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660cc Honda S-Dream Streamliner Sets Land Speed Record

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Engineers from Honda R&D in Japan posted a new FIA Land Speed Record and broke the speed record for a Honda-powered automobile last week in Bonneville, Utah.

This past weekend in Utah, the S-Dream Streamliner hit 261.875 mph, the fastest speed ever recorded by a Honda vehicle. And it did so with an engine that’s smaller and less powerful than the V6 in a new Accord.

But size and horsepower aren’t everything, as proven by the aerodynamic Honda S-Dream, which set a FIA Class record on the salt flats of Bonneville with a mere 660cc engine.

This project, known as the “Bonneville Speed Challenge,” began a year ago at Honda R&D in Japan. The all-volunteer team’s goal was to achieve a world speed record with a 660cc engine.

So engineers took the 63-horsepower three-cylinder from the Honda S660 roadster and modified it to more than triple the ponies. The powertrain was dropped into the Honda S-Dream and tested numerous times in Japan before it made its way to the US, where the team ran into a little snag: the driver couldn’t see out of the narrow canopy.

So the vehicle was taken to Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita, California, where the canopy was restyled just 10 days before the first day of tests at Bonneville. With better visibility, driver Hikaru Miyagi was able to post a new FIA World Record of 261.875mph(1mile), 261.966mph(1km) for a vehicle in its class (Category-A Group-1 Class-4)

The Honda S-Dream Streamliner also now owns the title of “fastest Honda car ever,” having taken it from the BAR Honda F1 car that reached 246 mph at Bonneville in 2006.