The Bloodhound LSR is basically a land vehicle built specifically to travel at supersonic speeds, or in other words, to match or exceed 1,000 miles per hour (1,609 km/h). This pencil-shaped car is powered by a jet engine and a rocket engine and the ultimate goal is to reach 1,050 miles per hour, but in its latest test, the vehicle managed to hit 334mph in under 20-seconds. Read more for the video and additional information.
The vehicle is currently being tested at Hakskeenpan, a salt flat in the Kalahari Desert, and these speed trials are designed to test the on-board equipment to how the chassis responds under various conditions and speeds, while ensuring the primary engine performs properly, since the EJ200 afterburning turbofan is sourced from an actual Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet. To reach these speeds safely, it comes equipped with four 36-inch wheels that rotate at up to 10,200 rpm and are forged from an aluminum zinc alloy to resist the 50000 g centrifugal forces.
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. 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,” said Andy Green, driver of the Bloodhound LSR and current land speed record holder.
