what is the fastest car in the world

 what is the fastest car in the world

Horsepower has and will always be the primary figure for enthusiasts to use as a bragging tool. But with family wagons making 603 horsepower and three-row SUVs putting down 710 horsepower, using horsepower to compare vehicles doesn’t seem fair anymore. While automakers continue to come out with more powerful vehicles year after year, a few stand out for another reason – for setting top-speed records.

 

Top-speed runs played a large role in the development of supercars in the late ‘90s and have recently made a comeback. Automakers are taking their insanely powerful, ludicrously expensive, and highly aerodynamic supercars to outrageous speeds. All of this is being done for bragging rights – to be able to say they have the fastest car in the world. Sometimes, things really are that straightforward.

 

Unlike zero-to-60 mph times, horsepower ratings, cornering G-force, or quarter-mile times, top speed reigns supreme because it’s so hard to raise the bar. A few modern hypercars have managed to exceed 300 mph, which is crazy, seeing as how vehicles in the late ‘90s were just starting to crack 200 mph. You’ll probably never seen one of these cars in the real world, but they exist. And someone had the courage to push these cars to the limit.

World’s Fastest Cars

 1.     SSC Tuatara: 316 mph

High speed with a hefty price tag

The SSC Tuatara is officially now the fastest production car in the world with a top speed of 532.93 kmph. The hypercar developed by US-based SSC North America clocked an average speed of 508.73 kmph for two consecutive runs that were conducted on a patch of closed-off public roads. And the car can be yours for just $1.6 million!

2/5​Speed racer

North American company Shelby SuperCars is no stranger to chasing top speed records. The Tuatara's quickest run beat the record set by a Koenigsegg Agera that had set an average top speed of 447.23 kmph in 2017. Keeping up with the parameters set by the Guinness Book of World Records, the top speed run took place over a stretch of 11.26 km on State Route 160 outside of Las Vegas.

3/5​Topping 316 mph

The SSC Tuatara runs on a 5.9-litre twin-turbo V6 engine producing a beefy 1750PS of outright grunt with E85 fuel (1350PS with 91 Octane fuel), paired to a 7-speed AMT gearbox. It's also helped by the carbon-fibre bodywork which gives it a weight of only 1,247kg and a drag coefficient of 0.279.

4/5​The other records

Fastest Flying Mile on a Public Road" at 313.12 mph (503.92 km/h)

Fastest Flying Kilometer on a Public Road" at 321.35 mph (517.16 km/h)

5/5​The obscure carmaker

SSC is among the most obscure automakers in the world. Formed in 1998 and counting just 24 employees, the privately held company was formerly called Shelby SuperCars Inc, which inspired its current name.