The state of Texas just opened a stretch of highway with the highest speed limit in the United States, so to test out its toll collection systems, they asked Texas-based car tuner John Hennessey to give it a high-speed blast.
He showed up with a Cadillac that pumps out 1,226 horsepower, and proceeded to fly past the toll machines at speeds reaching as high as 220.5 miles per hour. The high speed section of SH-130 connects San Antonio and Austin, but authorities were concerned that a 85-mph speed limit might be too high for the TxTag toll readers to work properly.
Hennessey put these concerns to rest by flying past the tag readers at 180 mph, at which point they collected his tag information, and read both front and rear license plates with no problem.
Hennessey's VR1200 is based on the Cadillac CTS-V, but with a heavily upgraded twin turbo engine that pushes it from zero to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds, topping out at 242. That'sBugatti Veyron-like performance from a car you could use for the school run.
Hennessey also brought his 1,000-hp Camaro ZL-1 twin turbo, which, while not quite as quick as the CTS-V, is no slouch either with a 203.9-mph top speed.
The Texas State Police also used this opportunity to test out their speed detection equipment, and to bust open the myth that a speed gun stops working beyond a certain speed. They tagged the car at over 220-mph, issuing a speeding ticket that would probably give any traffic court judge a coronary. Presumably it will be waived.
Having driven many thousands of miles on Germany's unrestricted Autobahns, I hope SH-130 proves to be the start of a trend towards higher speed roads in this country. Just don't get the idea in your head that you're going to be moving too fast to get caught. LINK
Via Jalopnik
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