How do you get a state to shut down a road for you? I'd like to get this myself. Like everyday from 9-9:30 and again in the evening.

Streetracers have been racing on "closed roads" for decades.

Duh!

On a sidenote, I'd love to see what kind of tires they are sporting.

Didn't the Callaway Sledgehammer Corvette do 254? And that was back in 1988! Almost 20 years to gain 1 mph. It's cool that an American car has the record. I just wish SSC would come up with a unique design, instead of the basic wedge, Lamborghini look-alike that's been done a million times. Be original! The Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda, and Enzo Ferrari are all supercars, and also very distinct. Though not original, SSC still deserves props for setting the record. And now they're getting the exposure they were looking for by doing so.

250+mph while presumeably running down the middle of only two lanes of pavement (figure 11' per lane and 5' of paved shoulder = 32' wide) seems....well, kinda frightening.

And why is the Veyron top speed not "official"?

@KVHnik:
Bugatti never cared about it: it wasn't the purpose of that car.

On the other had, the SSC has a "production" of 1 (one), and needed a number of tries, to get the right weather and a run without a mechanical problem...

It's a great achievement, but... hardly comparable to a Koenigsegg or a Bugatti.

@KVHnik: I'm willing to bet that Bugatti, for whom the Veyron is a prestige car every bit as much as it is a performance car, simply couldn't be bothered to ring up Guinness to have their speed record made "official".

After all, they're building a road-going rocketship for plutocrats and hedge fund managers, I don't think they care one whit for being in Guiness' Book. It would be a few steps away from 'pur sang', wouldn't it?

I want this monstrosity.

This is not a production car. It's a one-off built for one purpose. And it looks like a piece a crap to boot.

Meh -- these are all compromise-cars. Koenigsegg uses a Ford-based engine, the Bugatti is only so in name, and this "Shelby Supercars" is clearly trying to trade on Carroll Shelby's obsolete name-power. Its engine is just a modified Corvette, and it's hardly an inspiring-looking car. *yawn*

@MadMikeBeliso: That was considered a tuner car, as opposed to a regularly-built production car like the Bugatti. Or this, apparently.

@bricology: And a W16 is just a bunch of Passat engines welded together, right? I wouldn't knock Corvette engines, they aren't exactly the worst boat anchors in the world. (Yeah, that's a huge understatement.)

What can I say? -I'm a romantic at heart. I prefer the notion of a great engineer (say, someone like Vittorio Jano) starting with a clean sheet of paper and coming up with a unique engine for a new car project.

I'm not suggesting that the Corvette engine isn't competent; it just doesn't say "thoroughbred" to me. If I were spending a few hundred thou' on a supercar, I'd want it to indulge all of my idealistic conceits.

There are more road-legal 917s than there are SSCs.

How is this a production car?

Filed under: Etc. And the award for Top Speed Achieved by a Production Automobile goes to: Shelby Supercars' Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo.

Shelby Supercars can now claim as to owning the "world speed record for a production car." Their new Twin-turbo 1183 hp Ultimate Aero set a two-way average of 255.83 mph, breaking the unofficial record held by the Bugatti Veyron by 3.11 mph.

@bricology: Actually, Koenigsegg doesn't use ford engines anymore.... but nice try.

@bricology: What about a small-block Chevy doesn't seem thoroughbred? The Bugatti engine is a brand new amalgamation of lesser engines, much like a ol' Paint Horse. Sure, the newcomer is pretty powerful, but it has nowhere near the racing history of the Small Block. 60 years of engineering are backing the Aero's engine, and 5 generations of small blocks (if you count Gen 0 and #1) have come and gone so we could obtain today's modern motoring perfection. Show some respect for the greatest engines to ever grace the surface of the earth.

To sum up all of my missed posts from earlier....
scc 91 octane
Veyron 100 octane

Still take the veyron

Maybe these people had something to do with the open road.... [www.openroadracing.com]

@yagobal: "Bugatti never cared about [top speed]"

I dont know where you heard this but it is flat wrong. Piech promised that the Bugatti would be the "fastest production car in the world," attaining a top speed of 253mph.

@GoatBoy: "What about a small-block Chevy doesn't seem thoroughbred?"

How 'bout the fact that it's been used in a few million of the most mundane cars on earth? Or the fact that it's technology, materials, workmanship and finish are no more interesting or more sophisticated than the vast majority of American V-8s?

@Frost Face: "Actually, Koenigsegg doesn't use ford engines anymore.... but nice try."

Quoth Wikipedia:
"The Koenigsegg CCR used a modified, Rotrex supercharged Ford Modular 4-valve DOHC 4.7L V8, which produced 806 hp (601 kW), to achieve a top speed of 241 mph (388 km/h). This certified top speed broke the McLaren F1's long standing world record for fastest production car. The accomplishment was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2005, who gave the Koenigsegg CCR the official title of Worlds Fastest Production Car. This engine is the basis for Koenigsegg's twin-supercharged flexible fuel V8 seen in the CCX. The Koenigsegg record was broken several months later by the Bugatti Veyron."

So, Koenigsegg doesn't use the Ford-based motor as of when -- last year? What's it based upon now? And if it's using a different one, then isn't the point of Koenigsegg being included in a post about the world speed record rather moot?

@GoatBoy: "The Bugatti engine is a brand new amalgamation of lesser engines, much like a ol' Paint Horse."

Yep, and I implied as much above. I'm not impressed by the way that Bugatti's heritage has been yoinked by VW.

"Show some respect for the greatest engines to ever grace the surface of the earth."

I have plenty of respect for the smallblock, but I don't have to pretend that they satisfy MY criteria for the engine of a $ half-million supercar. YMMV.

@bricology: Just look at Koenigsegg's web site. The CC8S and CCR are listed as having a "V8" while the CCX is listed as having a "Koenigsegg V8". Also, when Top Gear reviewed the CCX, Clarkson stated that the CCX is the first with their own V8 engine, rather than a Ford engine.