10/20/2020 12:10
Clarín.com
Cars
Updated 10/20/2020 12:10
The
rate
was historically an indicator that many automakers pursued.
That search did not stop and in recent times it has been reflecting records that leave anyone with their mouths open.
It is that the
new record
for a production car, that is to say that it is approved to circulate on public roads, has just exceeded the barrier of 500 km / h.
The SSC Tatuara, a supercar of American origin, demolished the previous record set by the Koenigsegg Agera RS and became the fastest car on the planet.
The SSC Tatuara speed record attempt was made on a section of a road in the state of Nevada, USA.
On October 10, the Tuatara averaged
505.776 km / h
in two passes, which ended up annihilating the 444.64 km / h average of the Agera RS.
While it is already a number from another planet, the top speed obtained by the SSC coupe in the second pass was 529.84 km / h.
The Agera RS had reached 454.88 km / h, while a prototype of Bugatti's "long tail" Chiron reached 487.63 km / h on a test track.
Since that version of the Chiron was not a production car and was raced on a test track, it does not count towards the official record.
Jerod Shelby (left), owner of the brand, and Oliver Webb, driver in charge of driving the SSC Tatuara, after obtaining the record.
For these logs to count, you must run back-to-back runs in opposite directions one hour apart;
this represents the wind and elevation changes on the road.
Several officials, including one from Guinness World Records, were on hand to independently verify all the data and confirm that SSC did indeed break the previous world record.
SSC is among the most exclusive automakers in the world.
Created in 1998 and with just 24 employees, the private company was previously called
Shelby Super Cars Inc.
, Which inspired its current name.
The SSC Tatuara's engine is a 5.9-liter biturbo V8 that delivers 1,350 horsepower on gasoline and 1,750 horsepower on ethanol.
Its owner, Jerod Shelby, an engineer who co-founded a medical device company in the early 1990s, is not related to long-time auto preparer Carroll Shelby.
Record with room for more
SSC chose a stretch of just over 7 miles of State Route 160 near Pahrump, Nevada, in the United States as the location to search for the record.
As expected, the entire road was closed for the attempt.
Oliver Webb, a well-known racing driver, was chosen to pilot the Tuatara at full speed.
Wind was the biggest problem on the day of driving, and Webb believes the Tuatara has even more speed left in its tank.
“There was definitely more there.
And with better conditions, I know we
could have gone faster,
"said Webb.
For the pilot Oliver Webb, the SSC Tatuara has the rest to go even faster.
“As I got closer to 529.84 km / h, the Tuatara climbed almost 20 km / h in the last five seconds.
He was still
shooting
well.
Like I told Jerod (Shelby), the car still had more left.
The crosswinds prevented us from realizing the limit of the car "detailed the pilot.
This record comes 10 years after SSC set a record with its first car, the Ultimate Aero.
The performance of the Tuatara far exceeds that of the Ultimate Aero, which had reached 414.26 km / h.
Nothing about the SSC Tuatara in the test is different from a production version.
In fact, the unit used for the test is from a customer.
Only 100 units will be made of the SSC Tatuara.
It has the same
5.9-liter V8 biturbo engine
.
When powered by E85 ethanol (as was done in the test), it is capable of producing
1,750 horsepower
.
While with 91 octane gasoline it reduces the power to 1,350 horses.
It is complemented by a seven-speed automated manual transmission.
The Tuatara's aerodynamic profile was also key to achieving such speed.
The drag coefficient is an incredibly low 0.279.
The active rear spoiler helps it maintain similar downforce characteristics for the driver from low to high speeds.
Of this incredible machine only 100 units will be produced with a price of
1,900,000 dollars
for each one of them.
