Saturday, December 27, 2008

G-Power sets new 4 door sedan top speed record with M5 Hurricane RS


Top speed numbers are all about bragging rights, but how many owners of said supercars actually drive them to even half of their limit? The likelihood that one can find a long enough track to sustain speeds over 200 miles per hour, let alone have the cahones to do so is slim. But if you could arrange a top speed race with someone that owns some form of two door supercar, this would be your opportunity to embarrass that someone with your four door speed demon.

Brabus has long held the four door speed record, first with E V12 that hit 206 mph in 1996 and most recently upping that mark to later upping the mark to 227.23 mph with the CLS "Rocket". With that number set in their sights, BMW tuner G-Power took an upgraded version of their M5 Hurricane to the ATP High-Seed test track in Papenburg, Germany last month hoping to set a new record. That they did, eclipsing the Rocket's top speed with a best run of 228.4 mph. Lest Brabus seek to take back the title, G-Power claims that they can improve on the number by increasing the boost from the twin superchargers mounted to the BMW's V10.


PRESS RELEASE:

After the record for the world's fastest BMW sedan, G-POWER did it again and broke the long-standing record of the BRABUS Rocket for the fastest sedan in the world.

In November 2008 the 750 hp strong G-POWER M5 HURRICANE RS realised a top speed of 228,4 mph. This speed has been clocked and certified at the ATP High-Seed test track in Papenburg. With it the since October 2006 valid record of 365,7 km/h has been broken.

The G-POWER high-speed world record has been realised with a 20 hp stronger evolution of the famous G-POWER M5 HURRICANE which has been clocked with 360 km/h earlier in 2008 and holds the record for the fastest BMW sedan. The extra power of the G-POWER M5 HURRICANE RS is the result of two modified superchargers from G-POWER's technology partner ASA, with enlarged capacity. In the following the boost level of the G-POWER BI-Kompressor system could be raised from 0,7 bar rel. to 0,8 bar rel.

But still the G-POWER BI-Kompressor system has not yet reached its limit. According to CEO and engineer Christian Stöber:" ...we can rise the boost level up to 1,0 bar rel. and more" and CEO Zoran Zorneke is of the opinion:" we can still improve, if we see the need for it."

We are curious if this will be necessary...



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GM suing supplier to keep Camaro production going

General Motors CorporationImage via WikipediaGM seems to be facing all sorts of trouble these days, from begging for bailout money to public criticism to rumors of bankruptcy. The latest problem concerns supplier Cadence, LLC, which produces interior parts for the next generation Camaro. Cadence declared bankruptcy in in August, and is currently in liquidation proceedings. Joining Cadence in it's decent are the machines that GM needs to make parts for the Camaro.

If GM can't get it's hands on the tooling there will certainly be delays at the assembly plants. The General would then have to pay again to get the same tooling made, which would obviously be substantial. GM would like to have a new supplier in place by January 12, 2009 because Camaro production is slated to begin on February 16, with deliveries in mid-March.

So far, it's unclear as to who actually owns the machines in question - Cadence or GM - and Cadence has had nothing to say on the matter. Regardless, if GM doesn't get its way, then it has to spend a chunk of the money it just fought for to recover old ground. The most recent precedent isn't promising: Chrysler tried to get the tooling from bankrupt parts supplier Plastech, and was denied.



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