Here’s some footage of George Poteet piloting the Speed Demon at Bonneville Speedweek 2011 to hit the incredible record of 426 mph. Granted, it’s just an opportunity for Replay XD to show off their fastest 1080 camera, but it’s fascinating to see how a 2,200 hp demon takes off and achieves that insane speed without any drama. It goes smooth as silk.

After accomplishing their goal of clocking 200 mph, Skoda team decided to have a crack at breaking the speed record for 2.0 liter produciton cars. And guess what…

Yes, they’ve done that too. In fact they got a bit carried away and instead of going slightly over the previous record of 216 mph, they managed to set 227.070 mph. This is the average of two official runs of Bonneville’s famous five-mile course at 225.513 mph on Thursday 18 August, and a return run at 228.647 mph on Friday 19 August.

You have to give it to Skoda, that 600 hp ‘salt spec’ Octavia vRS they made seems to be one helluva machine. It is now fastest 2.0-litre supercharged production car in the world. If only it was street legal!

Robert Hazelwood, Director for ŠKODA UK, said: “This is a truly stunning achievement.Our goal was to break 200 mph as a celebration of 10 years of vRS, and we have achieved that, and significantly more. The success is a tribute to everyone who has worked so tirelessly and with such passion to make ŠKODA a world beater.”

You may remember back in June Skoda announced they are going to take on Bonneville Salt Flats with a purpose-built Octavia vRS and hit 200 mph. Well, they’ve done it.

The car actually clocked 202.15 mph. There couldn’t have been a better way to celebrate the Octavia’s 10th anniversary.

This Octavia vRS was prepared by the brand’s UK technical team and was driven by journalist Richard Meaden. It had underwent a rigorous dyno programme with the assistance of performance software and tuning outfit specialist REVO Technik, and all four speed licenses required before heading to the magical 200 mph barrier. It achieved an impressive 195.69 mph on its first run of the day.

The team has now set themselves a new goal, to brake the 216 mph record for 2.0 liter production cars.

Although the car looks pretty much like the standard Octavia you can go and buy today, it is in fact 80mm lower and has a new sub-frame which houses a race prepared intercooler. The car is still powered by a production-standard 2.0-litre four-cylinder TSI petrol engine, but it’s been fitted with a special Garret turbocharger which helps it develop over 500 BHP, and produce 30+ PSI of boost pressure. And it only drinks high-octane race fuel.

Robert Hazelwood, Director for ŠKODA UK, said: “Months of rigorous planning, testing and preparation have all been worthwhile.  At 13:24 on Monday 15th August, we took our Octavia vRS past the 200 mph barrier.  The entire team has done an outstanding job.  Our special thanks go to Richard on an incredible drive.

“This marks another exciting milestone in the brand’s motorsport achievements and is a great way to celebrate 10 years of the vRS range and commemorate 110 years of ŠKODA’s participation in motorsport.”

Celebrating 10th anniversary of its vRS performance brand, Skoda UK decided to take on the Bonneville Salt Flats in an Octavia sedan!

It is no ordinary Octavia of course. It is an one-off modified Octavia vRS saloon, powered by production-standard 2.0-litre four-cylinder TSI petrol engine. The only difference is the turbocharger unit, which has been replaced with a high performance one from Garret. With 26-28 PSI of boost pressure and high-octane race fuel (with water methanol mix), it generates 600 PS.

That Skoda reckons is good for a top speed of over 200 mph.

The car also features changes to improve aerodynamics and performance. That includes lowering it to run almost 80mm closer to the ground and a new sub-frame which houses a race prepared intercooler. The unique racer has been built to stringent Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) safety regulations, which means a reinforced roll cage, parachute, fire extinguishers and window cage.

The vRS is entered into the ‘2.0-litre production car’ category and will race over a nine-mile straight, which includes a timed mile in the middle. Performance through that section determines the class winner. The legendary Bonneville Salt Flats begin 90 miles west of Salt Lake City and cover around 50 square miles of north-western Utah. It has been the spiritual home to high-speed racing for almost a century and each August a variety of hot rods, roadsters, belly tankers, lakesters, motorcycles, streamliners and diesel trucks compete in Speed Week.

