Think you know what real speed feels like? Well, unless you’re the driver of the Ford GT that just broke the standing mile world record — or a fighter jet pilot — you probably haven’t experienced truly mind-bending velocity yet.
The Texas Mile is a biannual event where anyone is allowed to bring any car (and a helmet) to see just how fast he or she can go over a mile of runway. Over the years, tuned vehicles with thousands of horsepower have blasted down the straight, reaching speeds over 200 miles per hour.
In 2013, M2K Motorsports turned up in a 2006 Ford GT that developed 2,000hp. That vehicle set an astounding top speed of 278.2 mph – faster than any production car’s overall top speed. M2K evidently wasn’t satisfied, though. They’ve returned to the “Mile” this year with a retuned version of the same car. What started as a stock GT with a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 and 550hp has Frankensteined into a top speed dynamo with far more than 2,000hp. All that power makes for one insane sprint.
After a tame launch, the GT is doing 161.7 mph by the end of the first quarter mile. For reference, even legitimately fast cars like, say, the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, are only doing 120 to 130 mph in a quarter mile. Through the half mile, M2K’s Ford GT hits 219.5 mph. The brand-new Ford GT can’t go that fast, period. By the time it has covered a mile of earth, the tuned GT is doing 293.6 mph.
M2K Motorsports takes home the standing mile record for now, but you can be sure someone is hungry for that 300 mph marker. The new Ford GT may even serve as the platform for a record-breaking car. Its aerodynamic body and twin-turbo V6 engine combine for a top speed of 216 mph; additional power could push that figure into warp speeds.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.