Production car blasts to record on Highway 160
A new record was set on Highway 160 for a production vehicle — this time by American hypercar company SSC North America.
The 1,750-horsepower SSC Tuatara rocketed off the line early Oct. 10 in the early morning hours along Highway 160, just east of Tecopa Road in the southbound lanes, to an average speed of 316.11 mph.
That followed two consecutive high-speed test runs of 301.07 mph and 331.15 mph, which brought it to the average speed, a release from the company stated.
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.
“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.
SSC is set to unveil its speed record across the globe, but kept things under wraps since making its historic run earlier this month.
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.
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.
