Bugatti Veyron cordially invited to eat Acabion GTBO’s dust

The top speed war is officially over. Motorcycles win.

Acabion’s Hayabusa-powered GTBO road-ready streamliner has taken the velocity crown back from those smug Bugatti Veyron owners in a pretty comprehensive fashion and placed it back into the rightful ownership of us bike nuts. For a bargain price of only EUR540,000 (US$790,000) you can now buy yourself a vehicle that will easily eclipse the Bugatti’s 250mph top speed - using less than 20% throttle. Take that, MadMadMark007.

The Acabion GTBO features a turbocharged ‘Busa engine tuned to the gills and belting out anywhere from 354 to 750 horsepower. Its power-to-weight ratio (between 1000 and 2000 horsepower per tonne) and its bullet-like aerodynamics allow it to hit an electronically limited top speed of 340mph…Using only half throttle. That’s near as damn to 550kmh in the new money, or a little over 150 metres every second. God only knows where you can buy tyres rated for that sort of speed, and you’d best leave your passport in the glovebox in case you hit a pebble and need to catch a plane back home.

You should be a reasonable chance at the traffic-light drag races too, because if you gun it and that poor, tortured rear tyre hooks up, the designers claim you should be able to hit 300mph in under 30 seconds. In other words, there’s no vehicle better than a GTBO if you really want to GTFO.

I’m not sure at which point vehicles like this stop being marvels of engineering and wander into the realms of pure ridicule - I mean, this one’s got training wheels. Very spiffy looking electronic ones that pop down to keep things in line at low speeds, but they’re training wheels nonetheless, so expect a wedgie from the kids at school. And I wonder whether there’s anywhere short of a salt flat where you can hit 340mph with even the most cursory nod to your own safety.

If you want to read more about the Acabion’s fuel economy, low-speed electric drive, impressive storage space, ease of maintenance and EUR100,000 standard sound system, check out Serious Wheels. If, like me, you’re more interested in seeing proof of the company’s eyebrow-raising velocity claims, you’ll have to wait until somebody independant of the company (thebikergene comes to mind) gets a test ride. I’ll be waiting by the phone.