10 Feb New record: This is the fastest car in the world!
youDRESSED Redaktion
The SSC Tuatara put in an incredible performance after a second attempt with driver Larry Caplin. The record holder Koenigsegg Agera RS was beaten by 8 km/h.
Back in 2011, the founder of SSC Tuatara Jerod Shelby announced his intention to break the record of the then record holder Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. 440 km/h was the announcement. After almost 10 years, the car was unveiled.
From zero to five hundred
Last fall, professional racer Oliver Webb got behind the wheel of the Tuatara to dethrone the record holder Koenigsegg Agera RS and Chiron Super Sport 300+. The last world record was 447.3 km/h. With a non-race fuel production car, the SSC achieved speeds of 484.53 km/h and 532.93 km/h after two runs. The average of the two runs is 508.73 km/h (316.11 mph). Oliver Webb said the car “still pulled well” and “wasn’t running out of steam,” adding that it could have gone even faster without the crosswind.
Record doubts
However, the speed record was challenged due to an error in the measuring device, which is why SSC Tuatara launched a second attempt with driver Larry Caplin on January 17, 2021, to claim the real title of “fastest production car in the world.” Aside from training runs in recent months, Larry Caplin hasn’t often been in a car capable of going over 300 mph. However, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, he achieved a proud 460.4 km/h and 450.1 km/h with the hypercar. The average of the two runs is 455.3 km/h.
What makes the car so fast?
Achieving such a record takes more than just a fast engine. The SSC Tuatara weighs just 1,247 kilograms, so at maximum power only 0.7 kilograms of each horsepower need to be moved. In the video, the gearshifts of the seven-speed transmission can be heard, which shifts through the gears in less than 100 milliseconds. The Tuatara is made almost entirely of carbon, and two small winglets on the rear fenders stabilize the Tuatara at over 400 km/h . Large inlets in the flanks and on the rear wheel arches provide airflow toward the engine compartment.
Source images: SSC North America
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