#turbocharged

Audi has won the “International Engine of the Year 2011” award for the second year in a row in the 2-liter to 2.5-liter category and seventh category award in a row for Audi TFSI technology.

Speed Week is going on right now out in Bonneville, so it’s worth spotlighting one or two record setting vehicles. This one is called the Speed Demon, a turbocharged streamliner built by George Poteet and Ron Main. Both are in their 60s and have been breaking land speed records for years.

The Land Down Under just got some exciting news from Ford. Even though production is coming to an end, Australia will be gifted with 315 Ford Focus RS models in a limited edition production and available in three different colors.

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.

Ferrari is hard at work trying to refine the turbocharging process so that future products will use the high-horsepower, low emissions (and low weight) technology. According to a report in the U.K.’s AutoCar, Ferrari engine developer Jean-Jacques His says the development is well under weigh, but the biggest issue facing the project is turbo lag.

Ferrari has confirmed that a hybrid model is in the works and that a concept car will debut as early as the LA Auto Show this December. The news comes directly from Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa just weeks after a patent application for a hybrid system by Ferrari was uncovered.

Last week we brought you news on a new four-wheel drive hybrid system that Ferrari is working on and now it appears as though the Italian maker of exotic cars is exploring turbochargers for future production models.