After seeing the carbon fiber Honda Z600 that wowed the JCCS crowd over the weekend, we wondered – out loud and to the dismay/puzzlement of other post office patrons waiting in line with us – what is the fastest Honda Z600 the world has to offer?
First, we have “Evil Tweety,” holder of the J/Pro record at the Bonneville Salt Flats with a 99.299 mph run, though its fastest time clocked is 101.5 mph. According to its owner, it retains its naturally aspirated air-cooled 2-cylinder underhood, albeit stroked to 700cc with Electromotive fuel injection, open exhaust, very high compression and a mild racing cam. Ladies and gentlemen, Evil Tweety.
Next up, courtesy of the Gebrüder Dorsch blog, a German entrant that appears to have a jet engine protruding from das boot. We turn to Babelfish to discover that, “These vehicles do hurt… One should possibly drastic penalties, when people of such cultural goods to make a mistake.” We think this means the Brothers Dorsch disapprove of the butchered Z600’s ersatz motor. They continue: “The poor little Honda Z600 a jet engine in the ****.” We would have to agree that jet engines in the **** should be strictly verboten. We imagine that any attempt at turning during full throttle in this thing would be as well.
Finally, we have the latest Frankensteinian Z600, the one that started this pointless line of questioning, a full-on race car built for solo B-mod with a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engine mounted between the front and rear axles, precisely in the driver’s right ear. And when you’re rebodying the entire car in carbon fiber, why not go with the widest widebody you can fit wheels under? This also gets bonus points for looking terrifying.
Well, we have no idea which one is fastest, but all of them are probably plenty scary, so we put the question to you, dear reader, how would you rather face death?
1.) Hurtling across the remains of an Ice Age lake ensconced in a 37-year old sheet of tin.
2.) Going warp speed in a home-built jet car that, despite its German engineering, is probably one-use-only.
3.) Snapping your neck with a quick flick of the steering wheel in something possessing the power-to-weight ratio of an electron.
Sound off in the comments.
[Sources: Jalopnik, Dorsch.com]
Wow, flaming paint job on that first honda, Love the license plate on the Jet Honda, and dayum either all those dudes are giants or the 3rd honda is about the size of a go-cart. Personally I’d go out with a bang in JETBOY, while I’m sure the go-cart has plenty of oomph it looks like I might have to take some yoga classes before I’ll be able to squat into that thing.
I really like the CF Busa powered Z600. Who thought of doing such a crazy swap? It just looks kinda funny with the park bench wing in the front which is most likely fully functional. Bad ass nonetheless.
Well, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that #2 and #3 can both go faster than 99mph, so #1’s outta the question. For pure thrills, I’d go with #2 and for added flair I’d launch it off a ramp at the edge of the Grand Canyon.
Honestly the way to go is with the jet engine. Though I have to say the engine placement of #3 is pretty interesting. I’ve never thought of having my engine take shotgun.
Well folks, going 99+ mph in the Z600 on the salt is like a drive in the park. You can steer with one hand and tune (turn a dial) with the other hand. Lots of fun, but not too crazy. Been there, done that . . . now 110+ on 101 would be another story. At least 20% more horsepower at sea level . . . how fast could she go?
The ‘Busa ride (impressive as it is) probably just feels like a go cart, but the Jet car probably still has feel of a little Honda when you climb in behind the wheel.
So my vote is the Jet Car . . .
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