Battle for the Worlds Fastest Production Car (2005- Present)

9/27/2022

Camden Mehring ‘23

Throughout the years, we have seen some truly mind-boggling production car speed records. The trend started when Bugatti unveiled their Veyron model, which alone could go 253 miles per hour. However, this was eventually one-upped by SSC North American's Aero model. While the SSC only beat the Bugatti by a few miles per hour, it still made all the difference.

After this, Bugatti set out to create a rare, extremally fast version of the car that could tip the scales back in Bugatti's favor. So, they came up with the Veyron Super Sport, which could go 268 miles per hour, shutting out any possible competition. Then, a few years later, Hennessey Performance released their Venom GT, which challenged Bugatti's title yet again with a record top speed of 270.49 miles per hour, and it is worth noting that this also stole Bugatti's fastest open-top car which was previously held by the Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse. Skipping over a few years, Bugatti released their successor to the Veyron, which was known as the Chiron. This car was significantly more powerful and faster, with a power output of 1,500 horsepower and 261 miles per hour (but keep in mind that this was just the base version). This car was then beat by the Swedish company Koenigsegg's Agera RS, which hit a blistering 277.8 miles per hour. Since then, Bugatti was working behind the scenes on another super sport model, this one called the Super Sport 300+, with the hopes of cracking the magic 300 mile per hour barrier. And that it did, in 2019 it rocketed past the 300 mile per hour mark, pushing all the way up to 304.77 miles per hour. The next year, however, this was once again one-upped by SSC, but the run was deemed to be faked, so Bugatti still held the record. This was decided when SSC faked the numbers that their Tuatara hit. Then, just this past summer, Hennessey revealed what they had been working on. The Hennessey Venom F5, with 1,817 Horsepower and a predicted top speed of 311 miles per hour. We are still waiting on an official test run, but this seems like it will blow the Chiron SS 300+ right out of the water, with hitting 274 miles per hour in testing easily. So, the record has changed multiple times, but in the end all of these manufacturers have produced amazing vehicles, capable of speeds that we thought were only possible as a thought.

It is worth noting that a speed record is taken by averaging two runs, one going one direction and another going the opposite direction. The reason for this is that the car doing the run might have an excessive tailwind that would push it faster, but with going the other direction that cancels out.

For those that like diagrams, here are the dates that the cars reigned their top speed for:

Bugatti Veyron: April 19, 2005 - September 13, 2007

?

SSC Ultimate Aero: September 13, 2007 - June 26, 2010

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (SS): June 26, 2010 - January 10, 2013

Hennessey Venom GT: January 10, 2013 - November 4, 2017

Bugatti Chiron: (original model never beat the Venom GT as was off by 9 mph)

Koenigsegg Agera RS: November 4, 2017 - August 2, 2019

Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+: August 2, 2019 - Present (remains to be seen)

Hennessey Venom F5: Will beat 300+ but has not set record just yet

Chiron Super Sport 300+

?Hennessey Venom F5 (Coupe)

?Koenigsegg Agera RS

?Bugatti Chiron (Original)

?Hennessey Venom GT

?Bugatti Veyron (Original)

After this, Bugatti set out to create a rare, extremally fast version of the car that could tip the scales back in Bugatti's favor. So, they came up with the Veyron Super Sport, which could go 268 miles per hour, shutting out any possible competition. Then, a few years later, Hennessey Performance released their Venom GT, which challenged Bugatti's title yet again with a record top speed of 270.49 miles per hour, and it is worth noting that this also stole Bugatti's fastest open-top car which was previously held by the Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse. Skipping over a few years, Bugatti released their successor to the Veyron, which was known as the Chiron. This car was significantly more powerful and faster, with a power output of 1,500 horsepower and 261 miles per hour (but keep in mind that this was just the base version). This car was then beat by the Swedish company Koenigsegg's Agera RS, which hit a blistering 277.8 miles per hour. Since then, Bugatti was working behind the scenes on another super sport model, this one called the Super Sport 300+, with the hopes of cracking the magic 300 mile per hour barrier. And that it did, in 2019 it rocketed past the 300 mile per hour mark, pushing all the way up to 304.77 miles per hour. The next year, however, this was once again one-upped by SSC, but the run was deemed to be faked, so Bugatti still held the record. This was decided when SSC faked the numbers that their Tuatara hit. Then, just this past summer, Hennessey revealed what they had been working on. The Hennessey Venom F5, with 1,817 Horsepower and a predicted top speed of 311 miles per hour. We are still waiting on an official test run, but this seems like it will blow the Chiron SS 300+ right out of the water, with hitting 274 miles per hour in testing easily. So, the record has changed multiple times, but in the end all of these manufacturers have produced amazing vehicles, capable of speeds that we thought were only possible as a thought.