On July 13, Rainer Zietlow and his team set a new world record for driving the length of the Pan-American Highway covering nearly 16,000 miles  through 14 countries in a 2011 Volkswagen Touareg TDI Clean Diesel SUV.

The team set off on this journey to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the legendary Pan-American Highway. The team began their adventure on July 2 at the southern-most tip of Argentina where the Pan-American Highway begins, then travelling through Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada. The team drove day and night, taking five hour shifts throughout the trip.

Zietlow chose the Toureg TDI Clean Diesel for its durability, high-performance and long-range fuel efficiency. The Touareg features a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 TDI engine that produces 225-hp and 406 lb-ft of torque. The clean diesel SUV consumes  30 percent less fuel and produces up to 25 percent lower CO2 emissions than comparable gasoline vehicles.

The journey was to benefit charity organizations that work in 48 developing countries. Zietlow will donate 10 Euro cents for each kilometer that was driven to two villages in Latin America managed by Plan International.

Zietlow will travel to VW dealerships across the U.S from August 1-30 with the record setting Touareg so the public can learn about the record setting journey.

GALLERY: 2011 Volkswagen Touraeg TDI

A few weeks ago, Bentley announced that it had set a world speed record on ice in their Continental Supersports. The modified convertible hit 205.48 mph on a Finnish lakebed, which is no trifling speed. Now, obscure tire manufacturer Nokian has announced that they have bested that record by one mph, with their own special tires—in an Audi, no less.

Just like the Bentley’s record, this speed run was completed in Finland…with a Finnish driver, Janne Laitinen. The record was completed with Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 studded ice tires, commercially available in Finland (naturally). The as-yet unverified record was completed at 206.05mph in the Gulf of Bothnia, between Finland and Sweden, aboard a mildly-modified Audi RS6 sedan.

“Testing at high speeds in demanding conditions forms an important part of our winter tyre development,” said Matti Morri, Nokian technical customer service manager. ”Testing our boundaries can teach us new things, which can then be reflected in all of our products.”

If this record is legitimate, Bentley can be proud that they held onto the previous record for a mere three weeks. Those who threw down money for the Continental Supersports Ice Record Edition are starting to feel nervous, aren’t they?

[Source: autoevolution]

In Finland, rally champion Juha Kankkunen has cracked the 200-mph barrier on ice in a Bentley Supersports, setting a new world speed record on ice.

Atop the frozen Baltic Sea at temperatures of minus 30 degrees, he drove the AWD, W12-engined, biofuel-powered Bentley Continental Supersports convertible to a record 205.48 mph, which bested his own previous world record of 199.83 mph set at the same location in 2007.

“The last time, I narrowly missed the magical 200 mph mark in a Continental GT,” he said. “When I heard about the Supersports I was determined to go record breaking again with the Bentley Boys.”

One of the goals of the British/Finnish team was to keep the car as stock as possible: modifications included a roll cage, low-resistance Pirelli winter tires, front and rear spoilers, and a bumper-mounted parachute. Juha Kankkunen fought crosswinds and sudden blizzards on the 10-mile track, atop 27 inches of ice, to complete two runs in opposite directions. The speed was verified by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Of course, Kankkunen is no stranger to racing in extreme conditions. Since he started rallying in 1978, he has over 23 World Rally victories under his belt, been crowned World Champion four times, and won the Dakar Rally outright in 1988. Finland breeds rally champions, so the saying goes, and off the coast of Finland Kankkunen seemed within his element.

Bentley is planning a limited edition 100-car run of the Supersports to reflect this achievement, in case well-heeled buyers want to tackle the record on their own.

Hit the jump to read the official press release.

Continue Reading…

Go ahead and raise your hand if you’ve made a ridiculous bet while out drinking with a few of your friends. Admit it, we all have and most of the time we never follow through and just hope everyone else forgot about the night before. But not Li Guiwen. This army driver from Beijing stuck to his word after making a drinking bet with buddies. The bet? To set a world record by driving across two rows of beer bottles for close to 200 feet.

It took eight minutes and 28 seconds for the imitation Toyota Camry to set the record, as Guiwen steered across 1,798 bottles. And apparently this isn’t the first time Guiwen has attempted to set the record. Back in 2009, he made an attempt, but due to the rain the vehicle slipped off the bottle track. “Since the failure last year, I have been training constantly,” Guiwen said.

We find it more entertaining that a bunch of people had to consume those 1,798 beer bottles for this achievement – and wonder how many more silly bets were made during that process. Let’s hope Guiwen didn’t make any attempts under the influence, eh?

[Source: Orange News]

The 2003-2006 Ford GT is one of America’s proudest super cars. Its sleek, low profile design gives it a sense of being exotic while there’s no mistaking the American muscle that powers it. From the factory it came equipped with a 5.4L V8 with a Lysholm twin screw-type supercharger producing 550-hp and 500 ft-lbs of torque. With an MSRP in the mid-$100,000′s, it’s hard to imagine there would be many of these prowling on the streets, never mind modified ones. But modified ones there are, and Performance Power Racing is taking top honors with its 1,400-hp Ford GT that recently set a production car world record.

You see, the Ford GT has a top speed of 200 MPH off the assembly line. Performance Power Racing in South Florida  wanted to take that above and beyond. They claim that their Ford GT went from the previous top speed of 200 mph to 252.97 mph in merely 7.3 seconds with the aid of a pair of turbochargers forcing 26 psi into the V8.

And just like that a record is set and for those not fortunate enough have witnessed it (we definitely weren’t!) there’s a video after the break.

Continue Reading…

BMW Tuner G-Power has just announced that during recent testing at the Papenburg test track in Germany, its 750hp twin-supercharged HURRICANE RS M5 set a new WORLD RECORD for the fastest sedan.

With a stop speed of 367.5 km/h (228.4 mph) the Hurricane eclipsed the Mercedes CLS-based Brabus Rocket, which set a speed of 365.7 km/h (227.2 mph).

The Hurricane RS is a slightly more powerful version of the standard production Hurricane with 750hp versus 730hhp. The gain was made by raising boost pressure in both ASA superchargers from 10.1 lbs to 11.6 lbs.
According to G-Power CEO and engineer Christian Stöber, the
Hurricane is capable of topping its own record as boost can be raised as high as 14.5 lbs. “We are curious if this will be necessary…” reads the end of the company’s press release, a definite challenge to the boys at Brabus.

While this new record is certain to help G-Power sell more vehicles, most likely in places like Dubai, the speed record won’t be possible in the production cars because they will not be equipped with the gearing necessary to do so. Brabus does, however, offer the Rocket to customers with longer gears. Regardless, unless those customers own their own airstrip, 220-plus mph speed runs are unlikely.

Official press release after the jump:
Continue Reading…