The SSC Ultimate Aero is a

mid-engined In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle. History The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout of ...

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

that was produced by

SSC North America SSC North America (formerly Shelby SuperCars Inc.) is an American automobile manufacturer founded in 1999 by owner Jerod Shelby (no relation to car designer Carroll Shelby). The company is based in Richland, in the Tri-Cities, Washington and ...

(formerly known as Shelby SuperCars) from 2004 until 2013. The SSC Ultimate Aero held the world

production car speed record This is a list of the world's record-breaking top speeds achieved by street-legal production cars (as opposed to concept cars or modified cars). For the purposes of this list eligible cars are defined in the list's rules. This list uses a diff ...

title, according to the ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'', from 2007 (when it was officially timed at 410 km/h) until the introduction of the

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver P ...

in 2010. In April 2013, the Guinness World Records temporarily disqualified the Veyron's record time for a period of five days due to concerns about electronic speed limiting changing the function of the car, but after investigation reinstated the Veyron as the record holder. The SSC Ultimate Aero was not sold with electronic driver aids such as an

anti-lock braking system An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a safety anti-skid braking system used on aircraft and on land vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing the wheels from locking up during braking, thereby maintaini ...

traction control system A traction control system (TCS), also known as ASR (from german: Antriebsschlupfregelung, lit=drive slippage regulation), is typically (but not necessarily) a secondary function of the electronic stability control (ESC) on production motor vehicle ...

, as according to Jerod Shelby (no relations to

Carroll Shelby Carroll Hall Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012) was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur. Shelby is best known for his involvement with the AC Cobra and Mustang for Ford Motor Company, which he modified duri ...

), "Early design philosophy on the car was to make it a driver's car. I wanted a car that you not only throttled with your right foot but at times you could steer with your right foot and a sensor."

History

SSC Aero SC/8T Number 1 (2004)

The first SSC Aero prototype was completed in 2004 and began road testing in anticipation of the SSC Ultimate Aero production vehicle. Specifications: * Engine -

Supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

LS1 LS1 may refer to: * Central Leeds postcode * GM LS engine "LS engine" is the colloquial name given to the third and fourth generation small-block V8 gasoline engine used in General Motors' vehicles. The name evolved from the need to differe ...

-based V8 * Power - @ 6,600 rpm * Torque - @ 5,800 rpm * Redline - 7200 rpm * Top speed - (claimed) * Dry weight -

SSC Ultimate Aero SC/8T Number 2 (2005)

Wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

testing indicated that the Ultimate Aero could theoretically reach a top speed of 275 mph (442 km/h, 123 m/s) given appropriate transmission gear ratios, although the supplied transmission would result in 268 mph (432 km/h, 120 m/s) at the car's

redline Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine. The redline of an en ...

. The base Aero, however, had a theoretical top speed of about 234 mph. The Ultimate Aero accelerates from 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.78 seconds, slower than the

Bugatti Veyron The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver Pie ...

which achieves 0–100 km/h in 2.46 seconds, partially due to its AWD drivetrain. Specifications: * Engine -

6,300 cc Chevrolet Corvette C5-R V8 * Power - 590 kW (791 hp) @ 6600 rpm * Torque - 1,000 N⋅m (737 lb-ft) @ 5800 rpm * Redline - 7200 rpm * Max Speed - 234 mph (378 km/h, 105 m/s) * Dry weight - 1,300 kg

2006

Styling of the Aero includes the use of

butterfly doors Butterfly doors are a type of car door sometimes seen on high-performance cars. They are slightly different from scissor doors. While scissor doors move straight up via hinge points at the bottom of a car's A-pillar, butterfly doors move up and ...

similar to those found on the McLaren F1 and Ferrari Enzo. Carbon fibre and titanium are used throughout the car, helping to limit the weight to 1,300 kg for the standard Aero. The SSC Ultimate Aero was the final version of the prototype, introduced in 2006. It had an increased engine displacement of 6,300 cc and increased boost to 100 kPa. Specifications: *Engine: supercharged 6,300 cc

Chevrolet Corvette C5R The Chevrolet Corvette C5-R is a grand touring racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing. The car is based on the C5 generation of the Chevrolet Corvette sports car, yet is designed purely for motorsp ...

V8 *Power: 780 kW (1045 hp) @ 6950 rpm *Torque: 1,100 N⋅m (811 lb-ft) @ 6200 rpm *Redline: 7200 rpm *Top speed: 400 km/h (248 mph) *Dry weight: 1,200 kg

2007–2008

The Ultimate Aero TT was a twin-turbocharged version of the Ultimate Aero. The 6-speed transmission was readjusted to increase the theoretical top speed to 440 km/h (273 mph) at 7200 rpm. Wheels on the base model are sized 460 mm at the front and 480 mm at the rear, while the Ultimate Aero TT has wheels an inch larger at each end. The 2007 models are heavier, with the base model weighing 1,300 kg, and Ultimate version 1,250 kg. Unlike the previous year, base models have a navigation system, 10-speaker audio/CD/DVD system, video/DVD screen, back-up camera, air-conditioning, and trunk space as standard equipment. These come optional on the Ultimate. The first production 2007 Ultimate Aero TT car was sold on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

for US$431,100. Later cars are expected to cost US$285,000. Only 24 Ultimate Aero TTs were produced from 2006 to 2007. The Ultimate Aero TT made its international debut on the International Show Circuit in November 2006. The Ultimate Aero TT claimed the

for the

fastest production car This is a list of the world's record-breaking top speeds achieved by street-legal production cars (as opposed to concept cars or modified cars). For the purposes of this list eligible cars are defined in the list's rules. This list uses a diff ...

