SSC Tuatara hits 286mph in testing

Of course, since 2017, both the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300 and the Tuatara itself have come along as pretenders to the 300mph-plus crown but both encountered the issue of verification. Bugatti never did the double run, only cracking 300mph in one direction at the Ehra Lessein facility in Germany. The Tuatara meanwhile, claiming a peak of 331mph and two-way average of 316mph in October last year, had its bluff called. Many claimed it only ‘peaked’ at 280mph, citing inconsistencies in video footage which were later verified by SSC.

With the furore around the legitimacy of the record, Jerod Shelby, founder and CEO of SSC, vowed to return and prove his car’s worth. And return it has, setting the above speed, which while technically being a record, is also over 30mph slower than the two-way speed claimed in October.

A number of factors could have been involved in that. This time, the run took place on a 2.3-mile stretch of tarmac at Kennedy Space Center, with the car’s owner Larry Caplin taking the wheel. The last run took place in Nevada, with professional driver Oliver Webb at the wheel.

With telemetry equipment from four different suppliers on-board, the car is this time verified (unofficially at present) as cracking 279.7mph one way, and 286.1mph the other way. The speeds are also signed and certified in an official document by Jim Lau, Technical Director at Racelogic USA.

They’re not done yet, though. The car is still claimed to be good for over 300mph, with both Caplin and Shelby insisting they and the car will be back for more and that this was something of a test run.

As a reminder, the SSC Tuatara uses a bespoke 5.9-litre twin-turbo V8 that’s good for over 1,770PS (1,302kW) while running on an E85 fuel blend. It weighs just 1,247kg dry and has a drag coefficient of just 0.279. A 99-car production run is planned, with this record-setting car being the first delivered.