Suzuki Kizashi makes 203 mph run at Bonneville

[prof15]

It's hard to imagine a sporty but mild-mannered family sedan like the Suzuki Kizashi sedan hurtling at 203.720 miles per hour across the Bonneville Salt Flats, but that's what it did.

Road & Track's Sam Mitani piloted a modified Kizashi to Suzuki's first-ever attempt to set a record with a car instead of a motorcycle.

The speed was set at 8:40 a.m. MT Wednesday, an average for a two-way pass, Suzuki said.

To become the "Bonneville Special," Suzuki installed a roll cage, rear aluminum bulkhead, racing seat and harness and other improvements into a Kizashi. A few modifications were made to the engine, too, including a new intake manifold and forged rods and pistons to stand up to high revs. The car got its boost from a Turbonetics Turbocharger and a new ACT clutch.

 

[Hughes412]

Soooo, then it wasn't the actual Kizashi that ran 203, but a track car? The title makes you think the car did it. Should have known better.

 

[prof15]

yeah I thought the same after reading it.. when I heard forged internals I siad ok.. but I still dont know is if the car comes with a turbo.

 

[mikeyb]

Isn't the Kizashi Sport a turbo?

 

[dmention7]

Unless the modifications were far more intensive than the little blurb suggests, that's still pretty impressive.

Getting any production vehicle to 200mph with (seemingly) minor aero modifications is a decent accomplishment.

 

[mikeyb]

Link to the article and videos on Road and Track

http://www.roadandtrack.com/special-feature/building-a-record-breaking-kizashi

 

[Hughes412]

Unless the modifications were far more intensive than the little blurb suggests, that's still pretty impressive.

Getting any production vehicle to 200mph with (seemingly) minor aero modifications is a decent accomplishment.

If you would have posted that 10 years ago I would have totally agreed with you. But now days with the computer aided designs and wind tunnels it's easy to build a car that has low wind drag. At that point it's all about power. And with todays engines, turboing a engine is nothing. Making the power to do so is not that big a deal anymore. I work with a guy William Grimms (Bill), he and his buddies have a couple of world land speed records in the production Truck class. Stock truck, just lowered, a air damn on the front, wing on the back and BIG CI engines. They just set a record in an S10.