SSC Tuatara Top Speed Run Smashes Records, Car Hits 532.93 Km/Hr

SSC Tuatara Top Speed Record — Oliver Webb with the hypercar and the SSC team

SSC Tuatara hypercar has hit a top speed of 532.93 km/hr (331.15 mph) during a recent world record run held in the USA and subsequently earned the title of the world’s fastest production vehicle.

Held on 10th October 2020 at a 7 mile (11.26 km) stretch of State Route 160, outside of Las Vegas near Pahrump in Nevada, the record run was done by professional racing driver Oliver Webb.

Piloting the 1750 HP Tuatara, Webb set an average speed of 316.11 mph (508.73 km/hr) following two consecutive high-speed runs (in opposite directions) of 301.07 mph (484.53 km/hr) and 331.15 mph (532.93 km/hr).

For the world record to be set, the two SSC Tuatara top speed runs were done in opposite directions on the same road and within one hour, which is the criteria that needed to be met.

The record speed was measured by Dewetron GPS system, which tracked the speed runs using an average of 15 satellites, and further, officials were also on site to oversee proceedings.

In addition to the “Fastest Production Vehicle” record, the SSC Tuatara broke the world records for:

“Fastest Flying Mile on a public road” – 313.12 mph (503.92 km/hr)
“Fastest Flying Kilometre on a public road” – 321.35 mph (517.16 km/hr)
“Highest Speed achieved on a public road” – 331.15 mph (532.93 km/hr)

Thus, the Tuatara grabbed the top speed crown held for three years by Koenigsegg’s Agera RS that posted an average of 277.9 mph (447.23 km/hr) and a top speed of 284.55 mph (457.94 km/hr) on the same piece of tarmac.

This is not the first time SSC has held the record for the world’s fastest production vehicle in its hands. Back in 2007, the firm’s first car, the Ultimate Aero, was also named the fastest car for clocking 255.83 mph (411.72 km/hr).

Interestingly, the SSC Tuatara top speed runs were affected by heavy crosswinds. Oliver Webb, said that when he approached 331 mph (532.7 km/hr), the car climbed almost 20 mph (32 km/hr) within the last five seconds. He added that it was still pulling well and was not running out of steam yet.

We can believe that since the 1247 kg (dry weight) hypercar is powered by a 5.9-litre twin-turbo, flat-plane crank V8 engine that produces 1750 HP while using E85 (1350 HP on 91 Octane petrol). The power is transferred via a 7-speed robotised manual transmission.

Maybe, in the near future, we might see another SSC Tuatara top speed run that will result in the machine outclassing its own bonkers record.