MC&T Staff 
Remember when the SSC Tuatara showed up and said it smashed the top speed record with a 316.11 mph run on a closed section of highway? Remember when the company released a video of the record-setting claim? Remember when discrepancies in the video forced the crew to retract the claims, vowing to return again with a new record in tow?
Well, SSC is back, and unfortunately, they still don’t have a world record to show for their efforts despite attempting a second run for the record. The SSC Tuatara team attempted another top speed run earlier this month but were reportedly foiled due to numerous issues.
According to a YouTube video posted by Robert Mitchell–who was on-site during the attempt– SSC took extra measures to account for discrepancies, lacing with extra electronics and sensors. The extra equipment included five different GPS systems, two of which were Racelogic, several different sensors monitoring speed, and an extra set for all the critical temperature measurements.
Apparently, because all the extra wiring was rigged in places wiring wasn’t supposed to run, the engine hatch kept popping open during the first few warm-up runs. To fix that particular issues the SSC team was forced to unplug parts of the temperature monitoring system–which naturally led to the next phase of the Tuatara saga.
The amount of combustion required to generate 1,750 hp from a twin-turbo-small-block V8 from Nelson Racing Engines is going to make a ridiculous amount of heat. And without critical temperature sensors in play, the car ultimately dropped two cylinders during what proved to be its final run of the day.
Fouled spark plugs were found in the dead holes, with the failure likely laying with a pair of fried ignition coils–a problem the car allegedly dealt with during development.
Before becoming a V6, the SSC Tuatara had already climbed to 251.2 mph at the halfway point of the runway. Mitchell also claims that SSC still had the boost turned way down because the guy who owned the Tuatara was driving and he still wasn’t acclimated with the car’s performance.
What do you think, will the SSC Tuatara eventually set a production car top-speed record?
– By Michael Accardi
