(FiveNation.com)- SSC North America’s Tuatara supercar has set a new top speed record.
The mid-engine coupe that cost $2 million and had a top speed of 282.9 miles per hour became the production car’s top speed record holder in 2021. It achieved this milestone on the former Space Shuttle landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center. It returned to the three-mile-long stretch of pavement this month to see if it could go even faster.
The vehicle’s 1,750-horsepower twin-turbocharged V8 motor and suspension have undergone several revisions to facilitate an increase in speed and improve the vehicle’s level of steadiness as it approaches its top speed.
The vehicle was going to make another attempt at breaking the record in May of last year, but unfortunately, the trailer that was transporting it from the SSC’s headquarters in Washington state to a highway in Utah overturned due to the high winds, and the vehicle had to be taken back to the shop for repairs.
After breaking the record in January of 2021, the customer who owns the automobile, Larry Caplan, was seen driving it again in February of that same year.
Caplan is shown on video accelerating onto the runway from a tiny access road for added length. He then powers through the gears as the car travels from 0 miles per hour to 295 miles per hour in less than 50 seconds.
After slamming on the brakes, the car is seen to experience a significant shock as it transitions from the smooth 2.3-mile runway stretch to a rougher run-off region while traveling at 140 mph.
SSC is certain that the car would have been able to break 300 mph if it had a little more room, but driver error during the second run (in the opposite direction) caused it not to attain the speed this time around.
A Bugatti Chiron was the only production vehicle that has been able to break the 300 mph barrier so far. It did it on a test track in Germany owned by Volkswagen that features a straight that is 5.4 miles long.
At this time, there are no plans for SSC to make another try at 300 mph.
