topher5150
Dedicated LVC Member
It was a car designed to mark its maker's centenary - and so it seems fitting that a Ford GT smashed a world record with the help of a futuristic coating.
Johnny Bohmer topped 223mph, from a standing start and over a single mile, on the runway of NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
The speed his car, which can legally be used on the road, reached was quicker than the space shuttle's average touchdown pace.
It happened while testing a revolutionary coating that fills in microscopic paint pores to make the car more aerodynamic.
Johnny, who's Performance Power Racing team was also trying out a new suspension, said: 'This is probably the best place on the Earth.
'It's very nice, I'm very happy with it. I took it up to 210mph without trying.'
Guinness World Records judges have verified the feat, which is the first in a new category of standing miles for a street-legal car.
The world record came as a shock to Bohmer because it was set during the hottest time of the day, when conditions that are not typically kind to supercharged engines.
But his Florida-based team started setting faster marks on their cars as soon as they started revving them up on the runway on June 16 and 17.
The team brought a Dodge Challenger and drove it to over 170mph, beating the previous record for that model by almost 30mph.
'First time out, I was very, very surprised the car went that good,' Bohmer said.
Built for spacecraft returning from orbit at high speeds, the three-mile long concrete runway is fast becoming a preferred testing ground for drivers and racing teams.
Joe Gibbs Racing, which competes in NASCAR events, and Indy Car teams have all used the runway for testing.
NASA's partnership development manager David Cox said teams paid rent for the venue and signed Space Act Agreements to use it for at least eight days a year.
Testing has to meet certain NASA criteria because the agency is researching how to improve fuel mileage for vehicles.
Bohmer's team was allowed to use the track because it was testing a coating called PerformaBond.
The solution fills in the microscopic pores in paint and makes the car move through the air that much smoother.
PerformaBond's Jeff McEachen said testing showed a one- to two-percent drag reduction while using the product.
He added: 'The great thing is that it all coincides, NASA is high-tech and cutting-edge and that's exactly what we want to do.'
Although they are street-legal, Bohmer's Ford GT, which was built by the motor company to celebrate its 100th year in 2003, and the other cars brought for testing had drag chutes to help slow them down at the end of a run.
But the shuttle runway was so long the drivers did not have to use them.
David Cox added: 'On the shorter tracks, they have to deploy it every single time and repack it. Here they don't have to do that at all. I can go 260 and stop, it's just so long here.'
The International Mile Racing Association set up four tracks with timing gear so they could take advantage of the wind direction for their runs during their two days at the Shuttle Landing Facility.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...3-mph-street-legal-Ford-GT.html#ixzz1QfVI4fGc
Johnny Bohmer topped 223mph, from a standing start and over a single mile, on the runway of NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
The speed his car, which can legally be used on the road, reached was quicker than the space shuttle's average touchdown pace.
It happened while testing a revolutionary coating that fills in microscopic paint pores to make the car more aerodynamic.
Johnny, who's Performance Power Racing team was also trying out a new suspension, said: 'This is probably the best place on the Earth.
'It's very nice, I'm very happy with it. I took it up to 210mph without trying.'
Guinness World Records judges have verified the feat, which is the first in a new category of standing miles for a street-legal car.
The world record came as a shock to Bohmer because it was set during the hottest time of the day, when conditions that are not typically kind to supercharged engines.
But his Florida-based team started setting faster marks on their cars as soon as they started revving them up on the runway on June 16 and 17.
The team brought a Dodge Challenger and drove it to over 170mph, beating the previous record for that model by almost 30mph.
'First time out, I was very, very surprised the car went that good,' Bohmer said.
Built for spacecraft returning from orbit at high speeds, the three-mile long concrete runway is fast becoming a preferred testing ground for drivers and racing teams.
Joe Gibbs Racing, which competes in NASCAR events, and Indy Car teams have all used the runway for testing.
NASA's partnership development manager David Cox said teams paid rent for the venue and signed Space Act Agreements to use it for at least eight days a year.
Testing has to meet certain NASA criteria because the agency is researching how to improve fuel mileage for vehicles.
Bohmer's team was allowed to use the track because it was testing a coating called PerformaBond.
The solution fills in the microscopic pores in paint and makes the car move through the air that much smoother.
PerformaBond's Jeff McEachen said testing showed a one- to two-percent drag reduction while using the product.
He added: 'The great thing is that it all coincides, NASA is high-tech and cutting-edge and that's exactly what we want to do.'
Although they are street-legal, Bohmer's Ford GT, which was built by the motor company to celebrate its 100th year in 2003, and the other cars brought for testing had drag chutes to help slow them down at the end of a run.
But the shuttle runway was so long the drivers did not have to use them.
David Cox added: 'On the shorter tracks, they have to deploy it every single time and repack it. Here they don't have to do that at all. I can go 260 and stop, it's just so long here.'
The International Mile Racing Association set up four tracks with timing gear so they could take advantage of the wind direction for their runs during their two days at the Shuttle Landing Facility.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...3-mph-street-legal-Ford-GT.html#ixzz1QfVI4fGc
There was just one on ebay that supposedly held the record at like 240+ ??? I will post the link if I find it.
