In February this year, at the Philadelphia Auto Show, SSC North America, America’s first Hypercar company, revealed the 2020 SSC Tuatara, the first of one hundred exclusive units that will be produced in a limited-production-run. Work on the Hypercar began in 2009, with the code-name “Exceed” as the company Founder and CEO Jerod Shelby were looking for a successor to the SSC ‘Ultimate Aero’, which held the Guinness World Record for Fastest Production Car in the World from 2007 to 2010.
SSC North America has now reclaimed the coveted title of world’s ‘Fastest Production Vehicle,’ this time with its 1,750 hp SSC Tuatara. The record-breaking event took place on Saturday, October 10, outside of Las Vegas near Pahrump, Nevada on a seven-mile stretch of road on the State Route 160. The driver behind the wheel of the SSC Tuatara was an internationally acclaimed professional racing driver, Oliver Webb. Webb pushed the SSC Tuatara to an average speed of 508.73 km/h (316.11 mph) following two consecutive high-speed test runs of 484.53 km/h (301.07 mph) and 532.93 km/h (331.15 mph).
The Hypercar was run to and fro on the same road clocking its speeds within one hour, and is in accordance with the record criteria, to break the record of the ‘Fastest Production Vehicle.’ During the record-setting course, officials were present on the site to verify the record which was also reviewed by Dewetron GPS measurements, which tracked the speed runs using an average of 15 satellites, to confirm the record.
In addition to the ‘Fastest Production Vehicle’ record, the SSC Tuatara also broke the world records for ‘Fastest Flying Mile on a Public Road’ at 503.92 km/h, ‘Fastest Flying Kilometer on a Public Road’ at 517.16 km/h and ‘Highest Speed Achieved on a Public Road’ at 532.93 km/h. The SSC Tuatara is powered by a 5.9L twin-turbo V8 powerplant built in collaboration with Tom Nelson of Nelson Racing Engines. The flat-plane crank engine produces 1,750 hp of power while using E85 an ethanol fuel blend of 85% ethanol fuel and 15% gasoline or other hydrocarbons by volume, and 1,350 hp of power on 91 Octane fuel. The engine is mated to a CIMA 7-Speed computerized manual transmission that works in unison with a state-of-the-art Automatic AMT system.
