Today, the new all-wheel-drive Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupé helped the Bloodhound SSC World Land Speed Record program pass a significant high-speed testing milestone on its way to attempting a new Land Speed Record in 2015.

The Bloodhound Supersonic Car was designed as part of the World Land Speed Record program by The Bloodhound Project. To be driven by Mr. Andy Green, the man who drove the Thrust SSC in 1997 at a speed of 763.035mph to set the current record, this car will attempt to break this record twelve months from now. Once this attempt is successful, the same project will target a 1000mph land speed in 2016.

The program required the testing of vital communication systems designed for Bloodhound SSC. The car chosen was Jaguar’s AWD F Type R Coupe. This car is all set to be showcased in the LA Auto Show on Nov 19. It shoots to 60mph from zero in merely 3.9 seconds to achieve a top-speed of 186mph. Pleased with their latest offering, the Vehicle Line Director for Jaguar, Ian Hoban explained that the target was to maintain the rear-drive character of Jaguar cars with this new Coupe, and yet offer greater dynamic capability to enhance control and performance in all weather and road conditions.

For the test, the Jaguar was fitted with the same radio equipment as the Bloodhound SSC, and was driven at top speed. Simultaneously, a jet with similar radio equipment was flown at 500mph 50 feet above the Jaguar. The combined closing speed of almost 700mph provided a favorable testing environment for the radio equipment that will allow Andy Green to communicate with the ground crew from inside Bloodhound SSC.

The test was successfully completed in the Hakskeen Pan desert in the Northern Cape of South Africa. Bloodhound Project Director and former World Land Speed Record holder, Richard Noble who drove the AWD F-TYPE R Coupe for the test, was delighted with the results, saying that he was pleased with the partnership between Jaguar and The Bloodhound Project, and hoped for a synergistic effect in both companies to bring out their best innovation and advanced technology to deliver truly ground-breaking results.

The Jaguar Land Rover press conference will take place at 22:40 GMT and will see Mr. Andy Green discussing the extent of the technical collaboration between Jaguar and the Bloodhound Project.

Tags: AWD F-TYPE R Coupe, F-TYPE R Coupe, Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe