Faster, that's what every car wants to be. But only one can be the fastest. In 2017, the Koenigsegg Agera RS achieved the record of 447 km/h. Could the mythical limit of 500 km/h be broken? In 2020, the SSC Tuatara made an attempt that caused a commotion. 'SSC accused of faking speed-record.'Text: Eltjo Nieuwenhuis
Online editing: Natasha Hendriks
The speed record for cars passed through the sound barrier in 1997. The Thrust SSC reached a top speed of 1,228 km/h, and this record still stands. Formally, this Thrust SuperSonic Car is a car, but in the broadest definition. Let's just say that the driver was a jet fighter pilot for a reason. There is also a speed record for production cars. Again, this is not a battle between everyday middle-class cars, but these are definitely cars that are mass-produced and for sale. Suppose you were sitting on a terrace in Monaco for half an hour, all the protagonists in this competition could just drive by.
Record attempts must be verified, and there are a lot of conditions attached to that. Among other things, the GPS data must be validated and the final certification must come from Guinness World Records. Very comprehensive were not SSC' s data, but everything seemed to fit, until SSC's YouTube videos came online. Almost immediately, conspiracy theories arose based on the footage. This record would be fake news. And fair is fair, the elapsed time, measured speeds and distances covered in the videos did not seem to be completely in sync. According to SSC, errors had unknowingly crept into the editing of their videos, but then again, they had put them online themselves. So the record was not officially acknowledged. As it goes online, SSC was carried around the Internet with pitch and feathers. Serious automotive journalists, on the other hand, gave the proven 2007 record holder the benefit of the doubt for now. But of course it was recommended that SSC not wait too long to try again.
January 17, 2021 was the day. At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Tuatara, over a run of just 3.7 kilometers achieved an average top speed of 455 km/h. This new record has now been confirmed. Of course, 455 is significantly less than the previous, unvalidated record of 508 km/h, but the SSC was driven by its owner and not by a professional driver. This is partly why it was driven with 1370 hp and not the maximum available 1,775 hp. In addition, 3.7 kilometers is actually too short for a record attempt. Both the disputed record and Koenigsegg 's old record were set on a stretch of over eleven kilometers. Since at 450 km/h one kilometer takes only eight seconds, a longer run is necessary to reach the mythical 500 km/h. Planning a record attempt takes time. You can't just cordon off a stretch of highway; something like that takes planning, crew and permits. In addition, in winter there is a chance of snow in many places, so many locations drop out. But of course that long run is really coming, including professional driver, racing fuel and enough time to accelerate through after the 455 km/h. Of the SSC Tuatara we will hear more.
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