Production car speed record & the controversy

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The SSC Tuatara claims to be the fastest production car in the world, after hitting the maximum speed of impressive 331 mph (532 km/h) and setting a two-way average of 316 mph (508 km/h) on a seven-mile stretch of closed road. Unfortunately, after analysing provided data, the official onboard video seems to have many incorrectnesses.

Shelby SuperCars (SSC) is an American car manufacturer founded in 1998. Brand gained recognisability back in 2007 when SSC Ultimate Aero set record for fastest production vehicle as verified by Guinness World Records, reaching a top speed 256 mph (412 km/h) averaged over two runs in opposite directions. Now, after 13 years of research and development SSC is back in the game with its latest gem – Tuatara model. The concept of this hypercar saw the light of day for the first time in 2011 – as the replacement for the Ultimate Aero. Tuatara weighs only 1,247 kg and is powered by a twin-turbocharged 5.9-litre flat-plane crank V8 producing 1,750 horsepower on E85 fuel. Of course, power is not everything. The Tuatara’s breathtaking performance comes to a great extent from the refined design of its carbon fibre bodywork as well as advanced technology. 

Tuatara

SSC announced that on 10th October, 2020, the Tuatara in production specification form broke a top speed record with one direction at 532,93 km/h  beating the previous record of the Koenigsegg Agera RS by astonishing 74,99 km/h (from 457,94 km/h). The run took place on the exactly same road – the Nevada Highway 160.

However, the ease with which Tuatara hit 500 km/h quickly started to raise some doubts. Shmee150 (British car vlogger and YouTuber) was one of the first who questioned the credibility of new record and provided exact analysis in his video. Indeed, after making some basic calculations it becomes clear that there are a number of areas that don’t quite add up. Starting from the time travelling between the fixed medians on the road and the painted street markings that certainly doesn’t match to the displayed speed, finishing on dashboard data being out of sync as well as technical side with the engine and gearbox configuration (gear ratios) which seem to be inconsistent. 

According to Julian Thomas, specialist and Racelogic (professional performance meter that become an industry standard way of measuring speed and acceleration) founder, the actual speed of Tuatara on the recorder run was only around 350 km/h.

The CEO of SSC in his official statement has already confirmed second attempt so there are no questions surrounding the record. Nevertheless, this situation will definitely leave a stain on it and the company itself. As for now, potential clients will probably hold off on placing orders until everything clears up. Let’s hope that SSC in the next run will prove that Tuatara is really capable of crossing the 500 km/h barrier.

 

Sources:

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/31/success/ssc-tuatara-speed-record/index.html

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/supercars/sscs-tuatara-fastest-car-world-331mph-top-speed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSC_North_America

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