That’s 474.8 km/h.
SSC North America was the news story in October 2020, when it claimed that the Tuatara averaged 316.11mph (508.73km/h). A top speed of 331.15 miles (532.93 kilometers/h) was claimed at that time. We all know that the first attempt at speeding was marred by controversy, and that the company later admitted that those numbers weren’t entirely accurate. The company joined forces with one of its customers in an effort to correct past mistakes and redo the speed run.
Larry Caplin drove his Tuatara from Space Florida’s Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds to Space Florida’s LLF at Kennedy Space Center Merritt in January 2021. He averaged 282.9mph (455.2km/h). The owner achieved a speed record of 286.1 mph (461.04 km/h) during his high-speed run along the runway’s 2.3-mile stretch. He was able to beat his personal record by running on May 14, 2022. Mission accomplished.
His Tuatara was pushed even further by him, reaching a staggering speed of 295.0 mph (474.8 km/h). SSC does not mention the speed of the Tuatara’s top speed, but the average of the two runs. It’s still a remarkable speed and significantly higher than the Hennessey V5 which reached 271.6 mph (437.1 kilometers/h) at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds, Florida in February.
Both American hypercars are slowly approaching 300 mph. The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ beat that mark at the Ehra-Lessien VW Group test facility. Koenigsegg also wants to be the speed king of the Jesko Absolut with its claimed top speed of 300+ mph.
SSC also mentions that Racelogic captured all relevant data, and had a technician on site to ensure there wasn’t any controversy. To ensure transparency, an independent analyst was also present at the event. Jerod Shelby, the automaker’s CEO and founder, was impressed by the Tuatara.
“This car isn’t even close to reaching its ceiling.” We have all the data and imagery to show that the limiting factor was not the car. It was the fact that we ran out runway.