For those of you with an extra $4500 to spend, the folks at WorldClassDriving.com can, for an afternoon, put you in the driver's seat of a 200 mph exotic car.
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The cars include:
Ferrari 430 Scudera
Ford GT
Lamborghini Gallardo LP560
Ferrari 599 GTB and
Mercedes McLaren SLR
Not your average "Daily Drivers"! WorldClassDriving obviously doesn't put you in the seat of one of these beasts without providing you a bit of instruction. WCD's instructors will, at the end of your instruction, allow you to hit the top speed they feel you can safely handle. You can't drive 55, but they make sure you don't do 200 if yoiu can't handle it. Plus, they keep ans instructor in the car with you.
This is a whole day affair, running from 8 am until 5:30.
The whole event occurs at an abandoned airport in the Miami/Dade county area that was intended to handle the Super Sonic Transport (SST)......remembert that? The Concorde was the Euro version of this plane. The SST needed a very ling runway to take off and land, so 40 years ago, the Everglades Jetport was built. The Jetport has a 10,499 foot long runway. That is about all the Jetport has......except for a small out-building for the Jetport's manager. Sounds like a lonely job!
But.....2 miles of flat, straight, level pavement to put the hammer down! For those select 200 individuals of you, and you know who you are, this sounds like the gift for someone who has everything.
For additional information, and to live vicariously through others, check out WCD's website and this additional story over at our friends at Autoweek.com. Those lucky souls were able to drive a Koenigsegg CCX past the 200 MPH barrier. I guess they just live right!
British Steam-Powered Car to attempt to break 103 year old speed record
From across the "pond" comes word on a vehicle that, quite honestly, looks like something Luke Skywalker would take to work.
The British Steam Car is an almost $1 Million dollar attempt to break a 103 year old land speed record for steam powered vehicles. That 1906 record was an incredible 127 mph, in a Stanley Steamer. (No, not the carpet cleaners!) The British Steam car team hopes to better this record by reaching a speed of 170 mph.
After rigorous testing in the UK, the team will be shipping the car to the U.S. They are planning to use the dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, where the Shuttle sometimes lands. Although, word is Edwards has had a wetter than normal winter, so the bed may need to dry out. Where's global warming when we need it?
The Steam Car is a mixture of carbon-fiber composite and aluminum over a steel space frame chassis. Internally, it carries 12 boilers, and has almost 2 miles of tubing. De-mineralized water is pumped into the boilers at upwards of 50 liters a minute. The steam is heated to 400 degress Celsius. This can be accomplished because the water is under extreme pressure. The resulting steam is injected into turbines at over twice the speed of sound. The turbines drive the rear wheels. Even with the carbon-fiber and aluminum, this vehicle still tips the scales at 3 tons.
Check out the video below of a test run in the UK. The Steam Car may only have achieved a speed in this run of approximately 60 mph, but remember, it's running on steam!
Segway-based vehicle in development between GM and Segway
From articles in the Wall Street Journal Online and AutoBlog.com comes word that General Motors and Segway, Inc are working on Segway based vehicle that can move easily through crowded and congested city streets, thereby helping to relieve traffic congestion.
By the picture below, from Reuters, you can see that, unlike your standard Segway, this vehicle allows the operator to sit down.
This new vehicle has been code name P.U.M.A, for Personal Urban Mobility and Accesibility.
Like your basic Segway, the PUMA runs on batteries. Unlike your basic Segway, however, the PUMA uses wireless technology to avoid traffic jams.
The PUMA has a listed top-speed of 35 mph. So, with a speed faster than a brisk walk and the enclosed compartment, GM hopes the PUMA will be a vehicle that is adopted by the masses.
Projected cost of the PUMA, although still not disclosed, supposed to be one-fourth to one-third the cost of your basic economy car.
GM is aiming to have the PUMA on the road by 2012. They will be have on the streets of Manhattan on April 7th to start the buzz.
More news on this as we get it from the news wires.
UPDATE --- Additional info has come forth.
Although the picture above does not show it, the PUMA is a two seater.
The wireless communication will leverage GM's OnStar technology. It will be able to advise your friends who may also own a PUMA as to your location. Yes, social networking arrives in urban transportation!
Also, GM seems to have indicated this vehicle will incorporate autonomous drivig and parking. Wowzah!
Segway-based vehicle in development between GM and Segway
From articles in the Wall Street Journal Online and AutoBlog.com comes word that General Motors and Segway, Inc are working on Segway based vehicle that can move easily through crowded and congested city streets, thereby helping to relieve traffic congestion.
By the picture below, from Reuters, you can see that, unlike your standard Segway, this vehicle allows the operator to sit down.
This new vehicle has been code name P.U.M.A, for Personal Urban Mobility and Accesibility.
Like your basic Segway, the PUMA runs on batteries. Unlike your basic Segway, however, the PUMA uses wireless technology to avoid traffic jams.
The PUMA has a listed top-speed of 35 mph. So, with a speed faster than a brisk walk and the enclosed compartment, GM hopes the PUMA will be a vehicle that is adopted by the masses.
Projected cost of the PUMA, although still not disclosed, supposed to be one-fourth to one-third the cost of your basic economy car.
GM is aiming to have the PUMA on the road by 2012. They will be have on the streets of Manhattan on April 7th to start the buzz.
More news on this as we get it from the news wires.
UPDATE --- Additional info has come forth.
Although the picture above does not show it, the PUMA is a two seater.
The wireless communication will leverage GM's OnStar technology. It will be able to advise your friends who may also own a PUMA as to your location. Yes, social networking arrives in urban transportation!
Also, GM seems to have indicated this vehicle will incorporate autonomous drivig and parking. Wowzah!
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