America may have recently lost its title as the world's largest new car auto market, but SSC, the small supercar maker formerly known as Shelby Super Cars certainly is making a case for keeping the U.S. in the automotive global spotlight with its latest creation.
The SSC Tuatara is by some definitions more of a hypercar than a supercar, but whatever you want to call it, it comes packing an SSC estimated and truly colossal 1,350 horsepower. That power comes form an in-house-designed 7.0-liter DOHC V8 being force-fed an absurd amount of air with the help of a pair of turbochargers.Drivers manage that power through a seven-speed SMG transmission via paddle shifters. That power is then transferred to the ground through the world's first carbon fiber wheels - which dramatically reduces parasitic drivetrain loss and reduces unsprung weight, improving acceleration, top speed and handling.
Of course, the body and chassis are just as advanced and also put an emphasis on shedding weight thanks to a carbon fiber body, cab and sub frame - along with aluminum crash structures.
The results of all of the engineering going into this vehicle include a zero-to-60 time of just 2.5 seconds, a quarter mile time of 9.75 seconds at 144 miles per hour and a projected top speed of 276 mph. the Tuatara can also sustain its grip at up to 1.05 lateral g's on a skidpad, and can accelerate from a dead stop to 100 mph, then back to a stop in just 11.25 seconds.
Braking from 60 mph to zero takes 103 feet.
Like the Ultimate Aero that preceded it, the SSC Tuatara is built in America at the automaker's Washington plant.