Made In The USA - 331mph "Production" Car

[Papa]

I've never heard of this car before, but WOW! Drama-free 331mph top speed with what looks like could be even higher with a long enough road.


https://youtu.be/N22JfNHiC1k

https://www.sscnorthamerica.com/tuatara

"Just be aware the SSC Tuatara has a base price of $1,625,000—and goes up to $1,901,000 when fully equipped including the High Downforce Track Pack."

https://www.automobilemag.com/news/2020-ssc-tuatara-supercar-photos-specs/

[TrevorP]

It is crazy how fast cars are becoming. Almost hard to believe.

Seems like any sports car hits at least 200 these days.

[RoadRacer]

If true, that video was pretty impressive - it just kept going! Like the law of physics don't apply.. you know, like drag :D

[Chadillac]

I thought that company went out of business. They were going to build a manufacturing facility and showroom about a 1/2 mile from my house in West Richland, WA. But, the building still isn't complete, I heard there were several lawsuits over it, and I think it's for sale to anyone that wants to buy it. I'm glad it appears that they're still building cars. No idea where they are at now.

[JohnK]

That's pretty impressive. I wonder why he stopped at 331. Looks like it was still pulling hard, and he still had miles of straight road ahead.

[Papa]

That's pretty impressive. I wonder why he stopped at 331. Looks like it was still pulling hard, and he still had miles of straight road ahead.

According to the article, there was a strong crosswind that caused him to let off.

[Papa]

I just watched this again, and his last shift occurred at about 237mph!

[GoDadGo]

I just watched this again, and his last shift occurred at about 237mph!

And even that speed is about 137 MPH faster than I care to go.

I guess I should be WoDadWo instead of GoDadGo!

This Car Is 100% Insane!

[Papa]

This popped up on my browser news feed today:


The SSC Tuatara’s 331-MPH Run Almost Ended In Disaster Thanks to a Little Gust of Wind
By Rob Stumpf, The Drive 15 hrs ago

The SSC Tuatara’s 331-MPH Run Almost Ended In Disaster Thanks to a Little Gust of Wind.

Narrowly avoiding an accident can induce what feels like a mini heart attack. You start sweating, swearing, shaking--and it doesn't matter if that accident was almost hitting a deer or sliding on a patch of black ice. Now imagine that same feeling but piloting a 1,750-horsepower supercar on a hot and dusty Nevada road at 331 miles per hour. That's exactly what happened to 29-year-old racing driver Oliver Webb when a slight wind gust during a record-breaking top speed run in the SSC Tuatara kept it from reaching its full potential.

Webb will go down in the history books as the man in the driver's seat who broke a record held by the mighty Bugatti Chiron. But the title of fastest production car wasn't as easy as driving the car in a straight line. As told by Motor Authority, Webb had to constantly wrangle control of the Tuatara and battle crosswinds to prevent even the slightest disruption in the car's momentum and trajectory.

As it turns out, the entire experience was nothing short of nerve-wracking.

SSC CEO Jerod Shelby discussed the run in-depth with Webb, and the two agreed that if winds were in excess of 10 mph the attempt would be called off. Fortunately for Webb, the wind was light enough to proceed with testing.

The warm-up runs were just in excess of 100 MPH and were meant to prepare the tires and drivetrain components for the stress they were about to endure. Webb confirmed that the car felt great and allowed SSC's team to clear it for the GPS-tracked runs.

His first official run clocked in at 285 mph, followed closely by a barrier-breaking 301-mph sprint. But there was a problem--not with the car--but with the environment. Crosswinds were starting to pick up, meaning that the 2,750-pound car would be threatened at higher speeds. Webb reportedly pulled Shelby aside to express his concern over the small gust of wind that pushed the car over a complete lane. Webb was admittedly worried that it could make the car unstable. However, the team wanted to break the 500-kilometer-per-hour (312 mph) barrier, so Webb agreed to run just once more.

After another safety and functions check the Tuatara set off down the asphalt. Once it had reached the end of its run, Webb opened the door and sat down on the dusty Nevada pavement in front of the Tuatara.
"I'm done. I can do no more. I'm never doing that again," Webb told Shelby while shaking with his head in his hands, according to Motor Authority.

As it turns out, the car had again been hit by a gust of wind but this time it was pushed across the tarmac onto the rocky shoulder. The car touched the gravel enough to spook Webb into waving the white flag. It was a close call.
Shelby was said to have thought the run went poorly until Webb spoke up again, telling him to check the car's data and that he had seen "a big number." Indeed it was, it was 331.15 mph: the record run.

Moreover, the car hadn't even climbed into its highest gear. The Tuatara's robotized seven-speed manual transmission had only reached sixth gear and it was still rapidly accelerating. If it weren't for environmental conditions, it's anyone's guess what kind of record the car might have set.

"The car was not (at) the limit. I was the limit today, due to conditions," said Webb.

SSC is done setting records for now. Shelby himself reckons that the bar is set high enough for someone else to chase, and when they do, the Tuatara will be right behind them, ready to reclaim its spot as top dog.

[Presto51]

Couple of thoughts:

The successful run is good data for the engineering staff to work on aero and computer enhancements

Next time they want to try that type of speed, maybe it would be better to go to Bonneville, or one of the many deserts that csn handle high speed runs for records.

Ron

[TMartinLVNV]

https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/production-car-hits-record-331-mph-on-highway-outside-las-vegas-2156016/

This road is a few miles from my house. It does sit on the desert floor with unpredictable cross winds. I'm also surprised that they were not out on a lake bed. I bet it was a lot cheaper to get the permits and pay a few NHP troopers overtime to close down the stretch of highway during non peak times.

[txboiler]

Couple of thoughts:

The successful run is good data for the engineering staff to work on aero and computer enhancements

Next time they want to try that type of speed, maybe it would be better to go to Bonneville, or one of the many deserts that csn handle high speed runs for records.

Ron

From what I understand the record rqmts had to include production tires and public road. But I agree take it to bonneville and open it up! Let’s see what it can do

[dukegrad98]

Apparently there's a lot of controversy surrounding this run -- or at least the evidence and video surrounding it.

https://jalopnik.com/that-331-mph-speed-record-set-by-the-ssc-tuatara-is-bei-1845507999

Cheers, John

[JohnK]

Apparently they're now going to do it all over again.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/31/success/ssc-tuatara-speed-record/index.html?utm_content=2020-10-31T18%3A44%3A02&utm_term=link&utm_source=twCNN&utm_medium=social

[Quincy]

Remember reading an article about this and was shocked the tires on the car were not rated for 330 MPH. What are the tire manufacturers thinking?