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World's fastest couch

The world's fastest couch was driven to a record top speed of 163km/h

Australia is a land of sporting legends, and we've just added another one: the world's fastest couch.  Better still, it looks like we’ve swiped the official Guinness Book of World Records title from the Poms.

The Aussie souped-up sofa hit a world land speed record 163km/h late on Monday during an officially timed lap on the runway at Camden Airport outside Sydney. That should oust the current Guinness record title-holder, Marek Turowsk from Leicestershire in the UK, who holds the spot with some home furnishings clocked at 148km/h in 2008.

Australia’s own fast piece of furniture – a leather two-seater with handy coffee table (complete with cup of coffee and bowl of fruit) was specially built for the world record bid by Sydney race car and bike designers Evolution Motorsport.

It’s powered by a Suzuki GSX 1400 motorcycle engine, chosen for its power and compactness. Project leader Paul McKinnon said the challenge was not just making sure it was fast, but could battle the aerodynamic challenge of tyring to push a squared-off piece of furniture at that speed.

“It’s the oddest vehicle we’ve ever built,” he said. “With race cars you can use the aerodynamic body kit that’s dictated by the regulations for each series. But with the couch it was a matter of just doing what we could. We kept it as low profile as we could, and tried to break the airflow with the coffee table.”

The Guinness Book of World Records regulations required two officially timed runs – one in each direction – to be completed within an hour of each other. McKinnon said a crosswind on the day made the task harder, but the attempt was successful and will be submitted to the Guinness committee.

It will help launch a series of similar stunts under the title ‘Add A Motor To It’, sponsored by dairy brand Ice Break Parmalat.  The stunt series will launch on Wednesday 28 September, and we'll be bringing them to you here on Carsguide. So put your feet up (on the coffee table perhaps), and stay tuned – but comfortable.