, after it was officially timed at 410 km/h (254 mph) in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. For 2008, the Ultimate Aero received four updates: *New twin-turbocharged V8 *New aluminium engine block *Standard HRE monoblock wheels * Azentek Atlas computer infotainment system Specifications: * Engine -

twin-turbo Twin-turbo (not to be confused with a twincharger setup, which is a combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger) refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case ...

charged 6,300 cc bored-out LS6 *Power - 880 kW (1180 hp) @ 6950 rpm *Torque - 1,500 Nm (1106 ft-lb) @ 6150 rpm *Redline - 7200 rpm *Top speed - 410 km/h (254 mph) *Dry weight - 1,250 kg

SSC Ultimate Aero TT

In 2009, SSC updated the Ultimate Aero TT, with the new version having an increase in power of 15% over the older model. SSC predicts a top speed of over 430 km/h (267 mph) is possible. In order to prevent the engine from overheating, airflow to the engine has been increased 20% with new carbon fibre louvres. The nose has been redesigned to make the car more aerodynamic, and the interior has been redesigned. The new Aero also has a new AeroBrake system, which is a

spoiler Spoiler is a security vulnerability on modern computer central processing units that use speculative execution. It exploits side-effects of speculative execution to improve the efficiency of Rowhammer and other related memory and cache attacks. Ac ...

which rises up to 200 mm when the brake is pressed. This updated model reached a top speed of 415 km/h (258 mph) in a test, according to SSC. Specifications: *Engine: twin-turbocharged 6,300 cc SSC V8 *Power: 960 kW (1287 hp) @ 6100 rpm *Torque: @ 6100 rpm *Redline: 7200 rpm *Top speed: 415 km/h (257 mph) *Dry weight: 1,250 kg *A 2009 SSC Ultimate Aero, albeit with the new prototype SSC Tuatara gearbox fitted, was able to complete six runs of 0–300 km/h (186 mph) from 15.1 to 15.8 seconds, according to SSC's gear ratio testing results.

SSC Ultimate Aero EV

In 2009, SSC announced that they would be commencing production of the Ultimate Aero EV, an electrically powered version of the Ultimate Aero. This car featured twin

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

s, claimed to be capable of producing 750 kW (1005 hp) and 1,085 N⋅m (800 ft-lb) of torque through a three-speed

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...

. SSC claimed that the car would be able to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.5 seconds, and reach a top speed of 335 km/h (208 mph). However, the car never entered production.

2013

In 2013, SSC introduced the Ultimate Aero XT, which was a special version of the Ultimate Aero that was built to celebrate the end of its production. Five XTs were planned, but only one was built. They utilised some components that were designed for its

Tuatara Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language and m ...

replacement; for example, the Ultimate Aero XT was fitted with SSC's new 6.9-litre all-aluminium twin-turbocharged V8 engine and a seven-speed paddle-shifted gearbox. Specifications *Engine: twin-turbocharged 6,900 cc SSC V8 *Power: 970 kW (1300 hp) @ 6800 rpm *Torque: 1,360 N⋅m (1000 ft-lb) @ 6800 rpm *Redline: 9100 rpm *Top speed (theoretical) - 268 mph (432 km/h, 120 m/s) *Top speed (actual): 257 mph (414 km/h, 115 m/s) *Drag coefficient: 0.357''c''_d *Dry weight: 1,270 kg *Kerb weight: 1,300 kg

Speed record

Simulation and testing at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

's Langley Research Centre had shown the Ultimate Aero TT theoretically capable of attaining approximately 440 km/h, sufficient to surpass the production car record-holding

's 408 km/h. A 20 km stretch of Route 93 was closed on March 21, 2007, to allow SSC to test the Ultimate Aero TT, but the attempt was called off due to bad weather, and an effort the following day failed due to sub-optimal conditions, with test driver Rick Doria reporting

wheelspin A wheelspin occurs when the force delivered to the tire tread exceeds that of available tread-to-surface friction and one or more tires lose traction.This leads the wheels to "spin" and causes the driver to lose control over the tires that no lo ...

at speeds above 300 km/h. Six months later SSC announced they had established a new

of in

West Richland, Washington West Richland is a city in Benton County, Washington. The population was 16,295 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is part of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, whose principal cities (the Tri-Cities) are Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco. ...

on September 13, 2007. In accordance with

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

Speed Records rules it was an average of two runs in opposite directions, and . The results were verified by the ''Guinness World Records'' on October 9, 2007. SSC is currently one of only twenty-six car manufacturers in history to have held the record. SSC also applied to Guinness for the world record for the highest power for an emissions-legal production car. Its record was broken on July 4, 2010, by the

, which reached a certified top speed of .

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ssc Aero Sports cars Coupés Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 2004 2000s cars 2010s cars