As we've seen so far, the Acabion GTBO is more motorcycle than car. It stands to reason then that the Acabion would need a pretty stout motorcycle engine, right? Well that's exactly what's buried deep inside the inner workings of the GTBO's canopy and chassis. To build a super motorbike with ideas of cruising at speeds in excess of 300 mph (482.8 km/h), Dr. Maskus looked no further than the Holy Grail of motorcycles, the Suzuki Hayabusa, for the power plant. At 185 bhp, the stock Hayabusa motor is plenty for Suzuki to propel the superbike to speeds approaching 200 mph (321.9 km/h). But the Acabion pushes the limits even further and the street fighter boasts a heavily modified 1300 c.c. (1.3-liter) turbo-charged Hayabusa engine that puts out 354 bhp. Acabion claims the engine can be tuned to put out more than 700 bhp.
Tale of the Tape: 2006 Acabion GTBO
Acabion also claims the GTBO consumes half as much fuel as a high-tech diesel compact car while cruising at 110 mph (177 km/h); is capable of traveling 280 mph (450.6 km/h) at only half throttle; can accelerate from 180 mph to 280 mph (289.7 km/h to 450.6 km/h) in just 10 seconds and can reach a top speed of 342 mph (550.4 km/h). Below is a snapshot of the Acabion GTBO specifications. Are these claims even possible? Take a look at the numbers and you decide.
To build a car for speed, engineers and designers look at the balance of weight, aerodynamics and power. The specifications suggest that these three elements work together in perfect harmony and may allow the Acabion to reach such high speeds. With a nearly nonexistent drag coefficient of .14, and weighing only 661.5 lbs. (300 kg), the Acabion blends amazing aerodynamics and feather-like weight. Combine these engineering feats with a 354 bhp engine and you get a recipe for speed.
Aerodynamics certainly aid in fuel efficiency too as the miniscule drag coefficient means the GTBO can cruise at speed while using hardly any throttle input. The seating position also plays a part as the same vehicle in a side-by-side configuration would use twice as much fuel. Some of the technical data suggests amazing fuel efficiency. To cruise at 100 mph (160.9 km/h), you would only need to use 1.7 percent of the throttle and would get 98.79 mpg (42 km/l). If you were in a real hurry and you decided to cruise at 250 mph (402.3 km/h), you would still get a very reasonable 24.7 mpg (10.5 km/l) [source: Swissinfo].
The Acabion's high-speed and excellent fuel economy sound great, but can you really drive a vehicle like this on the highway? How much does an Acabion cost, anyway? And how long would it take to build if you were to order one? Read on to find out.