Tuatara comes to the finish line on highway 160
The motor of the now record-breaking SSC Tuatara wound down to its final stop along Highway 160, near Tecopa Road, on Oct. 10.
Company executives from SSC North America, media and others huddled around the hypercar that British racing driver Oliver Webb emerged from after his record run for a production vehicle that he’d taken to 331.15 mph on the Nevada highway.
The 1,750-horsepower SSC Tuatara broke multiple records on the run with the first being the speed record, hitting an average speed of 316.11 mph.
The SSC Tuatara, in accordance with the record criteria, had to travel in two opposite directions within one hour to take the record for fastest production vehicle. To grab the average, the hypercar hit 301.07 mph and 331.15 mph.
“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. “We came pretty close to meeting the theoretical numbers, which is astonishing to do in a real world setting on a public road. America’s new claim to victory in the ‘land-based space race’ is going to be tough to beat.”
SSC beat the previous record holder, the Koenigsegg Agera RS supercar, that swept down Highway 160 in 2017 to an average speed of 277.9 mph, reaching a top speed of 284.6 mph.
The company worked with the Nevada Department of Transportation to close a seven-mile stretch of the highway for two days, just outside of Pahrump. SSC used multiple assets to film the Tuatara’s record run, including a helicopter, several drones and a subsonic T-33 jet from XM2 Pursuit.
“Officials were on site to verify all world record criteria was met — including review of Dewetron GPS measurements, which tracked the speed runs using an average of 15 satellites, and to confirm the new record,” the company’s release states.
Other world records broken:
■ Fastest flying mile on a public road: 313.12 mphFastest flying kilometer on a public road: 312.35 mph (517.16 km/h).
■ Highest speed achieved on a public road: 331.15
Contact Interim Editor Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com
Watch for upcoming coverage
The Pahrump Valley Times is releasing several photos of the record-breaking event in the Friday, Oct. 23, 2020 edition, including photos at the finish line.