Well, not quite so to be honest! You see this 25 years old Ferrari did hit 275.401 mph at the Bonneville salt flats, and that does make it the world’s fastest Ferrari. But the thing is, it’s not a Ferrari! I mean it is a Ferrari of course, a very beautiful 288 GTO belonging to 1985, but it’s powered by an 8.8 liter GM V8 which has Borg Warner turbochargers to put out max power of nearly 2500 bhp! And it’s so darn fast you just don’t care it is/isn’t a Ferrari, do you?!

Remember the Suzuki Kizashi Bonneville Special we told you about a few weeks ago that’s developed by Suzuki and Road&Track magazine to break the 200 mph barrier? We even brought to you all making of videos of the car as it was in the works. Now though it’s finished, and as you see here it successfully hit 203 mph or roughly 326 km/h in the Record-Qualifying Run. With magazine reporter Sam Mitani at the wheel, the car achieves 203.720 mph.

Press Release:

Conditions for the Kizashi’s record-setting Bonneville run were exactly as the build team, Advanced Product Engineering’s Richard Holdener, Tom Habrzyk and Scott Bailey, expected. With temperatures topping 100 degrees, the Kizashi was running at a density altitude on the flats of 6,303 feet. After passing inspection, the 2010 Kizashi provided Mitani, Road & Track’s international editor, a perfect platform for qualifying with the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), the sanctioning club for all Bonneville records. The 203.720 mph record was achieved by calculating the average of a two-way pass at 8:40 a.m. MT on August 18, 2010.

2010 Suzuki Kizashi Bonneville Special

Beginning with interior safety and instrument modifications, the Suzuki Kizashi Bonneville Special underwent additional refinements to make it salt-ready. Once the work was completed, the team installed the SCTA-approved roll cage, an aluminum bulkhead in the rear, racing seat, seat harnesses and window net. Next, it was time to take a look under the hood. The motor was disassembled to confirm the stock measurements, while the cylinder head was flowed and ported. The Kizashi Bonneville racer benefits from a new intake manifold, a tuned ‘long tube’ header and forged rods and pistons for high rpm endurance.

With up to 16 pounds of boost from a Turbonetics turbocharger, the Kizashi’s increased horsepower required air-to-water intercooling (and snow water/methanol injection) – while its increased output demands a new ACT clutch and pressure plate. A scattershield is added, the oil pan is welded for a new drain fitting and a new 3.5-inch exhaust is fabricated aft of the turbocharger. Additional protection for the high-boost, high-rpm turbo motor is provided by full synthetic 5W-20 racing oil from Lucas Oil.

The Kizashi platform – and its Nurburgring heritage – is morphed into a salt-specific recipe with new coilovers, steel wheels seam welded, and speed-specific 15×7-inch Goodyear Front Runner® rubber. An air dam keeps the Kizashi’s nose planted, window straps and hood pins ensure the hood and glass stay in place, and a parachute can bring the high speed show to a controlled and shortened stop. Finally, a dual fire system provides the extra assurance so important for Mitani, with more than 500 boosted horses but only a few feet in front of his high-speed capsule.

To learn more about the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi Bonneville Special’s record-setting run, race fans can visit www.facebook.com/suzukiauto or www.suzukiauto.com/allpoints/events/bonneville. In addition, Road & Track’s complete coverage of the 2010 Bonneville Speed Week, including an online video series chronicling the build of the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi Bonneville Special can be accessed at http://www.roadandtrack.com/special-feature/building-a-record-breaking-kizashi and www.Facebook.com/RoadandTrack.

  Technical Specifications - 2010 Suzuki Kizashi Bonneville Special
  Wheelbase:             106.3 inches
  Overall Length:        183.1 inches
  Overall Width:         71.7 inches
  Engine:                2.4 liter, turbocharged four-cylinder, 16-valve
                          DOHC engine
  Turbo Boost:           16 psi (Turbonetics)
  Horsepower:            513 wheel hp @ 7,700 rpm
  Torque:                515 lb.-ft. @ 5,500 rpm
  Transmission:          6-speed manual
  Brakes:                Front ventilated disc brakes/Rear disc brakes
                          (and parachute)
  Tires:                 15x7-inch Goodyear Front Runner(R)

We have already told you about the very special 500-hp Suzuki Kizashi that’s being prepared by the Japanese company and American Road & Track magazine to break the 202 MPH speed record at this year’s Bonneville Salts Flats Speed Week. It is of course a very hard task turning an innocent family sedan into a real speed freak! Now for those of you who like to know more about the procedure and become familiar with all the nuts and bolts of making a Bonneville special car, R&D was kind enough to chronicle the project and provide us with daily updates on it.

