Why, I wonder, do such things as this remind me of 'fiddling while Rome burns'? Perhaps it is the droughts, the floods, the massive hurricanes and such like that serve to remind us of the growing dangers posed by a changing climate. Was the driver's middle name Nero? If might just as well have been.

Fantastic car. I'd like to mention the UK's contribution on this car, including the chassis (Lotus), body (Delta), brake discs (Surface Transforms), gearbox (Ricardo) and final assembly (Delta, again).

There is still some controversy as to whether or not man much (if any at all) influence on global warming. IMO, it does not have much influence on it and it is just part of a 'global warming, global cooling' cycle.
Personally I prefer a more affordable slower vehicle. I think fuel cell vehicles are cool with a side affect of being good for the planet.
I think this car is really cool. It has a nice design. It would be great to see it driven really fast by Top Gear on the track they drove the Veyron.

@ BigWarpGuy
"There is still some controversy as to whether or not man much (if any at all) influence on global warming."
True, there is still some controversy. 97% to the world's leading climate scientists believe we do (re. Cook et al) and 3%, many of whom rely on the fossil fuel industry funding, don't. That really is one heck of a controversy.

Fast for sure but I'd much prefer the Veyron. For starters the Veyron can be used out in the real world where I doubt the Venom is really suited for public roads or anything close to everyday use.
It's not the Venom isn't cool, but it seems much more like a prototype race car and that is just so much easier to make than what Bugatti did. I'm sure if Bugatti wanted just speed they could do it as it is much easier than speed, luxury and easy-to-use.

@ Mel Tisdale
When you consider how few of these vehicles exist, and how many fewer will actually be driven, the impact on the environment is negligible at best. People need to be focused on the masses of SUVs clogging our roads, needlessly wasting fuel. The one or two record breaking automobiles built, testing the limits of speed, power and efficiency should be celebrated. I doubt the 4 or 5 of these that are built will have much of an impact.

This claim by Hennesy is proof that many records are useless beyond providing bragging rights. By comparison with the Venom the Veyron has a relatively comfortable passenger compartment/ which would make the car wider thereby adding drag.
Furthermore the Veyron has air brakes which alone provides 0.68g of deceleration. Bugatti claims the Veyron will brake from 400 km/h (250 mph) to a standstill in less than 10 seconds, How does the Venom compare I wonder. You can't blame Hennessy for trying to get publicity as it stimulates sales. If we need to have records though why not incorporate other essential features such as the time taken for the dash to 250 mph and back to 0. That statistic used by reputable motoring publications is much more revealing (and useful to the multitude of buyers of these cars) than simply recording top speeds. All round performance is much more significant. I wonder how other super cars such as the SSC Ultimate Aero compare with the all round ability of the Veyron. I need to know before I buy one

I agree that a handful of these expensive toys won't contribute much to the global warming. But speed programmes like this one, and Bugatti's, and VAG's, and all the others, including Lotus, of course do tend to confuse. These folks are throwing a huge blanket of smoke & oil over the very real problems of fossil fuel waste and pollution.
Is this a "race"? If so, where is the finish line? And what's that big flag all about? Not only does it look a lot like those propaganda shots of Lance Armstrong's "victories", as Mr. Jones pointed out, this was an international effort, not a national(ist) triumph.
Watching this meaningless pursuit of needless speed reminds me of reading about the early years of jet aircraft, when a fighter pilot somewhere over the Pacific Ocean radioed in the message, "Lost. But making record time."

My Prius is not quite that fast,,, I liked the music though,,,, it sounds to me that some of these commenters are a little jealous,,, Jeez,,, lighten up...

@ duh3000, trebor
In one sentence I read about moveable airfoils and how it can slow a car down from tremendous speeds, yet in another I read about how the pursuit of speed is meaningless.
This is exactly *why* we need to continue forward pushing the envelope. When a car is built to go very fast, its other systems have to be upgraded as a result. Aerodynamics have to be upgraded to handle the velocities, as air resistance cubes above 200mph. Ever more powerful engines are still efficient, as they have to be built to exacting tolerances, yet still be light weight and powerful in order to not weigh the car down for it to be driveable. Christian Von Koenigsegg, maker of the Koenigsegg vehicles was quoted as saying, the technology used in their car (a previous record holder itself) could be scaled down to a 1.0 liter engine making 225bhp, yet still making less pollution than an engine double its size.
Exotic materials that are both lighter and more efficient have to be used to slow the car down. What this translates to is a trickle down effect, not like the supposed effect we see in economics. Technology actually *does* trickle down. The turbocharger, anti-lock brakes, and kers technology were all used in racing and high ends cars like this, yet we see them used in daily cars that make them more fuel efficient.
So we need to continue our pursuit of speed. Continue trying to break the records. The minute technology stagnates is when we are all doomed. I rather like seeing these record breakers make the news, as it means they're using the rich people's money to R&D new concepts that would be too expensive to try in large production run.
There are going to be some nice engine swaps in another 10 years.