Bloodhound: world's most powerful car

It is hoped the UK-built Bloodhound car will shatter the world land speed record, which currently stands at 1227km/h, when tested at full speed.

LONDON: Sept 24 PA - The world's most powerful racing car will be unveiled publicly for the first time.

The 1000mph (1609.3km/h) Bloodhound will go on display at Canary Wharf in London and 8000 people are expected to see the supersonic racer.

It is hoped that the STG10 million ($A21.78 million) UK-built car will shatter the world land speed record, which currently stands at 763mph (1227km/h), when it is tested at full speed.

The Bloodhound will undergo 200mph (322km/h) trials next year at Newquay Aerohub in Cornwall before embarking on a series of high-speed runs in a desert venue in South Africa. At full speed the car will cover a mile (1.6km) in just 3.6 seconds.

Andy Green is the current record holder having achieved the feat in Thrust SSC at Black Rock Desert in Nevada in 1997.

Now aged 52, Green will be driving the Bloodhound whose project director is Richard Noble, who was also project director for Thrust SSC and who was the driver of Thrust 2 which broke the land speed record in 1983.

The supersonic car, which has been assembled at Avonmouth, near Bristol, is the result of eight years of research, design and manufacturing involving more than 350 companies and universities.

It has three power plants - a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet from a Eurofighter Typhoon, a cluster of Nammo hybrid rockets and a Jaguar V8 engine that drives the rocket oxidiser pump.

Between them they generate 135,000 thrust horsepower, equivalent to 180 F1 cars. The pencil-shaped car will be 13.4m long, 183cm in diameter and weigh 7.5 tonnes.


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Source: AAP



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