SSC Tuatara is the world's fastest production car

Just when you thought the game was over, the SSC Tuatara has reset the world’s fastest production car benchmark, wrestling the title from the grasp of Koenigsegg and kicking Nevadan desert sand in the face of Bugatti in the process.

The Tuatara hasn’t just broken existing records, it’s completely obliterated them, recording a two-way average of 508.73km/h, a whopping 61km/h faster than the previous mark recorded by the Koenigsegg Agera RS in 2017.

UPDATE – the veracity of the claims has been questioned by industry experts. Click here for more info

In order to claim an official world record two speed runs must be made in opposing directions within an hour of one another, which is why the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport‘s mark of 490.48km/h set at its Ehra-Lessien test track was not officially recognised.

And it could’ve gone even faster. Racing driver Oliver Webb was at the wheel and said: “There was definitely more in there and with better conditions I know we could have gone faster.

Jerod refers to Jerod Shelby, the 52-year-old founder of SSC. 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 car, the Ultimate Aero, and the Tuatara is leagues ahead.

“Its performance reflects the dedication and focus with which we pursued this achievement. We came pretty close to meeting the theoretical numbers, 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.

The SSC Tuatara is much more exotic in its construction, using a carbonfibre monocoque that allows for a dry weight of just 1227kg. Power is produced by a 5.9-litre twin-turbo V8 that revs to 8800rpm and produces 1007kW on regular fuel and 1305kW on E85.

With Bugatti and Koenigsegg bowing out of the top speed game, will the Tuatara’s record stand forever, and just how much faster can cars go?