Having watched this last year of Top Gear, there have been a number of supercars that have come along and pushed the power lap times further and further. For me, the whole interest in the super car power laps started when the Mclaren SLR came along, which was followed by the Carrera GT. Then my fave, the Enzo came along and held the crown, which was subsequently beaten by another Enzo in a racing outfit, the Masrati MC-12. A few weeks ago the Zonda reappeared to take the fastest honours, and now we know that if and when the Bugatti arrives, it'll probably set the fastest lap.
The Top Gear power laps are therefore (for me at least) the ultimate (and only) benchmark for me to tell which supercars are the best in terms of performance. And it makes sense because each new car that comes along usually has more power, top speed, and/or power to weight ratio etc (i.e. Mclaren then Carrera GT then Enzo then Maserati all follow a progressive pattern of power/speed/weight etc).
However, there're just one slight anomily with the top part of the power laps, the Koenigsegg. Before the arrival of the Bugatti, it was the only car to beat the Mclaren F1's long standing top speed record, no small feat. So I would surely have expected it to do a lot better then the time it currently stands at. I remember seeing the episode when (old) Stig took it round the track, he was struggling a bit with the handling, but the Carrera GT wasn't that great at handling either, didn't stop (new) Stig from practising all morning until he got it right.
And if I'm not mistaken, they also made a 700 BHP Koenigsegg as well, which only now has the Bugatti topped. Why didn't they get that on the track and gave that a go? They got the new Zonda to go round again and set a new record (much faster then the old time), I'm pretty sure the new Koenigsegg would have also blitzed the lap.
Perhaps I'm making a fuss over nothing, it's just that I think before they get the big bad Bugatti on the track, they should at least give the second fastest road car of all time a decent run to prove what it's worth. And then we can see what the fastest road car of all time is made of.
The Top Gear power laps are therefore (for me at least) the ultimate (and only) benchmark for me to tell which supercars are the best in terms of performance. And it makes sense because each new car that comes along usually has more power, top speed, and/or power to weight ratio etc (i.e. Mclaren then Carrera GT then Enzo then Maserati all follow a progressive pattern of power/speed/weight etc).
However, there're just one slight anomily with the top part of the power laps, the Koenigsegg. Before the arrival of the Bugatti, it was the only car to beat the Mclaren F1's long standing top speed record, no small feat. So I would surely have expected it to do a lot better then the time it currently stands at. I remember seeing the episode when (old) Stig took it round the track, he was struggling a bit with the handling, but the Carrera GT wasn't that great at handling either, didn't stop (new) Stig from practising all morning until he got it right.
And if I'm not mistaken, they also made a 700 BHP Koenigsegg as well, which only now has the Bugatti topped. Why didn't they get that on the track and gave that a go? They got the new Zonda to go round again and set a new record (much faster then the old time), I'm pretty sure the new Koenigsegg would have also blitzed the lap.
Perhaps I'm making a fuss over nothing, it's just that I think before they get the big bad Bugatti on the track, they should at least give the second fastest road car of all time a decent run to prove what it's worth. And then we can see what the fastest road car of all time is made of.
