Really big Bertha - We aim for 200 mph in the Callaway C16 Corvette

摘要

As you close in on 200 mph, telephone poles do not rush by like picket fence posts. Objects in your peripheral vision don't blur, and there's no difficulty inhaling a breath of fresh air. All the hyper-speed myths fostered by comic book writers and Star Trek movies go poof in the wake of a real Callaway C16 racing to its terminal velocity. Your pupils do close down to pinholes, however. Concentration filters out all but the most critical data - the tach needle's agonizingly slow sweep toward 6000 rpm, the rhythmic beat of combustion, the center line of the two-lane road ahead. With right leg locked, I wait patiently while the Vbox digital speedometer display ticks up one tenth at a time: 198.1,198.2,198.3.