Kankkunen Breaks Ice Speed World Record With Bentley Continental GT

Bentley, Volkswagen Group’s British luxury vehicle brand proved that the Continental GT is really a high-performance grand tourer coupe. The Bentley Continental GT made a record-breaking attempt early this March when it runs on the frozen sea in Finland reaching a top speed of about 200 mph, breaking the current world ice speed record set by a Bugatti EB110 Supersport, which was also made in the same Finnish location. Aboard the Bentley Continental GT is the popular Finnish rally car driver and four-time World Rally Champion, Juha Kankkunen.

Kankkunen was so proud of his achievement and said: “The Bentley performed impeccably. I was amazed how stable and secure it felt at these high speeds, despite the track’s rough and icy surface being scattered with powdery snow. I even managed to stop the car from its top speed within 600 metres.”

Dr. Ulrich Eichhorn, Member of the Board of Bentley Engineering, also commented:
“Juha’s record-breaking achievement is just what we’ve come to expect from some of our more adventurous owners. It shows that the spirit of the famous Bentley Boys lives on and is still harnessed by drivers with sufficient skill and courage to extract the full potential of our motor cars in extreme conditions - though, naturally, we would not recommend our other owners try to attempt such high speeds on sheet ice!” he added.

Juha Kankkunen, along with his team went to the location and endured the 30 degrees Celsius
of low temperature. Kankkunen drove on to the thick ice and his team measured the rally car’s speed. After the record-breaking success, he and his team checked the Continental GT and Kankkunen decided to once again attempt to increase his acceleration and make a higher recorded speed. He continued attempting to achieve a top speed of 206 mph for few days before realizing that accelerating that much is impossible because of terrain factors like rough track, and snow covered areas.

Before the actual record attempt, Bentley made some few technical modifications on the Continental GT to cope up with extreme low temperature in the area and for some safety reasons. A roll cage was installed on the vehicles along with special snow tires to obtain maximum grip and traction when driving into the slippery and snowy track. Bentley retained the powertrain features but during the record breaking attempt, the rally car runs on a non-standard fuel to suit the low temperature condition at the location.

Meanwhile, the Bentley Continental GT grand tourer coupe is equipped with a monstrous 6.0L W12 engine under the hood featuring twin turbochargers. It is coupled with a six speed automatic transmission with steering wheel mounted gearshift paddles powering the all-wheel-drive configuration. The grand tourer coupe also comes with standard quality Bentley parts from Volkswagen, just like those VW Corrado parts for the VW hatchback model.

Written by Car Enthusiast on March 28th, 2007 with no comments.
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Diminished Value- The Biggest Secret in the Insurance Company

Portland, Ore., 2008 – The Appraisal Group of America is an expert in the field of Diminished Value. If you’ve never heard of it before it’s important to know because it could cost you thousands of dollars. Any consumer seeking to recovery the maximum possible from automobile accident appraisals should find out all they can about this hidden fact.

If your car is newer than 2002 and the accident was not your fault, Diminished Value is due to you and can be paid nationally by every insurance company. Diminished Value Claims can be worth 20-50% of the vehicle’s resale value, typically worth in the thousands. Typical claims for Diminished Value scenarios can run around $4,000 -$15,000 for a single claim and estimates on luxury high end vehicles can get even higher amounts.

Research shows that 55% of consumers would not buy a car if had been in an accident and over 80% would want a huge discount on the price before they would consider such a purchase. A study completed by the State of Florida determined “uncompensated losses” due to “decreased value” were estimated to be worth over twenty billion dollars in the United States.

When a demand for diminished value is made, insurance companies may deny diminished value has happened. Claimants need to support their diminished value claims with an expert appraisal that can determine that diminished value has occurred. Appraisal Group of America fights to get you the settlement that you’re entitled to – all across the nation.

Jack Donnelly – LTC US Army (Ret) a total loss client says it all -

“Thanks for your tenacious persistence in prosecuting my claim with USAA… Without your expertise I never would have gotten the over $21K plus tax from them. I have recommended you to friends and will continue to do so in the future.”

Terry Fisher, Automobile Diminished Value Expert gets consumers millions of dollars for Diminished Value Claims. Even if your claim has already been settled, you can still file a separate Diminished Value claim as long as the repairs are recent.

You can contact Terry Fisher at Autoloss.com and get a free quote online for your diminished value appraisal. Call them Toll-Free at (877) 655-1661.

Written by Car Enthusiast on August 20th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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