Bloodhound Land Speed Record Car Blasts to 334 MPH in 13 Seconds
The record is a new personal best for the team, but it’s only a fraction of the car’s 1,000 MPH goal.
The team behind the notorious Bloodhound Land Speed Record (LSR) car is celebrating after its creation achieved its all-time fastest speed of 334 miles per hour.
On Monday, the Bloodhound car made its way to the crusty earth of the Hakskeenpan desert in South Africa where the team would prepare its latest test run over the 12.4-mile-long track that was carefully readied by 317 local residents.
As it set off, the car ran through a series of tests that the team calls "profiles." During the first profile, a basic functionality test is performed to ensure proper steering and braking is occurring below 100 MPH. Next, the car sprints up to 200 MPH using dry power—that is, without using the extra thrust produced by reheat (aka afterburner) on the car's Eurojet EJ200 jet engine—and coasts down to establish rolling resistance.
Once both initial profiles are successfully completed, the car begins its ascent to full speed, digging shallow 2-inch grooves into the surface of the desert as it accelerates from 50 MPH to 300 MPH in just 13 seconds.
Bloodhound LSR CEO Ian Warhurst described the car's sprint as "jaw-dropping" and noted that it was an example of "British engineering at its finest."
“We’ve had two very successful runs today, with the second run reaching a max speed of 334 mph—going from 50 mph to 300 mph in 13 seconds," said Bloodhound driver Andy Green.
"There was strong crosswind gusting at over 15 mph and we’ve established that this is pretty much the limit for running in the car. We’re happy because this was a successful test, now we’re ready to progress on to higher speeds.”
After the Bloodhound LSR project was saved from near-insolvency last year, it continues to be forward-looking toward its future goals. In fact, this week's momentous achievement is just the start. Over the coming weeks, the team will work diligently to improve the car's top speed and is setting its sights on an impressive 500 MPH. And while that might be a personal record, it isn't a world record.
But don't worry—the Bloodhound team is targeting that as well. After 500 MPH, the team aims to also break the current land speed record of 763.035 MPH which was set by Richard Noble's Thrust Supersonic Car with Green in the driver's seat. Eventually, they also plan to blow past the speed of sound and become the first record-holding team to crest the 1,000 MPH barrier.
Godspeed, Andy Green.
