American SSC Tuatara supercar sets 316 miles per hour speed record on Nevada highway

Taking to Route 160 in Nevada, the SCC Tuatara completed a series of runs in opposite directions, yielding an average speed of 316.11mph (503.73 km/h) and a top speed of 331.15mph (532.9 km/h) - shattering the previous record of 304.77mph (490.48 km/h) by an impressive margin; which was, of course, held by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport and only in a single direction.

The last vehicle to set the production auto speed record was the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport in 2019 at Volkswagen's giant Ehra-Lessien test track in Germany. While no relation to Carroll, Jerod clearly has a similar love of horsepower, saying in a statement: "It's been 10 years since we held this record with our first vehicle, the Ultimate Aero, and the Tuatura 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", Jerod Shelby added, "which is astonishing to do in a real-world setting on a public road. America's claim to victory in the "land-based space race" is going to be tough to beat".

In 2007 the SSC Ultimate Aero claimed the title of World's Fastest Car when 71-year-old Chuck Bigelow piloted it to a two-way average of 412.28km/h on a public road in Washington.

Rumors that something big was going on had begun to circulate on social media during the last few weeks, fanned by reports that Nevada officials were planning to shut down a portion of state Highway 160. Driven by Brit WEC racer Oliver Webb, the twin-turbocharged V8 machine reached 301mph and then 331mph in the opposite direction, giving it an official average of 316mph.

Webb managed 301.07 miles per hour (484.53 km/h) on his first run before turning around and achieving the unbelievable 331.15 miles per hour run.

And that means the Tuatara has a solid lead over its two most formidable competitors.

If anything, Webb seemed nearly disappointed with the results. A documentary about the speed run is also being produced.Webb said: "There was definitely more in there".

"As I approached 532km/h the Tuatura climbed nearly 30km/h within the last five seconds". "The crosswinds are all that prevented us from realizing the car's limit". The vehicle was designed by Jason Castriota, who says the SSC hypercar looks like a curvier version of the reptile it was named after.

Obviously the auto is extremely aerodynamic, with a drag co-efficient of just 0.279, while the motivation is supplied by a Nelson Racing Engines 5.9-litre flat-plane-crank V8 producing 1,750 horsepower, obviously more than enough to move the carbon-fibre-clad vehicle, which weighs only 1,247 kg.

SSC plans to produce just 100 of the hypercars in the next five years.