Bugatti Veyron SS Stripped Of ‘World’s Fastest Car’ Record
If you’re the proud owner of a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, you may want to look away. Guinness World Records have declared that the Veyron SS is not the world’s fastest production car as per the title it was awarded in 2010. The people at Guinness apparently overlooked the fact that the recrod-setting car had been modified with a deactivated speed limiter, which allowed the Veyron SS to hit a record 267.8 mph (431.07 kmph).
Guinness World Records states that the record-setting car must be mechanically identical to the one sold to customers. Here’s what Jaime Strang, PR Director of the company had to say about the matter:
It has come to the attention of Guinness World Records that there was an oversight in its adjudication of the ‘Fastest production car’ which was set in 2010 by the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. As the car’s speed limiter was deactivated, this modification was against the official guidelines. Consequently, the vehicle’s record set at 431.072 km/h is no longer valid. Following this, Guinness World Records is reviewing this category with expert external consultants to ensure our records fairly reflect achievements in this field.
Bugatti is defiant of Guinness’ decision, saying that the production models only have a speed limiter for its customers’ safety and that Guinness was aware of the deactivated limiter on the test car. The production models are limited to ‘just’ 258 mph.
Bugatti’s record was challenged by an American car maker, Hennessey, which claims that its absurdly fast Venom GT should be the world’s fastest production car with a clocked speed of 265.7 mph. However the Venom GT’s speed hasn’t been recorded in the right conditions, which includes an average of two timed runs in opposite directions among other factors. Due to this, the record is most likely to be reverted to the previous holder at 256.1 mph, the Shelby SuperCars Ultimate Aero TT.
