On January 17, 2021, a 1750-hp SSC Tuatara hypercar ‘officially’ set the new world speed record for the fastest production car at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The high-speed test run was the hypercar’s second attempt at outdoing the world speed record set by Koenigsegg Agera RS, which hit 277.87 mph (447.19 km/h) in 2017.
The SSC Tuatara hypercar topped Koenigsegg Agera RS’s record by five mph, becoming the world’s fastest production car to date. The hypercar reached a top speed of 277.8 mph (450.1 km/h) on ‘run 1 northbound’ while ‘run 2 southbound’ saw the car achieve 286.1 mph (460.4 km/h). The two-way average – which is a necessity for an ‘official’ world record – was recorded at 282.9 mph (455.3 km/h).
Racelogic USA validated the new record, while the speed and time data were collected with a Racelogic VBOX 3i 100Hz GNSS system, Garmin, Life Racing, and the International Mile Racing Association.
In October 2020, the same 1750-hp SSC Tuatara hypercar made its first attempt at conquering the new production-car world speed record. The car raced in the Nevada Desert, where it claimed the new record of 316.11 mph. However, the achievement was questioned by many due to insufficient measuring and monitoring of the act.
While the performance between the first and second attempt was significant – a difference of more than 30 mph – SSC claims there are two main reasons for this. First, the car was driven by experienced British racing driver Oliver Webb in the first attempt versus its owner Larry Caplin in the second attempt. Secondly, the high-speed run in Florida stretched only 2.3 miles versus the seven-mile road used in Nevada.
Watch the SSC Tuatara hypercar in action in the video below.
