No, this isn’t a joke. Top Gear just exclusively revealed that the production car top speed record has been smashed by the SSC Tuatara 331mph run…
Remember when 200mph was seen as silly fast? That figure over recent years has skipped to 250mph, then 275mph, now 300mph is seen as the top benchmark for exclusive hypercars thanks to the Bugatti Chiron in Longtail guise when it hit 304mph. Now, though, that figure seems pitiful as SSC, Shelby SuperCars, went on to hit a top speed of 331mph…
The record is now 316mph, and that’s because it takes the average of two top speed runs, something the Bugatti Chiron couldn’t even manage. Kudos to British driver Oliver Webb for keeping his foot planted down a seven-mile stretch of closed road outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 331.15mph run was recorded on his return leg of the two way trip, the first of which he hit a mammoth 301.07mph. Watch, though, as the speed climbs dramatically above 200mph.
What on earth is the SSC Tuatara then? Well, it’s a North American-built car, Washington to be specific, that features a twin-turbo, 5.9-litre flat-plane crank V8 producing 1750bhp. But, the power only tells half of the story as the car is made up entirely of carbon fibre, with a drag coefficient of just 0.279.
It’s worth noting that the car was driven on road tyres, on a public road using regular high-octane fuel, none of this race fuel stuff.
“It’s been ten years since we held this record with our first car, the Ultimate Aero, and the Tuatara is leagues ahead. Its performance reflects the dedication and focus with which we pursued this achievement,” said Jerod Shelby, CEO of SSC.
The funny thing is, Oli Webb, the driver of the SSC Tuatara 331mph top speed run, got out and said there’s more in it…
