SSC hypercar goes straight for Bugatti’s jugular
TOP SPEED IS A VERY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION IN the rarefi ed world of hypercars.
Never mind cornering prowess or driveability in day-to-day life, a stratospheric top speed always makes for interesting conversation at millionaires’ hangouts. And for long Bugatti have been the undisputed leader in this department with the peerless Veyron, although being briefl y troubled by Koenigsegg. Then the mantle went to Shelby SuperCars with the Ultimate Aero, making Bugatti even more furious. They promptly responded with the Veyron Grand Sport and settled the matter once and for all. Until now, that is. SSC have fi nally pulled the wraps off the car they have had under development for several years and it looks mighty promising.
Named after a lizard native to New Zealand, the Tuatara (pronounced Twoo-TAH-rah) is powered by a seven-litre V8 engine with dual turbochargers that push about 1,350 PS to the rear wheels through either a seven-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed, paddle-shift sequential auto transmission. Shelby have kept the performance fi gures under wraps right now, simply promising that the Tuatara will be the fastest production car ever. That should give the car a minimum top whack of 417 km/h, considering that the production Veyron Super Sport already does 415 km/h and a single digit increment apparently doesn’t count. However, as James May verifi ed on the television programme TopGear, the Super Sport can nudge 431 km/h, given the right circumstances. We don’t know which record the Tuatara is gunning for, but either way, it will be a duel worth watching.
