to. Technically Keating TKR and SSC Ultimate Aero have higher top speeds than the Veyron (by a mile or two), but they are [...]