The Bloodhound SSC supersonic car will make its first high-speed run this year after new funding has put the project back on track. The 13.5-metre-long vehicle will first run as part of a 322kph test session in Newquay, before heading to the South African desert with the aim of breaking the current land speed record of 1,228kph. That run, which aims to take the Bloodhound to 1,289kph, will also be used to gather data for the car’s headline-grabbing 1,609kph record attempt in 2018.
Driving Bloodhound SSC will be Andy Green, who already holds the current land speed record – having achieved 1,228kph in Thrust SSC in 1997. Bloodhound project director Richard Noble – himself a land speed record holder – says both car and driver have been developed together. “Andy is the only person who’s been supersonic in a car," said Noble. "It is highly spectacular, of course. It’s all about human endeavour and human progress.”
The first test of both car and driver will come around Easter, when Andy Green will pilot Bloodhound to 321.8kph at the Newquay Aerohub. “The first test is very important,” stated Nobel. “We’re getting to know our car and we’re getting to know how the team will work and maintain the car. It’s important that we get that work done at Newquay before we head to South Africa.
“There’s an enormous amount of research which has gone into this; it’s about 160 man years' worth. It’s a huge undertaking. You’re developing the car and the driver together."
In all, the Bloodhound team will spend around three months in the South African desert (most likely sometime later this year), collecting data on the car’s performance and culminating in its first record-breaking run to 1,289kph. At that point, the car and the team plan to return to the UK to analyse the data and prepare for the 1,609kph run.
Power for the Bloodhound comes from three sources – with the primary engine being the same Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine that powers the Eurofighter Typhoon. The jet engine will only allow Bloodhound to reach around 1,046kph, however, at which point the car’s hybrid rocket will be activated, propelling the car to its first target of 1,288kph.
Feeding the hybrid rocket with propellant will be Jaguar’s supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine – the same unit that appears in the F-Type sports car. It’s rated for 558hp and can pump up to 40 litres of propellant per second; officials say the unit could fill a standard bath tub with propellant in three seconds.
Combined, Bloodhound’s engines have 1,37,998hp – the same as 111 Bugatti Veyron Super Sports. The record-breaking 0-1,000mph run is expected to take just 55 seconds, with the full run – including deceleration – taking just over two minutes.