Top Gear’s Stig sets new world speed record in a bumper car

By Bruce Brown March 31, 2017

World's Fastest Bumper Car - 600cc 100bhp But how FAST? - Colin Furze Top Gear Project

It’s probably not a good idea to tell YouTube inventor Colin Furze he can’t figure out a way to make any normally stodgy or stationary object outrageously fast. BBC’s Top Gear took the exact opposite approach when it asked Furze to rig up an amusement park-style bumper car. The plan was for Top Gear’s The Stig to break a speed record driving the bumper car, as reported by Road and Track.

The intrepid inventor stuffed a 600cc sports bike engine into a bumper car. With The Stig at the wheel, the amusement park ride vehicle scored a place in the Guinness Book of World Records with an average speed topping 100 mph over two runs. On the faster run, The Stig blasted through the timer at 107.39 mph. With the second run of 93.28 mph, the average 100.34 mph for the two runs set the new record.

colin furze top gear world record bumper car worlds fastest 0001

colin furze top gear world record bumper car worlds fastest 0002

Furze started with a barn-find 1960s dodgem, aka bumper car. After stripping out the heavy pieces — the protective bumper — Furze added a go-cart rear axle with two wheels for the rear and a single wide wheel in front.

For way more than just adequate power, Furze crammed in a 100-horsepower, four-cylinder 600cc Honda sports bike engine that will take its usual vehicle to about 150 mph. Rigging the exhaust system, steering, shifter, radiator, and other vital components are shown in additional YouTube videos.

On the Guinness Book of World Records website, Guinness adjudicator Lucia Sinigagliesi, the official on site when the records was set said: “We’re all used to seeing The Stig driving at high speeds – but he’s usually in a sports car and usually on a race track. To see him hurtle past in a classic bumper car at 100mph was surreal, but hugely impressive. Equally as impressive are the engineering expertise of Colin Furze – the combination of their skills makes for record-breaking fun.”

Other Colin Furze projects have included stuffing a rickshaw (tuk tuk) with a sports bike engine plus guns and rocket launchers, building a jet-powered bicycle, and a jet-power go kart.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…

Emerging Tech

Meet the game-changing pitching robot that can perfectly mimic any human throw

baseball hitter swings and misses

Who’s your favorite baseball pitcher? Shane McClanahan? Sandy Alcantara? Justin Verlander? Whoever you said, two of the top sports-tech companies in the U.S. -- Rapsodo and Trajekt Sports -- have teamed up to build a robot version of them, and the results are reportedly uncannily accurate.

Okay, so we’re not talking about walking-talking-pitching standalone robots, as great a sci-fi-tinged MLB ad as that would be. However, Rapsodo and Trajekt have combined their considerable powers to throw a slew of different technologies at the problem of building a machine that's able to accurately simulate the pitching style of whichever player you want to practice batting against -- and they may just have pulled it off, too.

Outdoors

The best portable power stations

EcoFlow DELTA 2 on table at campsite for quick charging.

Affordable and efficient portable power is a necessity these days, keeping our electronic devices operational while on the go. But there are literally dozens of options to choose from, making it abundantly difficult to decide which mobile charging solution is best for you. We've sorted through countless portable power options and came up with six of the best portable power stations to keep your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets functioning while living off the grid.
The best overall: Jackery Explorer 1000

Jackery has been a mainstay in the portable power market for several years, and today, the company continues to set the standard. With three AC outlets, two USB-A, and two USB-C plugs, you'll have plenty of options for keeping your gadgets charged.

Emerging Tech

CES 2023: HD Hyundai’s Avikus is an A.I. for autonomous boat and marine navigation

Demonstration of NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

This content was produced in partnership with HD Hyundai.
Autonomous vehicle navigation technology is certainly nothing new and has been in the works for the better part of a decade at this point. But one of the most common forms we see and hear about is the type used to control steering in road-based vehicles. That's not the only place where technology can make a huge difference. Autonomous driving systems can offer incredible benefits to boats and marine vehicles, too, which is precisely why HD Hyundai has unveiled its Avikus AI technology -- for marine and watercraft vehicles.

More recently, HD Hyundai participated in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to demo its NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system for recreational boats. The name mashes together the words "neuron" and "boat" and is quite fitting since the Avikus' A.I. navigation tech is a core component of the solution, it will handle self-recognition, real-time decisions, and controls when on the water. Of course, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes with HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation solution, which we'll dive into below -- HD Hyundai will also be introducing more about the tech at CES 2023.