SSC Tuatara Looks to Take on Koenigsegg With 1,750 HP V8
The long-awaited SSC Tuatara has made its debut in production form at the 2018 Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, California.
A concept version of the Tuatara was first shown at the annual automotive gathering way back in 2011. SSC the American brand behind the hypercar, says it spent the last seven or so years carefully engineering it so it meets their standards. Powering the car is a 5.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 built by Nelson Racing Engines, which makes 1,350 hp on pump gas and 1,750 hp on E85. The engine is linked up to a seven-speed automated manual transmission, which sends power to the rear wheels. The Tuatara tips the scales at just 2,749 lbs, too. Sounds a bit dangerous.
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SSC is holding out on releasing performance statistics for now. But with a drag coefficient of 0.279, a ton of horsepower and not much for weight to pull, the Tuatara might just stand a chance at toppling the Koenigsegg Agera RS’ record of 277.87 mph. It will be interesting to see if SSC can pull it off once again after already upsetting Bugatti to briefly take the world record back in 2007.
According to SSC, production of the SSC Tuatara is ready to begin and it’s currently taking pre-orders from interested customers. It will be built in a new production facility in West Richland, Washington, and will be limited to 100 units.
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Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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