Here's The SSC Tuatara Driving Really, Really Fast On A Closed Road

We still don’t know when the SSC Tuatara will first have a crack at the 300mph barrier. But how about this for a taster?

Using a closed road in Washington state - we’re assuming not far from the company’s Richland HQ - SSC allowed its new hypercar to stretch its legs. Frustratingly we’re not given a good look at the speedometer, but it looks plenty fast.

We’re also given a wicked view of the engine bay, showing the Tuatara’s third, longitudinally-mounted rear damper. Just in front of that is a 5.9-litre twin-turbo V8 built in partnership with Nelson Racing Engines, which is good for 1750bhp when juiced with E85.

The ethanol (or regular high-octane petrol, which it can run on at lower power) is squirted in via a pair of injectors for each cylinder. The V8 revs to 8800rpm, at which point the CIMA seven-speed sequential gearbox will chuck in a ratio in under 0.1sec.

Thanks to the extensive use of carbon fibre in its construction, SSC is claiming an absurdly low 1247kg dry weight for the Tuatara. The body - penned by Jason Castriota, designer of James Glickenhaus’ Ferrari P4/5 among other things - is suitably slippery, with a drag coefficient of 0.279Cd.

The 300mph gauntlet has already been thrown down by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, and SSC isn’t the only super-niche contender vying to follow in its fat, Michelin-shod footsteps. Hennessey is busy readying its F5 Venom for the challenge, while Koenigsegg has the new Jesko Absolute to send into high-speed battle.

Who’s your money on?