Silly 200 mph question

[SugrueNSX]

Imagine a challenge where you had to purchase a car that was capable of 200 mph (without driving it off a cliff) for the least amount of money possible.
What is the smallest amount of money you would need? What car would you choose for the challenge ? And what mods if any?
To be fair you can’t work on the car yourself. You have to pay for all the work and parts.

Regards,

Patrick

 

[Timpo]

Hmm...that's pretty good question.

You really need a car with good aero dynamics...so 300ZX or RX-7 with some engine mods?

 

[RP-Motorsports]

a used dime-a-dozen Z06 with a bolt-on FI system.

 

[NeoNSX]

a Civic... with a LOT of NOS.

 

[whiteNSXs]

a used dime-a-dozen Z06 with a bolt-on FI system.

You can also get a 1987 928S4 for merely a few thousand dollars and ask Mark911 to put his supercharger in. I think a Supra is a good candidate too.
Steve

 

[Ojas]

4th generation Corvette

That’s actually an interesting question. I think it was last season that Top Gear had a couple episodes where they attempted to do the same: hit 200 MPH on a budget. The platform they chose was a Lotus Esprit V8 (twin turbo).

A later model 4th generation Corvette with 300 HP has a top speed of around 170 MPH. It should not be too hard to find one for around $10K. There are a lot of inexpensive ways to add significant amounts of power on the Corvette. I don’t think it’s even necessary to go FI. I think with increased displacement and the normal basic mods, it’s not hard to get 500 HP or more. It might be a good idea to slightly shorten the final drive gear to bring the engine closer to the peak HP RPM as speed approaches 200 MPH. Again, there are many readily available options for this.

The ZR-1 version with 400 HP set a number of top-speed endurance records, which leads me to believe that besides bumping the output, it would not take much to get a regular 4th generation Corvette to 200 MPH.

 

[Patdeisa]

I don't know if it's the cheapest, but here is my suggestion:

Used Honda Insight: $10k (Edmunds TMV)
Used RSX-S (K20A2) Motor & Installation: $4k
Cybernation Stage 1 Turbo Installed: $6k

WHP: 325
Estimated WHP Required for 200 mph: 310
Cost for 200 mph: ~$20k

Why the Insight? With a Cd of 0.25, the Insight doesn't need tremendous amounts of power to reach 200 mph. Additionally, it's already been proven that a K20A engine can fit in the insight, as there's a drag car doing 1/4 miles in 9.97 @ 134, naturally aspirated. Plus, you can still keep the interior clean, have full A/C on that 200 mph run, and drive it to work the next day.

 

[TRM04]

Supra TT and lots of boost. :biggrin:

 

[steveny]

Does the vehicle have to have 4 wheels? Two wheels can get you to 200mph on very little loot.

 

[SugrueNSX]

All good answers:

Rx7 Yes
Z Yes
Supra Of course
Vets Makes sense
Insight Most creative and those skinny wheels should help a lot if they don’t explode at 190 mph
Civic nos Lot’s of off the shelf parts
Bike I did think that but I did say car not Hayabusa
928 Good call, I forgot about the 928 as you say a lot of car for silly money.

At the risk of stating the obvious I would add the Viper to the list. I bet you could get a scratched up 92 for close to 20 k and put a turbo on it for 10 k or so. I comes with a 9 to 1 compression ratio so it should take boost well without too much modification.

Thanks for the replies.

Regards,

Patrick

 

[slashmatt]

Question

How did you determine the HP/drag calculation.

My new C55 has an amazing Cd of 0.27 and 362 hp, but the car is limited to 155 (damn germans).

 

[pat03z06]

a used dime-a-dozen Z06 with a bolt-on FI system.

Not feeling the love. :tongue:

Actually you'd do better to get a regular vette. The fixed roof coupe design of the z06 does not lend itself as well to 200mph speeds.

A regular coupe with a forged motor so you can spin the RPM's high with a 273 rear end might do the trick. If you have a deathwish.

If you want to try this out we have a competition every year at big bend where you can drive as fast as you like for 59 miles each way. The avg speed record is like 160 or so last time I checked. By a 1960 something corvair.

http://www.bborr.com/

 

[pat03z06]

Re: 4th generation Corvette

That’s actually an interesting question. I think it was last season that Top Gear had a couple episodes where they attempted to do the same: hit 200 MPH on a budget. The platform they chose was a Lotus Esprit V8 (twin turbo).

A later model 4th generation Corvette with 300 HP has a top speed of around 170 MPH. It should not be too hard to find one for around $10K. There are a lot of inexpensive ways to add significant amounts of power on the Corvette. I don’t think it’s even necessary to go FI. I think with increased displacement and the normal basic mods, it’s not hard to get 500 HP or more. It might be a good idea to slightly shorten the final drive gear to bring the engine closer to the peak HP RPM as speed approaches 200 MPH. Again, there are many readily available options for this.

The ZR-1 version with 400 HP set a number of top-speed endurance records, which leads me to believe that besides bumping the output, it would not take much to get a regular 4th generation Corvette to 200 MPH.

I want to say the top speed of the ZR1 stock was 191mph.

 

[jaytip nsx]

TVR cerbera with very little work.