The World's Fastest Land Vehicle – Bloodhound SSC

Bloodhound SSC is a British supersonic land vehicle currently in development. Its goal is to match or exceed 1,609Km achieving a new world land speed record. The pencil-shaped car, powered by a jet engine and a rocket engine is designed to reach 1,690Km. With a 550hp Jaguar V8 acting as its fuel pump, Bloodhound's total power output is 135,000hp, more than 180 Formula One cars. Unsurprisingly, its appearance is pretty much as even the first renderings suggested, with much of the design dictated by the aerodynamic requirements of a vehicle capable of traveling at excessive speeds and also the need to package both the Rolls-Royce yet engine that acts as a prime mover and the Nammo rockets that should propel it to record speeds.



The project is based in the former Maritime Heritage Centre on the Bristol harbourside, located next to Brunel's SS Great Britain. In 2013 the project outgrew its home and since then has been located on an industrial estate. There are 12 cameras built in to the vehicle, including two inside the cockpit. A college of engineering has been heavily involved in the aerodynamic shape of the vehicle from the start. The team om budding engineers and their professor have used Computational Fluid Dynamics to provide an understanding of the aerodynamic characteristics of the proposed shape, at all speeds, including predicting the likely vertical, lateral and drag forces on the vehicle and its pitch and yaw stability. This technology, originally developed for the aerospace industry, was validated for a land-going vehicle during the design of Thrust SSC. It was this involvement with the previous land speed record that prompted Richard Noble to approach a college for their help with this challenge.



A prototype Eurojet EJ200 jet engine developed for the Eurofighter and bound for a museum, was donated to the project. This will take the car to 480Km, after which a bespoke hybrid rocket designed by Nammo will boost the car up to 1,609Km. A third engine, a Jaguar supercharged V8, will be used as an auxiliary power unit and to drive the oxidizer pump for the rocket. Development testing of the initial Bloodhound SSC hybrid rocket motor was conducted. The Nammo hybrid rocket will be fueled by liquid high-test peroxide and solid hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene. The interior which has just a solo seat and a cluster of buttons, with each performing an action, display screens feed the driver with all the technical aspects while driving.



The final test of this machine is scheduled sometime in 2016 and the location will be South Africa, and the area will be cleared, and safety measures will be taken. 40 million pounds has been the cost of building this machine till date and officials state, that there will be a need for more sponsors, as some more work is to be completed.