1st News Article on the Gumball I've seen.

[Adam]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/04/18/BA272954.DTL&type=printable

Some humorous quotes
The race cars -- with large numbers painted on the doors -- swerved in and out of traffic, along shoulders and center dividers while exceeding speeds of 100 mph, according to the CHP.

And then, the 911 calls began pouring in.

CHP responded by sending out patrol units and aircraft to put a halt to the madness.



There were thirteen 911 calls alone from motorists on one small stretch of I-80 in Solano County

The official gumball policy, repeated several times by Cooper before the group left San Francisco, is safety and staying within the speed limit. But the words were met with more than a few knowing chuckles.


We are trying to get across America without being arrested

A Ferrari F50 clocked 209 mph

"My co-driver got arrested going 158 mph in Tennessee," Abi said. "He was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail. I couldn't stop laughing."

They got 28 tickets in six days, he said.

[Adam]

Answering the next most obvious question from the article
What is a Koenigsegg?

http://www.koenigsegg.se/graphics/sliderimage_1.jpg
http://www.koenigsegg.se/graphics/sliderimage_2.jpg
http://www.koenigsegg.se/graphics/sliderimage_4.jpg
http://www.koenigsegg.se/graphics/sliderimage_5.jpg
http://www.koenigsegg.se/graphics/sliderimage_6.jpg
http://www.koenigsegg.se/media/48_640.jpg

And the numbers (only stats I can find @ the moment drunk)

Supercharged V8
655/750 (hp/tq)
0-62 mph in 3.5 (62 due to the metric conversion)
Top Speed 242mph

[insert_car]

nice avatar!!! :wink:

[insert_car]

omg that car is sick!!! 242 mph..... :shock:

[ActiveAero]

I don't know if it has any official numbers yet but they are positioning it to defeat the McLaren F1's top speed. Not that it matters anyway because the Bugatti Veyron has already achieved 252mph in testing and an astounding 0-186mph in LESS than 14 seconds :shock: .


I'm sorry I know I've done a few stupid things in my day, but racing while weaving in and out of traffic at those speeds is just plain retarded. Especially considering most of the guys in it should be old enough to know better and realize the consequences. I don't really have a problem with racing on an open stretch of road (I'm actually working on trying to not street race period), but if they are getting that many 911 calls in such a short span of highway they must be acting like idiots.

I personally think it is one of the stupidest things ever. You pay a ton of money to drive across the country and you still have just the same risk of getting tickets/killing inocent people. It's also not a real race so no skill is involved. On top of that they are basically forcing you not to sleep much and drive fast (if you want to hit your check points on time), which isn't exactly smart.

Instead of that why not do an actual cannon ball event where they actually close down certain roads (in Arizona I believe) and it is legal? Guys running those events can average up to 160-170mph for 30min at a time :shock: . Besides it being legal and no risk of killing innocent people it is actually a competitive event.

[TheGuyWithTheMustang]

Hmm...That engine curiously resembles a ford powerplant :D The layout is identical to a N/A cobra engine. Does cosworth build it?

Anyways,
I whole heartedly agree. I rarely street race simply because I can't afford a speeding ticket. I watched the Tekademics Gumball video and it looks like you could get away with just going barely over the speed limit in traffic and just opening it wide up on those long stretches of highway to make up for lost time. When they got to the checkpoints, they partied till the next day. You'd think that you could make it to a check point within the 9 hours of partying they did after a day of racing. :roll: Still looks like fun though. If I had the money and the time, I'd definately look into it but those guys getting arrested MULTIPLE times and getting like 6 tickets a day!! That's fucking rediculous.

[1.8t]

Drew, it looks familiar because it should. Its a modular ford V8 w/ a Paxton Novi supercharger running at 1 bar +. A Swedish guy (Koenigsegg) developed the car and actually got alot of help and CAD time from Saab. Volvo, of course, would have nothing to do with something that could *gasp* break the speed limit :-P Anyway, it looks to be a very sweet ride and while I it's surely fast, I doubt it'll beat the McLaren. As for the Veyron, I think it's got it in the bag. Something about 16 cylinders and 4 turbos is just wrong....;)