Shelby SuperCars (SSC) North America has set a new top speed record for a production car, hitting a v-max of 331 mph (508kmph) and setting a two-way average of 316.11mph on a seven-mile stretch of closed road just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. SSC Ultimate Aero TT, with a top speed of 256.1mph, was the fastest car in the world in 2007. Followed by Bugatti Veyron 16.4 SuperSport, with a top speed of 267.9mph in 2010, followed by Koenigsegg Agera RS, with a top speed of 277.9mph in 2017.
In 2019, Bugatti managed to achieve the 300mph mark, with their Chiron, reaching a top speed of 304.774mph. Finally, in 2020, SSC has made a comeback in the league with the new Tuatara, which has achieved a top speed of 331mph, which translates to 508kmph. Professional racer Oliver Webb was behind the wheel, and he did two opposite runs, with top speeds of 301.07 mph and 331.15 mph. This makes his average top speed at 316 mph. At 331.15 mph, the SSC Tuatara has grabbed the title of achieving the highest speed ever hit by a vehicle on a public road. This makes it the fastest production car in the world.
The entire event was continuously monitored and recorded by a special GPS measurement device and 15 satellites while there were two certified witnesses to the entire program. Webb, along with his Tuatara has also registered other records, like the Fastest Flying Mile on a Public Road” at 313.12 mph (503.92 km/h) and the Fastest Flying Kilometer on a Public Road” at 321.35 mph (517.16 km/h).
Speaking about the car, Built-in Richlands, Washington, USA, the SSC Tuatara is a 1,247kg hypercar with a twin-turbocharged 5.9-litre flat-plane crank V8 engine, that comes mated to a 7-speed DCT transmission. The supercar can produce 1,750bhp of power, which is also accompanied by the Tuatara’s carbon-fibre body.
To get the title of ‘production car’, just 100 units of the SSC Tuatara will be manufactured, with each unit costing upwards of USD 1.6 million. “There was definitely more in there. And with better conditions, I know we could have gone faster, as I approached 331 mph, the Tuatara climbed almost 20mph within the last five seconds. The car wasn’t running out of steam yet. The crosswinds are all that prevented us from realizing the car’s limit,” driver Oliver Webb said in a statement.