E85 Viper goes 189mph; see video in link
Karl Jacob took his E85-fueled, 1,100-horsepower to the Mojave Friday and came away with one world record in the standing mile. With car builder Ron Misjak Jr. behind the wheel, the Viper hit 189 mph to set an E85 mark but missed the gasoline-powered street car record of over 217 mph. According to the team's website, an intercooler problem canceled any further runs. A video is available at the LA Times website. We've also run many stories on this project, and it looks as if Jacob has plans to continue his record quest.
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[Source: John O'Dell/LA Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TIMMAH! 2:06AM (4/16/2007)
Why do Vipers sound so terrible!
"...the key goal of the project here was to create a car that was both fast, that could go over 200 mph and a car that was environmentally conscious."
Uh yeah, I don't think burning up huge amounts of E85 in any car is really "environmentally conscious." It's not like E85 production has zero impact on the environment.
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markf 8:44AM (4/16/2007)
Back in 1997 Motor Trend tested a stock '97 450HP blue & white striper Viper as part of their top speed challange and they got it up to 192 before it let loose a radiator hose. This new 1100Hp version should be able to break the 217 mph record once it gets sorted out.
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MikeW 7:59PM (4/18/2007)
This is a standing mile. A veyron only gets up to 220-225mph, depending if you are using top speed mode, regular, or starting in handling mode.
For an old viper with modern 335/35 17 Michelin PS2 tires, 120mph in the 1/4 should be easier on the driver, then up to 145 in about 1/2 mile, then with a little luck, 175mph in one mile.
Car and Driver got their green viper to only 177mph (september 1996) so 192mph seems a bit much (ringer) for only 450hp and 0.36 Cd.
In the june '06 mototrend, the corvette z06, reached 174, but started in 2nd gear
Maybe they should cheat, use E70.
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Jimmy 12:49AM (4/19/2007)
#3 "Maybe they should cheat, use E70."
Why would they switch to an inferior fuel? Alcohol fuels are better for high performance engines than gasoline, hence all of the methanol/ethanol used in motorsports.
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MikeW 12:26PM (4/19/2007)
E70 is a superior fuel here, it is a road car engine.
E70 has ~7% greater energy density, and there is only a marginal loss of effective AKI.
That is not going to be a problem, you can only advance the spark so much.
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