The SSC Tuatara is one of the most controversial cars around. This sleek speedster has been claiming a lot of things of late, including a 300-mph record-breaking speed run, but later admitted that it had failed to reach that top speed. In January last year it ran 282.9 mph, breaking the record held by the Koenigsegg Agera RS, and last month it reached a new top speed of 295 mph, just short of its 300-mph goal. Reaching those kinds of speeds not only requires a slippery design, but also a ton of power, and in this video released by the manufacturer, we get to see exactly how much power this land rocket actually makes.

The SSC Tuatara is powered by an insane twin-turbocharged 5.9-liter flat-plane-crank V8 gas engine that produces around 1,350 horsepower on pump gas, and an astronomical 1,750 hp on E85. That's 173 hp more than the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ offers from its 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W16 engine. We know that manufacturers like to underquote power figures, but in this clip posted by SSC North America, we get to see how much power the Tuatara's engine actually makes, and it's astonishing.

The engine can be seen being dyno tested at Nelson Racing Engines, the company responsible for building engines for SSC. As the revs climb, the power levels can be seen skyrocketing, eventually peaking at an amazing 1,890 hp, or therabouts. That's 140 hp more than the company quoted. To be fair, engine dyno figures are always going to be more than wheel figures due to drivetrain loss. Still, that is the combined power output of nearly 16 Toyota Prius Hybrids. With most of the other big contenders pulling out of the top-speed battle, and with the SSC Tuatara setting new speed and power records, it shouldn't be long before this hypercar sets the bar too high to chase in a fiscally responsible way.