World's fastest production car runs on Michelins

ERJ staff report (DS)

Washington State -- Back in November of 2007, the Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo supercar made by Shelby Supercars (SSC) recorded an average top speed of 256.18 mph (412.28 kph) under test conditions. The data has now been officially confirmed and according to Guinness World Records staff, this makes it the world's fastest production car.

This makes the SSC Ultimate Aero 15mph quicker than the previous titleholder, the Koenigsegg CCR and quicker than the Bugatti Veyron's unofficial speed claim of 252.55mph. This is the first time that an American manufacturer has held this world title since the iconic Ford GT40 way back in 1967.

Michelin, which has a technical partnership with the small SSC company said, "The Pilot Sport PS2 tyres fitted for the trial provided remarkable performance, most notably for withstanding many miles at speeds up to 257mph on the closed undulating country roads used for the test in Washington State with little to no wear."

The SSC Ultimate Aero has 1183bhp (882 kW) and the twin-turbo V8 engine develops 1,094ft-lbs (1483 Nm) of torque. The remarkably low drag coefficient of .357 enables SSC to calculate that the car is aerodynamically stable up to 273mph, indicating that there are even faster speeds to be achieved if a suitable test track can be located which allows an adequate distance to build up the speed before passing through the measured mile. The trial requires the car to drive in both directions over the course within one hour and the average speed is taken to establish the record figure.

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Press release from Shelby Supercars