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Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport hits 268 mph

Bugatti is claiming a new production-car top-speed record with a combined two-run average of 267.9 mph (431.072 kph) with a new Veyron 16.4 Super Sport model, smashing the 253.76-mph record set by a standard Veyron 16.4 in 2005. It also betters the existing world-record mark of 256.23 mph (412.28 kph) established by Shelby SuperCars with its Ultimate Aero on a 12-mile stretch of road in Nevada in 2007. Confirming details of the attempt run under tight security at parent company Volkswagen's 13-mile Ehra-Lessien test track in late June, Bugatti says the new Super Sport set the record in the hands of its test driver, Pierre-Henri Raphanel, and under the auspices of officials from the Guinness Book of Records.

GM expands advanced-vehicle-technology center in California

General Motors unveiled a new technical center dedicated to the development, maintenance and testing of alternative-energy vehicles last week in Torrance, Calif. The company has had local digs for years but recently leased the building next to its existing Advanced Technology Center for an alternative-energy research facility. It now employs a dozen scientists, technicians and engineers to advance the electrification of GM vehicles.

Brabus at 2009 Frankfurt motor show

By Tom Sharpe First Official Pictures 18 September 2009 13:12 Mercedes tuning supremo Brabus unveiled its new 788bhp EV12 at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show – a car so powerful there’s only room for ten on the open road. Number one of ten limited-edition Brabus EV12s struck a brooding figure at the tuner’s stand – hardly surprising with a 6.3-litre bi-turbo V12 under the bonnet and a £440,000 price tag. The E-class has been transformed into a tarmac-shredding supercar-chaser thanks to the introduction of a newly developed SV12 R bi-turbo engine which, Brabus claims, was implanted under the bonnet with 'almost surgical precision'.