The second time was the charm of the SSC Tuatara supercar, which won the record for the fastest production car in the world, with 282.9 mph.
The $ 1.9 million coupe made by Washington State completed the feat on the former Florida Space Shuttle airstrip on January 17.
As required by many prominent record-keeping authorities, the 1,750-horsepower supercar made two runs in opposite directions to account for wind and other environmental factors at speeds of 279.7 mph and 286.1 mph. That average is 282.9 mph, which would exceed the existing mark of 277.87 mph set in 2017 by Koenigsegg Agera RS.
The SSC thought it broke that record last October, when the Tuatara was timed an average of 316.11 mph on a closed highway in Nevada with professional driver Oliver Webb at the wheel, but questions were raised about the accuracy of the time it took the SSC to make the second attempt with redundant speed validation provided by Racelogic (VBox), Life Racing, Garmin and IMRA (International Mile Racing Association).
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The Tuatara was driven in Florida by its owner, car collector Larry Caplan, who previously told Fox News that he had never driven close to 250 mph, but planned a day. The space shuttle’s landing strip provided a 3.7-kilometer stretch for the attempt, which was much shorter than the one available in Nevada and required more aggressive acceleration to reach maximum speed with room to slow down.
SSC owner Jerod Shelby said he has not yet finished and plans to return in the spring with the goal of reaching 480 km / h, which the Bugatti Chiron achieved on a Volkswagen test track in Germany, but only in one direction.