Land speed record

The land speed record is the fastest speed achieved by any wheeled vehicle on land, as opposed to one on water or in the air or on rails. It is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs in opposite directions. The current absolute (or unlimited) record holder is ThrustSSC, a twin turbofan jet-powered car which has achieved 763 mph (slightly under 1228 km/h) over one mile (1.6 km), breaking the sound barrier. There are also records for specific classes of vehicle, such as motorcycles (convert|350.884|mph|km/h|2|abbr=on|disp=s, currently held by Chris Carr), and steam-driven vehicles (Fred Marriott, convert|127.659|mph|km/h|2|abbr=on|disp=s), but this list only includes the absolute speed records for wheeled vehicles on ground, without rails. Early records predate standardisation and are sometimes controversial.

The ThrustSSC record was achieved by British RAF pilot Andy Green on 15 October 1997. It was set in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA. Thrust Super Sonic Car's two jet engines produced a combined total of 100 thousand pounds-force (440 kN) of thrust force. During its record-breaking run, Thrust SSC accelerated to convert|600|mph|km/h|abbr=on|-1 in just 16 seconds and became the first car to break the sound barrier.

1898 to 1947

ee also

* British Land Speed Record
* Fastest production car
* Land speed record for railed vehicles
* Motorcycle land speed record
* Pioneer 2M - Soviet Union attempt at the land speed record in early 1960s
* Budweiser Rocket - Made a disputed convert|746|mph|abbr=on run in 1979
* North American Eagle - Project aimed at breaking current record

References

Citations

External links

* [http://www.chriscarr.com/2006/news/060911_bonneville1.html Chris Carr]
* [http://stephenbrooks.org/hidden/landspeed.pngA graph of these successive records.]
* [http://www.peterrenn.clara.net/l.s.r.html www.peterrenn.clara.net]
* [http://dmoz.org/Sports/Motorsports/Auto_Racing/Speed_Records/ Autoracing speed records]
* [http://phyvax.ir.miami.edu:8001/curtright/lsr_history.html Landspeed record history]
* [http://www.bluebird-electric.net/bluebird_site_navigator.htm Index to comprehensive site of land air and water speed record projects from 1901 to 2005]
* [http://www.britishtours.com/360/beaulieu.html Henry Segrave's Sunbeam, Quicktime Virtual Reality image]
* [http://www.touchwoodmodels.com/ Speed Record Models]