SSC Tuatara


The SSC Tuatara is a sports car designed, developed and manufactured by American automobile manufacturer SSC North America. The car is the successor to the SSC Aero and is the result of a design collaboration between Jason Castriota and SSC. Initially it was to be powered by a 6.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine but eventually the capacity of the engine was reduced to 5.9-liters in order to allow the engine to have a higher redline of 8,800 rpm. SSC has stated that the power output would be at or on E85 fuel, along with the top speed goal of.

Overview

SSC began working on the development of the successor of the SSC Ultimate Aero in 2011. The new car named the Tuatara was previewed in concept form at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. In August 2018, 7 years after the debut of the concept, the production version of the Tuatara was shown to the general public. Designed by ex-Pininfarina designer Jason Castriota, the car takes inspiration from the aerospace industry.
The Tuatara is named after the reptile, found only in New Zealand, known for having the fastest molecular evolution of any living animal.
SSC claims the Tuatara has the lowest drag coefficient in its class at 0.279. The car has a carbon-fiber body construction with aluminum crumple zones and incorporates active aerodynamics.
The interior contains leather and Alcantara upholstery and the functions of the car are controlled through a touch screen located on the center console. There is a configurable instrument panel behind the steering wheel displaying important information about the car's status along with a 300 mph speedometer. The car uses a camera system instead of traditional side-view mirrors. SSC claims that the interior can seat a 6-foot 5-inch tall person wearing a helmet.
The Tuatara will be produced at a purpose-built facility in West Richland, Washington and production will be limited to 100 cars.
SSC has partnered with Nelson Racing Engines to build the engine, Linder Power Systems for engine sub-assembly fabrication and Automac for the production of the 7-speed automated manual transmission. The transmission was later revealed to be a 7-speed automated manual manufactured by CIMA. The car has the following driving modes; "Sport", "Track" and "Lift". in sport mode, the ride height is 4 in at the front and 4.5 in at the rear. In track mode, the ride height lowers to 2.75 in at the front and 3.75 in at the rear. The lift mode is designed to protect the underbody of the car while driving over speed bumps or driveways.
The Tuatara is offered with two configurations, a "high-speed" configuration, and a "high-downforce" configuration. The first customer car was delivered during the Monterey Car Week and was unveiled at the Philadelphia Motor Show on 7 February 2020.

Specifications and general data

Engine