Here you can watch all the videos of the car being made. Some of the modificaitons are truly amazing. And stay tuned for August 14 to see if the car accomplish its mission!

Suzuki has never been known as a sport and high performance brand because well, they are not! They do have a history in rallying, but that’s just not enough. Now though they are engaging in some unusual activities for the company which can change their image. For instance, out of the blue, they decided to take the Kizashi sedan to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and break the 200 mph barrier, For Funsies!

Obviously the standard Kizashi is not the right car for the job. It’s a brilliant sedan with great value for money, but it’s built to top 120-130 mph. So, some desperate measures were required!

The deeply modified Bonneville special Suzuki Kizashi features a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder, 16-valve DOHC engine which is tuned up to an unbelievable (for a four-pot) 500 wheel hp and 420 lb.-ft. of torque. It also get six-speed manual transmission, and front ventilated disc brakes/rear disc brakes. They have also put the car on diet and made some aerodynamic adjustments as well.

The Story:

The Bonneville Kizashi began with a pre-production Kizashi prototype. In May 2010, construction of the Bonneville racer began with interior disassembly, underscoring Kizashi’s initial design premise. “Premium without the premium” is, suddenly, completely without the premium, reflecting a bare metal working environment intended for but one mission. Its upscale appointments removed, the Holdener/Habrzyk team installed the SCTA-approved roll cage, an aluminum bulkhead in the rear, racing seat, seat harnesses and window net.

With the cockpit modifications made, it was time to take a look under the hood and build on, with this Kizashi, the performance tradition rooted in Suzuki’s first win on Mt. Fuji some 55 years ago.

The spare motor was disassembled to confirm the stock measurements, while the cylinder head was flowed and ported. The Bonneville Kizashi benefits from a new intake manifold, a tuned ‘long tube’ header and – for high rpm durability – forged rods and pistons. With up to 20 pounds of boost from the Turbonetics turbocharger, the Kizashi’s increased horsepower required air-to-water intercooling (and Snow water/methanol injection) – while its output demands a new ACT Clutch and Pressure Plate. A scattershield is added, the oil pan is welded for a new drain fitting and a new 3.5-inch exhaust is fabricated aft of the turbocharger. Additional protection for the high-boost, high-rpm turbo motor is provided by full synthetic 5W-20 racing oil from Lucas Oil.

The Kizashi platform – and its Nurburgring heritage – is morphed into a salt-specific recipe with new coilovers, steel wheels seam welded, and speed-specific 15×7-inch Goodyear Front Runner® rubber. An air dam keeps the Kizashi’s nose planted, window straps and hood pins ensure the hood and glass stay in place, and a parachute can bring the high speed show to an emergency stop. Finally, a dual fire system provides the extra assurance so important for Mitani, with some 900 boosted horses but only a few feet in front of his now high-speed capsule.

With the build completed at the end of July, the first week of August provides a narrow window for the chassis dyno tune and over-the-road (closed course, professional driver) testing. Then it’s on to Bonneville and the week of speed, beginning Saturday, August 14 and ending on Friday, August 20. If the week goes as planned, and the Kizashi performs as designed, the SCTA will have two new members among its 200 mph ranks: Road & Track’s Sam Mitani and the 2010 Suzuki Bonneville Kizashi.

Recently introduced Jaguar XFR is now officially the fastest Jaguar in the history as it hits 225 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats speedway, Driven by racer Paul Gentilozzi. The only modifaications included removing speed limiter (well of course!) and adding a rear wing to keep the car on the ground while going that fast. XFR broke the record of 220mph set by a 90s XJ220.