On January 17, while many of us were staring at the NFL playoffs, Dr. Larry Caplin focused on a 2.3-mile stretch of concrete at Kennedy Space Center Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds in Merritt Island, Florida. There, on the same runway previously used for space shuttle landings, Caplin took his own SSC Tuatara hypercar for a new production car speed record, recording two passes in opposite directions averaging 282.9 mph – a feat officially announced this week. morning by SSC North America.
The achievement surpasses the old benchmark of 277.87 mph set by the Koenigsegg Agera RS in 2017. The bragging rights almost went to Bugatti in August 2019, when a Chiron loaded at 304.77 mph. Unfortunately for the French brand, the car was not a production version and traveled only in one direction (two are officially mandatory).
Even SSC North America has had a recent complaint rejected. In October, company engineer and founder Jerod Shelby (unrelated to Carroll) and the team brought the 1,750 hp carbon fiber Tuatara to Nevada, initially reporting an impressive pair of races that together averaged 316.11 mph . The future milestone was quickly contested, with Shelby acknowledging shortly after the inability to verify the results accurately.
“We were not able to fully understand our data and we were not 100 percent able to reveal and disprove these doubts,” said Shelby Robb report over the phone yesterday. “So we made the decision, internally, that the only right thing to do would be a new race for registration,” he said. “And this time, do it with total transparency.”
SSC Tuatara at Kennedy Space Center’s Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds.
Photo: Courtesy of SSC North America.
For the second attempt, this transparency included GPS and measurement equipment from four separate companies, each of which brought its own team to install and monitor the equipment without any involvement from the SSC North America team. “We did our research, and Racelogic appears to be the most respected GPS measurement company out there,” said Shelby, “so we wanted them to be third parties to release all the data and verify the results.” Racelogic did just that, issuing its own press release and providing video documentation for each pass.
The 1,750 hp Tuatara destroys the track.
Photo: Courtesy of SSC North America.
At exactly 2:38:09 local time, Caplin reached 279.7 mph north. Another 50 minutes, 42 seconds later, it peaked at 286.1 mph heading south over the same section, both speeds faster than that of the space shuttle at the touchdown. Perhaps most strikingly, Caplin is not a professional driver; instead, he is the first customer to buy a Tuatara, which starts at $ 1.6 million.
Dr. Larry Caplin and team discuss the record attempt.
Photo: Courtesy of SSC North America.
For the October attempt, Caplin handed the car over to driver Oliver Webb, but asked to take the wheel in the most recent attempt. Shelby remembers asking him: “Do you want to include the variable of a customer driving and someone who barely spent 320 km / h?” According to Shelby, Caplin’s response was simply, “You know, what if we can do it? How big would that be? “
The training sessions in Florida came after the car’s engine, a 5.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 with 1,242 foot-pounds of torque, was out of tune to produce substantially less – in the beginning. “We took a lot of energy out of the car and made Larry get used to it,” explained Shelby. “As he became more and more comfortable, we continued to add energy again.”
The founder of SSC North America, Jerod Shelby, gives the thumbs up.
Photo: Courtesy of SSC North America.
The team also took a different approach to acceleration. “When we were in Nevada, we put the car really slow and easy for about 180 mph, and then we only had full acceleration for about 20 seconds,” said Shelby, elaborating that in Florida, the track was much shorter and asked them they would go into “drag-race mode”, which meant “full thrust for 40 to 50 seconds from a stop, and the car was still accelerating as if it had a rocket attached”.
Dr. Larry Caplin in the cabin.
Photo: Courtesy of SSC North America.
Surprisingly, this performance was achieved with the full power of the car made available only in the middle of seventh gear, leaving room for considerable improvements for Shelby: “We already have plans to go back and feel this, if we give him full power now, we have a really good chance of reaching 480 km / h – just in those few 2.3 miles. “