Supples’ Pub

It is amazing how much of a drop-off there is from the top 3 finishers to the last 3. What is interesting to me is that the Venom and Corvette weren’t explicitly designed for those blistering 200mph+ runs. While the aerodynamics were certainly modified in these tuner versions, along with sick amounts of horsepower, the foundational design of the car remains. The RUF Rt 12, SLR McLaren, and Murciélago were built with high speed driving in mind, particularly the first two, but the rough & tumble American muscle/sport cars are able to thrash them at high speed with enough HP.

I guess the question is, could the German & Italian speed demons surpass the American designs with a matching HP/weight ratio? Curious to see how the aerodynamic designs play in when the rest of the playing field is equal, perhaps a discussion for Jim to elaborate on?

Car | HP | 0-200 | secs | Distance covered in feet

1. Hennessey Venom 1000TT Viper: 1,100 20.3 3488
2. Bugatti Veyron 16.4: 1,001 24.2 4770
3. Lingenfelter C6 Corvette: 880 26.5 4894
4. RUF Rt 12: 650 35.5 7385
5. Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren: 617 47.2 (199.5 mph) 10560
6. Lamborghini Murciélago: 580 50.1 (190.1 mph) 10560

Source: Hennessey Viper beats Veyron in 0-200 dash - Autoblog