The Bloodhound SSC is designed to hit 1100 mph on the salt, so figuring out if its wheels are able to achieve those speeds before venturing out onto the salt might be, you know, helpful. So the Bloodhound team is testing their wheels at a specialized Rolls-Royce facility typically used for testing turbine blades. After a 22,487-lb lid descends on the testing chamber, the Bloodhound SSC wheel is spun up to 10,429 rpm. It's an extraordinary way to stress test speed record components.

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The faster the wheel spins, the hotter it gets, just from the friction of the rim against the surrounding air. At full speed, the wheel heats to more than 200 degrees Fahrenheit. At around 300 degrees Fahrenheit, the aluminum wheels start to lose structural integrity, so the heating issue isn't trivial. It's a fascinating look at what needs to happen to ensure a vehicle can break the sound barrier, on land, safely.

And to think, back in the Wild West days of land speed racing, the best measure of whether a part would fail or not was to bolt it on and hit the salt. If the car didn't cartwheel and explode at 400 mph, everything was gravy. I have to think it's a bit better now.

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