The 2006 was the first re-introduction of the new body style Coupe. Dodge built its first GTS Coupe in 1996 and produced the coupe until 2002. Introducing in 2003 the much anticipated SRT 10 Dodge did not produce a Coupe until the rumblings of the Viper Club of America owners had their impute with pressuring Dodge to re-create the coupe. Finally three years after building the first 2003 SRT Convertible Dodge introduced the Generation III Coupe, Ironically 10 years later the first Coupe introduced was the same color as the 1996 Blue with Stone White Stripes. There were only 200 built for this 2006 Blue and White Coupe, badged on each console 1-200.

This car has been an American Icon since inception in 1992, and creating the incredible and desirable Gen I, II, III and IV.

Memorial Day Weekend these cars all competed for King of The Hill, On the 15,500-ft. north runway of the Naval Air Station Lemoore in California's San Joaquin Valley, with the assistance of the U.S. Navy, a test of unbridled acceleration from a standing start to 200 mph. Six supercars, with one simple mission: to hit 200 mph as quickly as possible. Call it the World's First Supercar Drag Race.

Some of you may recall the Standing Mile test done at NAS Lemoore for the September 2005 issue. This test is different. No race cars or motorcycles this time, just six very potent cars — some stock, some heavily tuned, but all on DOT tires — each with a claimed top speed in excess of 200 mph. Each is a car you could conceivably see on the street. And one of them, to our giddy delight, is the almighty, Bugatti Veyron, 16.4. Just to see that technology-packed 1001-bhp supercar slingshot down the strip was reason enough to make the 250-mile drive to Lemoore.

But there was also five other impressive cars capable of hitting the double-century mark. The Italian quota was satisfied by a beautiful pearlescent yellow Lamborghini Murciélago, on loan from James Chen, owner of Axis Wheels. From Germany, a Ruf Rt 12, painted Yellow Bird Yellow and — in the proper Ruf tradition — driven to the test by its owner, John Lotz. Although Ferrari and Lamborghini turned down the invitation to participate in the test, Mercedes-Benz gladly supplied a SLR McLaren. And on the tuner front, we were delighted to have an 880-bhp twin-turbo Lingenfelter C6 Corvette on hand, plus one of John Hennessey's Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Vipers, a coupe making 1100 peak horsepower at the rear wheels. To underscore the potency of the group, consider this: Offered was a Porsche 911 Turbo, but it wasn't welcome. Too slow; its top speed is only 193....

Also, bear in mind that it takes gobs of power to reach 200 mph. The air resistance grows with the square of speed. Stick your hand out the side window of your car at 60 mph and feel the resistance. At 180, that force will be nine times stronger, should you be foolish enough to give it a try. Don't. And at 200, it will have more than 11 times the force! What's more, because the power requirement of a car grows with the cube of speed, this means it will need 37 times more power to go 200 mph than to maintain 60. It boggles the mind.

The test driver was Steve Millen, who's no stranger to life at 200. In fact, at Le Mans in 1990, the Americanized Kiwi recalls that his Nissan R90CK hit 200-plus mph four times per lap. Joining Steve and the rest of the R&T crew at Lemoore was Gary Ruede from Discount Tire, who made sure all the tires were in excellent shape, properly rated for the speeds and loads we'd see, and inflated to safe pressures.

The instructions to Steve were simple: Launch the car as best you can, drive it like you own it, and take it to 200 mph as quickly as possible. If the car hits 200 before one mile, continue accelerating through the mile so we can get a standing-mile result. If the car doesn't reach 200 by one mile, continue accelerating until it hits that speed. At the 2-mile marker, however, Steve must slow, no matter the speed reached. Remember, at 200 mph, a car travels 293.3 feet per second, nearly the length of a football field. This way, we had plenty of cool-down room and no need for heavy braking.

Before attending the test via these pages — or by checking out the fantastic videos on the website — close your eyes for a moment and envision these cars thrusting off the line, leaving small wispy piles of black tire dust on the concrete. As the cars streak down the Lemoore runway, they're reduced to tiny dots on the horizon by about a mile, then they soon disappear. Is it the curvature of the earth causing this? Or the shimmering heat waves? Not sure, but you'll still be hearing the engines at full song as the cars streak to 200, their tires slapping out an ever-quickening tempo on the runway's sectional concrete surface. The image is surreal, not unlike the otherworldly acceleration of these supercars. Now the cars, in ascending order of performance, based on 0–200-mph times.

0 – 60 speeds and dyno numbers in the Motor Trend story was written when the car was on pump gas, pump gas vs. race gas in the Road and Track story. The car has been modified since the magazine articles to have a more reliable ECM and to include a switch within the console between the seats that allows a low / high boost setting. The car makes about 820 RWHP on low boost and 1060 on high boost.

Motor Trend, June 2006
(Feature article and shown on the cover page)
Motor Trend compared 6 fully street legal and highly tuned sports coupes and declares the Fly Navy Venom "King of the Hill". Other cars tested included a stock Z06 Vette, Accufab Ford GT, Lingenfelter Vette, Livernois Mustang, and MTI Pontiac GTO.

Videos of their test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M47fNO8-HmU
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupe/112_0606_performance_sports_coupe_comparison
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupe/112_0606_performance_sports_coupe_comparison/conclusion_photos.html

Motor Trend Results:

• 0-60 MPH: 3.2 sec. (1st Place Overall)
• 0-150 MPH: 10.0 sec. (1st Place Overall)
• 1/4 mile: 10.5 sec. @ 153 MPH (1st Place Overall)
• Standing Mile: 217.9 MPH, 26.2 seconds (1st Place Overall, setting a Motor Trend record, and the AC was on)
• 60-0 MPH Braking: 103.6 ft. (1st Place Overall)
• 100-0 MPH Braking: 288 ft. (1st Place Overall)
• Chassis Dyno: 983 Rear Wheel HP, 981.2 pound-feet of torque (1st Place Overall)

Motor Trend, June 2007 (pg 8) Appears in a photo with another Hennessey Viper.

Road & Track, Sept 2007
(Feature article and shown on the cover page)
The Fly Navy Venom wins the "Speed Kings" test of fastest car to 200 MPH. Other cars tested were the Bugatti Veyron, Lamborghini Murcielago, Lingenfelter Vette, Mercedes SLR McLaren, and Ruf Porsche Rt12. The test specs prohibited NOS and required street legal emissions and tires.

Video of their test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_RLy0lx3pY
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=34&article_id=5675
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=31&article_id=5680

R&T Results:

• Fly Navy Viper: 0 – 200 MPH - 20.3 secs, 3488 ft (1st Place Overall)
• Bugatti Veyron: 0-200 MPH – 24.2 secs, 4770 ft (2nd Place Overall at a cost 10 times more than the Hennessey Venom Viper)

Automobiles Classiques, October 2007
This French magazine picked up the story from Road & Track. Since the Veyron is built in France, not surprisingly, this magazine spent much more time talking about the Veyron and why it is better than a Viper.

Auto Bild SportsCars, November 2007 -
(Feature article and shown on the cover page)
This is the second largest circulation (so I'm told) automobile magazine in Germany. They picked up the story from Road & Track. Their cover page picture is almost identical to the cover page picture from R&T.

http://download.autobild.de/dl/334937/2007_11003_SC_Inhalt.pdf

Viper Magazine, Winter 2008 (pg 50) Fly Navy appears in a photo beside the Bugatti Veyron and a USN F-18 jet.