Bloodhound SSC

Bloodhound SSC

Bloodhound SSC

Bloodhound SSC

Bloodhound SSC

On Tuesday, what might well be the world's fastest-ever car completed its first public test at a runway in Newquay, England. Bloodhound SSC is designed to shatter the existing land speed record , aiming for a top speed of over 1,000 mph (1,600km/h). Achieving that goal will require more space than is possible on a runway in the UK, but today's shakedown test saw RAF Wing Commander Andy Green—the current Land Speed Record holder—hit 210mph in just eight seconds.

When Bloodhound SSC travels to South Africa's Hakskeen Pan to attempt to break the record, it will be powered by an EJ200 jet engine and a Nammo hybrid rocket. But for today's test, the vehicle made do with that Rolls Royce ex-Eurofighter engine. This was also Green's first opportunity to log some miles in the speed machine. The runs were livestreamed—scroll forward to the 50-minute mark in the video below to see Bloodhound SSC get its first taste of speed:

"Although 210mph is far below the car’s ultimate target of 1,000mph, today was a proper workout for the vehicle," Green said. "The car is designed for high speed on a desert rather than sprint performance off the line, but it still accelerated from zero to 210mph in less than eight seconds. It’s also notable for being the longest period that we’ve run the car for, at around 21.5 minutes—and remember it’s designed to run for just two minutes at a time in the desert."

Likewise, 1,000mph will require solid metal wheels, but for the shakedown test Bloodhound SSC used some low-grip Dunlop tires originally worn by an English Electric Lightning. (Interestingly, the Lightning also had one engine stacked atop another, although in its case they were identical jet engines.)

"Stopping a slippery, five ton car, running on low-grip aircraft tires, is a challenge within the relatively limited length of the 2.7km runway here, particularly as the car continues accelerating after I lift off the throttle," Green explained. "I discovered during the initial dynamic tests that to get the car to 200mph, I would have to take my foot off the throttle at 130mph as it then carries on accelerating for another two seconds. And then to slow down, I need to apply gentle pressure to the brakes for two seconds to 'warm up' the carbon fibre disk brakes before applying full force on the brakes to stop the car."

The Bloodhound project saw lengthy delays for a while due to lack of funding, but last year Geely's parent company stepped in to help fund the project, joining up with Castrol, Nammo, Oracle, and others to pursue the dream of an even faster speed record. With a good deal of luck, that might happen in 2018.

Listing image by Bloodhound SSC