Mustang Coupe

Make
Ford
Segment
Coupe

It seems as if there are lots of cars reaching 200 mph lately. Remember when 200 mph seemed so unattainable? Now there are tuning companies getting 200 mph out of Nissan GT-Rs, a Mercedes-AMG GT S (thanks to a company called McChip-DKR), and even the GT-86 from EkanooRacing. Hennessey's 2015 Mustang even hit the mark. Also, remember a certain Camaro that boasted a top speed of 200 mph? That was particularly awesome. We love all this new-found speed (duh) and think it's great for the industry. Here's why.

Officially speaking, tuning companies are building racing cars. This may sound like an outlandish argument, but everything in cars that's good or technologically advanced comes from racing. Safety, tires, brakes, suspension, aerodynamics, and engine technology are all things that have evolved in racing and have trickled down into production cars. Since tuning companies are getting a foot in with these road cars, getting them to go a butt load faster than they were intended is monumental to the evolution of cars. They are developing technology that will eventually trickle down into production cars. Whether they want to admit it or not, tuning companies are helping to advance the automotive industry. This begs the an important question, though.

Is it really important to go 200 mph? Probably not. And it's even more unlikely to find a stretch of land that will let your car go that quick and won't cost a couple hundred dollars. The point is the capability of road cars being able to reach this speed is a big deal. Until recently, the only cars that could go 200 mph were really, really expensive. According to a list of cars that can go 200 or more mph, every single damn last one of them is either a supercar, an expensive sports car, or an old car that was a supercar and is probably now considered a very expensive sports car. But now there are tuning companies taking a $30,000 Mustang and pushing it to 200 mph. This is a package that anyone can buy.

With all the news about autonomous features, it's a relief to know there are still people who care about the driver. The reality that cars are reaching higher speeds more frequently is refreshing. The fact that you don't need a supercar to reach 200 mph means that this is a golden age for sports cars. Sure lots of Ferraris have made the cut. But again, a list of cars that can hit this mph mark is usually filled with supercars, which makes the emergence of tuning companies hitting 200 mph in GT-86s and Mustangs forces supercars to hit a new level. Hypercars hopefully will hit the 300-mph mark soon, and they aren't far off, but supercars still can go a bit further. That is until g forces start ripping peoples' faces off.