F-Type Coupe

Make
Jaguar
Segment
Coupe

The Bloodhound LSR jet car project is going from strength to strength right now. After the project was rescued last year by entrepreneur Ian Warhurst, the Bloodhound LSR is currently performing high-speed test runs at the Hakskeenpan desert race track to prepare the car for a land speed record attempt.

A few days ago, the Bloodhound LSR achieved 334 mph in a speed run. As we saw in an on-board video with driver Any Wallace behind the wheel, 50 to 300 mph took just 13 seconds, while 0-334 mph took less than 20 seconds. Prior to this, the fastest speed the Bloodhound LSR had achieved was 200 mph during a test run at a runway in Newquay, England, in 2017. However, in just a few days, the Bloodhound LSR has already beaten its own speed record.

In each run, Bloodhound has been gradually increasing the speed in 50 mph increments, with the goal to hit over 500 mph in the initial tests. After achieving 334 mph, the Bloodhound LSR reached 380 mph in a subsequent test. As shown in a video released by Bloodhound, this also marked the first time the jet car's parachute was tested, which deployed at 340 mph to slow the car down at high speed. It took just 27 seconds to reach 0-380 mph.

"The video footage shows a clean release of the 'chute behind the car, just one second after I pulled the release leaver," said Andy Green. "The engineering team and I are delighted all the hard work designing the deployment system paid off first time"

After this, the Bloodhound LSR then recorded a speed of 461 mph – the fastest the jet car has achieved yet as the team gets closer to breaking the current land speed record. A second run was planned but had to be aborted due to high winds and minor body damage.

These tests will provide crucial data to help Bloodhound prepare the car for its record attempt in 12-18 months when it will try to beat the current 763.035-mph land speed record set by Andy Green in 1997. If this is successful, the plan is to attempt to break the 1,000 mph barrier.