The Bloodhound Supersonic Car recently reached a milestone when it reached speeds of up to 338km/h on a 2.7km long runway accelerating a rate of 1.5G, reaching 322km/h from a standing start in just 8 seconds.
The Bloodhound Supersonic Car (Bloodhound SSC), which aims to break the current world land speed record and reach 1600km/h, has reached a major milestone. Last week it successfully completed its first test runs at Cornwall Airport Newquay in the UK.
Bloodhound SSC, driven by current record holder Wing Commander Andy Green, reached speeds of up to 338km/h on the 2.7km long runway. It accelerated at a rate of 1.5G, reaching 322km/h from a standing start in just 8 seconds.
The event marked the culmination of a month of tests and was the first opportunity to prove the car’s steering, brakes, suspension, data systems and the EJ200 jet engine before the team head to the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa with an iniital target of reaching 1 287 km/h. The team will then go back to the UK to review the data before returning to South Africa with the aim of reaching 1 609 km/h. It would thus be the first land vehicle to reach 1000 miles per hour.
Global database software leader Oracle has provided the technology platform for feeding data from the Bloodhound to an international audience.
Castrol, the chosen oil of the Bloodhound project and a partner since 2014, points out it has a notable heritage in Land Speed Racing, “the original, purest and fastest form of automotive competition”. The world land speed record has been broken 21 times with Castrol as a partner, from Kenelm Lee Guinness’s first record attempt in 1922 at 215km/h to the current record of 1 228km/h, set by Andy Green in Thrust SSC on 15 October 1997.
Bloodhound SSC is powered by an incredible 100 669kW, which is more than six times the total power output of the entire field of starters in Formula One. To achieve this immense power output and the target speed, the project team led by Richard Noble is placing its trust in a jet engine, rocket propulsion and a variety of high-performance lubricants from Castrol. These include their strongest engine oil Castrol Edge Supercar.
“It was great to finally see the car in action today,” said Richard Noble, Bloodhound project director. Bloodhound” SSC is a unique, high-technology project and it is fantastic that we can rely on Castrol’s pioneering technology for all the car’s lubricants. When it comes to the record attempts, we’ve got to get the highest power to weight ratio as we possibly can. We’ve got to get the car as light as we can and yet maintain its strength and Castrol will certainly contribute with their terrific history of record-breaking.”
A.S. Ramchander, VP Marketing, Castrol said, “This partnership gives us the chance to showcase how our high-performance products push the boundaries of performance and we have our sights firmly set on partnering on a 22nd World Land Speed Record.”
