While horsepower and top speed go hand in hand complimenting each other, it is the aerodynamics of a car that works in opposition to ensure that air resistance bogs things down. Aerodynamics is the ability of a vehicle to cut through air resistance. In an interesting experiment to determine the level of influence that an aerodynamic design has, Volkswagen once made a very modest everyday Diesel engine from a lorry claim the fastest diesel vehicle record. This was called the Aerodynamic Research Volkswagen (ARVW) in the year 1980. The engine used was a 2.4-litre six-cylinder direct injection diesel engine that produced a modest 175 hp. Now those specs aren’t something that helps you picture speeds of anything near 200mph, leave alone a top speed of 224.95 miles per hour (362kmph). That’s the sort of wizardry that the dark arts of Aerodynamics brought to the equation with the ARVW. It was the overall smoother and sharper surface of this research prototype that helped lessen the air resistance, allowing for such serious speeds.

The Aerodynamic Research Volkswagen (ARVW) was incidentally made to help change people’s perception of diesel engines being slow and uninspiring to drive and less about teaching the public about the brilliance of aerodynamics. This was around the time when Volkswagen had invested quite a bit in the development of efficient and powerful diesel engines through their Direct Diesel Injection technology popularly known as TDI in today’s world. The project was much like the multiple LeMans winning Audi R18, which was another exercise by Volkswagen to change people’s perception of diesel’s being slow. The ARVW project left no stone unturned in changing people’s perception of diesel engines, Volkswagen put Keke Rosberg (F1 World Champion of 1982) piloting the ARVW to the record breaking 224.95mph feat.

The easiest way of drawing reference to this subject is by understanding the shape of a Formula 1 car and a Bugatti Veyron. A Bugatti Veyron and a Formula 1 car both have similar horsepower, but the Formula 1 car weighs about half as much as the Veyron. Though both cars can achieve in excess of 200mph, they do it in vastly different time. The F1 car does it at about half the time of the Veyron, this majorly has to do with 2 aspects, the weight and the aerodynamic efficiency. The aerodynamic efficiency of the F1 car helps it pierce a tiny hole through the air it travels in, which provides it less resistance. The Veyron on the other hand punches a massive hole through the air it travels, which means there is more resistance from the air it travels through. The benefit of achieving a higher top speed is only one benefit of an aerodynamic design, the other being better fuel efficiency, aided by lesser resistance from the air. The Aerodynamic Research Volkswagen (ARVW) car achieved the record 224.95mph feat while delivering an astonishing 23.6 miles per gallon (10kmpl), not the two figures that you hear in one sentence about the same car anywhere else!