The World's Ten Fastest Cars |
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Anthony Fontanelle
April 27, 2007
The world where auto enthusiasts thrive is filled with variables that to outsiders would mean nothing at all. Terms like rpm, 0-60, 0-100, 100-0, horsepower, torque, and the likes may seem unfathomable for those who live outside this realm. But what everyone knows about is speed. When it comes to cars, the faster your car, the better it is.
While manufacturers tagged their vehicles with top speeds of so and so, it is really hard to find the fastest cars just by looking at the numbers supplied by their makers. That is where the acceleration from a standstill to 60 miles per hour or 100 kilometers per hour is checked. By testing different cars for their acceleration, it is possible to rank the fastest cars in the world today.
That is what automotoportal.com has done to come up with the list of the ten fastest cars in the world. The cars considered for the test, of course, excludes the concept on one-off cars due to their unfair advantage.
Coming in at the tenth place is the Lamborghini Gallardo. The Gallardo is Lamborghini’s “entry-level” car, if you can consider a pricey car such as this to be an entry-level car. The Gallardo is the first car to be equipped with the massive Lamborghini V10 engine which produces as much as 520 horsepower. The engine gives the Gallardo a time of 13.65 seconds going from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour.
Translated to 0-60 mph, the Gallardo’s time is 4 seconds. This makes the Gallardo even faster than the Murcielago.
Taking the ninth spot is the Porsche 911 Turbo. The 911 has been making waves in the supercar arena since its introduction in 1964. For its length of tenure as a mass produced car, the 911 has undergone a lot of changes which have made it faster and faster year after year.
While the Porsche 911 produces only 480 horsepower, it uses its integral drive system which reduces wheel slipping which means that limited power is wasted. The 911 achieved a time of 12.5 seconds in the 0-100-0 test.
The Caterham CSR260 sits at the eighth position. The CSR is the latest installment from supercar manufacturer Caterham Cars and it is the most modified vehicle from the sports car manufacturer. While its 2.3-liter engine produces only 250 horsepower, it has a relatively low weight which gives the CSR a time of 11.95 seconds to speed to a hundred kilometers per hour from a standstill.
The CSR’s weight is only 555 kilograms which gives the car an astonishing mass to power ratio of 0.5 horsepower per kilogram.
The seventh fastest car in the world is the Pagani Zonda. This mid-engine sports car is made by the Argentinean car manufacturer Pagani which is currently based in Italy. The company produces about 25 Zondas every year. Its powerplant is of German origin which makes the Zonda truly an international car.
The Mercedes AMG 7.3-liter V12 engine that it carries provides horsepower that is equal to the weight of the CSR in kilograms. With 555 hp, the Zonda can cruise to 100 kilometers per hour from a stationary position in just 11.8 seconds.
Another Porsche made it to the list of the ten fastest cars in the world. This time, the Porsche Carrera GT takes on the sixth place. The Carrera’s engine is a huge 5.7-liter V10 engine capable of rocketing up to speeds of a hundred kilometers per hour from a standstill in just 11.6 seconds.
One factor for this vehicle is the fact that the Carrera is made out of lightweight carbon fiber material which allows the Carrera to accelerate at such a short time span.
The fifth spot went to the McLaren F1 LM. This car is one of the most unique in the world of sports car. McLaren built only five of these fast cars in honor of the five McLaren F1 GTR’s that won the famous Le Mans in 1995. The car created to become the fastest although it only landed in the fifth spot but its time of 11.5 seconds from a standstill to a full 100 kilometers per hour is truly amazing.
Its engine, a BMW gold-plated V12 engine, can provide a whooping 627 horsepower with a maximum speed of 240 miles per hour.
The fourth place is occupied by the Ferrari Enzo. The Enzo is the fastest Ferrari of all time and it is only fitting that it should be named after the founder of the world-famous Italian car manufacturer. The Enzo timed in at 10.9 seconds after the acceleration test. The uniqueness of the Enzo is made possible by the fact that there are only 399 Enzos produced in its entire history.
The third fastest car in the world is probably the most unusual in the list. The Ariel Atom, which is made by the Ariel Motor Company based in Somerset, England, combines the chassis and the body of the car. In fact, the chassis of the Atom is its body. The Atom weighs less than the CSR at 456 kilograms and its Honda Civic Type-R engine is aided by a turbocharger to produce 300 horsepower propels it to 100 kilometer per hour from a standstill in just 10.88 seconds.
Coming in at a close second is the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. This is sports car differs than most of its contemporary due to the fact that its interior speaks of luxury, not only of performance. Sports cars usually have limited features but the Veyron provides good comfort for two occupants. Weighing in at almost two tons, the Veyron is the heaviest of the cars in the list.
With its W16 engine or 2 V8s mated in a “W” position capable of producing 1001 horsepower, the Veyron completed the 0-100-0 test in just 9.9 seconds. That amount of power will surely test brake pads such as EBC brake pads to their limit.
Rocketing to the first place and claiming the title as the fastest car in the world is the Ultima GTR. The GTR is the handiwork of Ultima Sports Ltd based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. It completed the 0-100-0 acceleration test in just 9.4 seconds beating the Veyron by just five tenths of a second making it faster than the Veyron.
Source: Amazines.com