SSC Confirms Tuatara Never Got Over 300mph
SSC shocked a lot of people when it claimed its Tuatara hypercar had hit 331mph on a top-speed test last year. As you’ll probably remember, its authenticity was questioned by several high-profile YouTubers, who suspected that the Tuatara hadn’t reached that incredible headline figure based on comparing its run with the Koenigsegg Agera RS.
Shelby SuperCars has previously admitted it didn’t hit 331mph, but now the company has confirmed that the Tuatara couldn’t get up to the speeds it claimed. A post on Instagram says “we would like to acknowledge officially that we did not reach the originally claimed speeds of 331mph or even 301mph in October of 2020”.
“We were truly heartbroken as a company to learn that we did not reach this feat, and we are in an ongoing effort to break the 300mph barrier transparently, officially and undoubtedly.”
The top speed attempt also descended into what resembled a schoolyard argument. SSC blamed Dewetron and its timing gear, and Dewetron said it had had nothing to do with the attempt (although its system, and training on how to use it, was provided). SSC later blamed an editing mix-up and that two videos were put out. It all felt a little bit fishy.
After the false run in Nevada, the Tuatara was taken to Florida for another crack at 300mph - a speed already reached by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport. The Tuatara averaged 282.9mph across two runs, which is undeniably impressive but noticeably shy of 300mph. A subsequent attempt had to be cancelled when a Tuatara was damaged in a rollover accident.
Powering the Tuatara is a 5.9-litre V8 with two turbos. Maximum power stands at 1726bhp when running on E85 fuel, and it’ll rev to 8800rpm in six of the seven gears. The gearbox is a sequential manual unit. A track-only 2200bhp SSC Tuatara Aggressor has recently been revealed.
Do you think SSC can break 300mph? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
Comments
There is still no production car that has surpassed the 300 mph mark. Most people including journalists unfortunately seem to believe that Bugatti has the record. But that was in a prototype car and in one direction.
I do believe that SSC can go over 300 mph with that car. But it’s not gonna be easy 😂
Ive got a feeling Hennessey or Koeniggsegg might get it first
We were truly heartbroken as a company to learn that we did not reach this feat
Is it really that hard to use a GPS based speedometer? Hell, why didn’t they use multiple devices for redundancy? Smells fishy