Hi: I work for a company that provides vehicles to the car industry for their technical and marketing programs. I just got a tough question from a client and am appealing to the many members of Ferrarichat for input. Our clients are considering building a seriously powerful SUV and that they can claim to be "the fastest production SUV on the planet" and have asked me to prepare a list of all their possible competitors in this country and throughout the world. I'd be grateful for any input - especially from people from other countries - on what vehicles should be included in a contest of the world's fastest SUVs. Thanks in advance for the expert help. Matt Merritt Event Vehicles, Inc. Calabasas, CA
Gemballa builds a 750hp Cayenne Turbo -- GT750 Biturbo 60 in about 4.2 I think. The Cayenne Turbo PowerPackage (extra 50hp over stock TT)is the fastest stock current production I think the GMC Typhoon is a little faster than the CayenneTT, but out of production.
http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/custom-carshot-rods/tuners/sportectuned-porsche-cayenne-worlds-fastest-suv-036048.php I think it's more of an SV now since it has lost most of it's utility. Just because we can make something fast, doesn't mean that it's worthwhile to do so
Gale Banks makes some powerful trucks. He has the land speed record for a truck, and he drove it to the track and home. Don't know if he has done any SUVs, but he certainly could. http://www.bankspower.com/high-performance.cfm http://www.bankspower.com/sidewinder-news.cfm He is your competition.
Currently the fastest "production" SUV would be the Cayenne Turbo or the new Mercedes G55 AMG -- for the last year of production (this year) the G55 has some ridiculously huge motor in it, I'm not sure of the numbers yet but I know it is supposed to be either as fast if not faster than the Cayenne Turbo. As for fastest SUV period (produced on a smalltime basis, not large enough to be considered full production), someone else mentioned the Gemballa GTR750 earlier, but fudged the numbers a wee bit -- the GTR750 is actually a fair bit more impressive: 750 horsepower 888 lb-ft torque 0-60 in 3.9 seconds 195MPH top speed I hope your client has some serious resources... And I look forward to seeing what they turn up!
It's not exactly 'production' or even really road-legal... But the BMW X5 LM lapped the 'ring almost a full MINUITE faster than a Z8 (which is basically the M5 motor in a miata). It actually hit 202 on the track IIRC. http://automobile.2405.com/wallpaper/BMW/X5_LM/BMW_X5_LM_004.jpg 700+ hp unrestricted McLaren F1 LeMans spec V-12 (and, uh, slicks. Big slicks.) Image Unavailable, Please Login
Edited post, you're right. I want that motor in my E38!!! Here is a pic of the X5 LM, this is one SUV I would NOT kick out of the garage! Image Unavailable, Please Login
As far as production SUV's: Cayenne Turbo X5 4.8 (not out yet) Mercedes AMG ML63 there are tuners that have supercharged Tahoes, Escalades, etc....but as far as production, I believe those will be the main competitors. The new G55 has a supercharged 5.5 liter V8. It will do 0-60 around 5.5 seconds. Not bad for a huge box on wheels. But, it doesn't handle worth crap and can't turn unless you have half of a block. The three above will be your best bets.
http://www.fast-autos.net/gmc/gmctyphoon.html I do not understand how it is pulling a 0-60 time like that if it weighs that much and makes a the power it does. Hell the trany is a 4-Speed Automatic! What is it? Ridiculously low gearing?
The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 will be pulling sub 5 second 0-60 times. Those are the only performance stats that I know of. It'll have a 415 hp 6.1 liter Hemi.
I don't know yet. ~50k-55k I would guess. The current 5.7 Hemis loaded run around 43k. Also just found out that all SRT vehicles will now include a trip to Skip Barber racing school. Edit: Here is a link with some photos: http://www.jeep.com/autoshow/grand_cherokee_srt8/gallery.html
The same way the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 is pulling those numbers, AWD. I can easily pull a sub 5 second 0-60 in my AWD Eclipse with only ~300 hp. At the drag strip, I rev it up to 5500 rpms and tactfully engage the clutch, which pretty much means almost just side stepping it. Edit: Also, with the typhoon being automatic, you can power brake it and that helps the turbo build boost prior to launch.
"I do not understand how it is pulling a 0-60 time like that if it weighs that much and makes a the power it does. Hell the trany is a 4-Speed Automatic! What is it? Ridiculously low gearing? " Anyone remember that article pitting the Typhoon against a 328? Guess who won? It's not the power that counts in acceleration, it's the torque and weight. Take the torque at any RPM, say... 3500rpm, multiply it through the gearing and final-drive ratios. Divide out the radius of the tyres in feet and you have a linear thrust at the contact patch. Plug into F=Ma to get instantaneous accleration. Figure torque over any given time-period, say.. 1000rpm increments. Then recalculate for torque at 4500rpm... then 5500rpm.. Basically, you're integrating torque with respect to time to find acceleration. You can also work backwards from HP if you want. Take average HP across any RPM-spread, divide out time to spin through that RPM-range to arrive at F over that time-interval. Then plug into F=Ma...
