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FastestThings

Cars

McLaren Speedtail

McLaren states 250 mph in Velocity mode for the Speedtail. MotorTrend and Road & Track print the same 250 mph.

Also known as Speedtail
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Top speed

Published as 250 mphPublished as 250 mphPublished as 250 mph

McLaren states 403 km/h (250 mph) in Velocity mode. The Speedtail is rear-wheel drive, a closed hyper-GT, and was not homologated for US road registration (Show or Display). A later 252 mph line is not stored.

ClaimedMcLaren (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 3.9× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • 1.2 football fields a secondConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 13 h 51 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

This list

Why it's so fast

A car is fast when the force pushing it forward still beats the air, and when the tires and the gearing can use that force. A limiter is a different fact from an unlimited run.

  1. Drag and gearing

    Top speed is the balance point: thrust equals aerodynamic drag. The gearing has to still be pulling when the car gets there, or the engine falls off its power.

  2. What the sources signed

    A manufacturer claim, a magazine test and an electronic governor are not interchangeable. The measurement line says which one this page ranked.

A limited example is the Bugatti Chiron.

This is how the category works. A note written for this entry appears here once it is in the database.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 402km/h250mph112m/s217knRanked figure

    McLaren states 403 km/h (250 mph) in Velocity mode. The Speedtail is rear-wheel drive, a closed hyper-GT, and was not homologated for US road registration (Show or Display). A later 252 mph line is not stored.

    Claimed
    McLaren (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Layout
Rear-wheel-drive hybrid
Body
Closed hyper-GT
Registration
Not US-homologated; Show or Display

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.