American supercar builder SSC has unofficially reclaimed the world's fastest production car title. The Richland, Washington-based company has revealed that British racing driver Oliver Webb drove its $1.9 million Tuatara to the astonishing speed of 331.15 mph on a closed stretch of State Route 160 in Pahrump, Nev., on Oct. 10. The carbon fiber coupe is powered by a 5.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 built by Nelson Racing Engines that can produce 1,750 hp running on E85 and 1,350 hp on 91 octane fuel. It ran on its stock nitrogen-filled Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, which aren't officially rated for anywhere 331 mph, but were tested prior to the attempt to see if they could handle the speed without blowing out. The blistering velocity was achieved after a 301.07 mph run in the opposite direction, which gave Webb and the car a 316.11 mph average as required by most record-keeping authorities to account for wind and other factors. The results smashed both the 277.9 mph average mark set by Swedish automaker Koenigsegg on the same road in 2017 and the 304.77 one-way speed reached by the Bugatti Chiron on VW's test track in Germany, neither of which was verified by an outside organization. SSC (formerly known as Shelby Supercars after founder Jerod Shelby) has submitted its data to Guinness World Records, which previously recognized its earlier Ultimate Aero model as the world's fastest production car from 2007 to 2010 after 73-year-old pilot Chuck Bigelow drove it to a 256.14 average on a public road in Washington. The Tuatara has been in development since 2011 and the car driven by Webb was the first customer car, which was delivered to its buyer late last year. The company plans to build 12 more through 2021 then no more than 25 annually until it reaches 100.
“You’ll own nothing” — And “you’ll be happy about it.” K. Schwab
Re: American SSC Tuatara supercar sets 316 mph speed record on N
[Re: FM3AAR]
#2834703 10/19/2004:48 PM10/19/2004:48 PM
So Webb hits it, and speeds off for his third and final pass. Shelby and his crew followed behind, but they were not ready for what was awaiting them at the end of the road.
“By the time we get there, he’s obviously out of the car,” Shelby said. “And he was sitting on the ground with his head down. And it didn’t look good.”
As he walked up, Jared said that Webb told him this: “I’m done Jared. I’ll never do that again. I got hit with two different blasts of cross winds, and it moved me two lanes over and into the rumble strips. I had a really close call.”
Shelby told us that Webb was truly shaken by the experience … but right after that, Webb said that he “saw a big speed on the display.” The crew immediately got into the data, and saw that he had hit 331 mph.
That's ballsy on factory tires--even speed-rated ones.
I remember reading that the Veyron high speed runs were made on tires that would last about 15 minutes at full speed due to heat. However, I guess at full speed you run out of fuel in 11 minutes. Making some assumptions on fuel tank size, I'd say at 300 mph you get around 2.5-3 mpg.
68 Road Runner (383/4speed, post car w/decor pkg) - Major Project 69 Road Runner w/472 Hemi & 4 speed. 70 Challenger R/T SE EF8 w/ V9J, U - A32 - Major Project 2023 Ford Mach 1
Re: American SSC Tuatara supercar sets 316 mph speed record on N
[Re: RoadRunner]
#2835053 10/20/2001:43 PM10/20/2001:43 PM
That's ballsy on factory tires--even speed-rated ones.
I remember reading that the Veyron high speed runs were made on tires that would last about 15 minutes at full speed due to heat. However, I guess at full speed you run out of fuel in 11 minutes. Making some assumptions on fuel tank size, I'd say at 300 mph you get around 2.5-3 mpg.
That's pretty much exactly what James May said when he ran the Veyron to top speed on VWs test track.