Land-speed car begins testing, beats 500mph with just one engine

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  It’s a little late, but Bloodhound LSR has finally begun testing in earnest at the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. [credit: Charlie Sperring for Bloodhound LSR ]

Early Wednesday morning, on a specially prepared course laid out across miles of desert in a remote corner of South Africa, a car that looks more like a wingless jet fighter broke the 500mph (805km) barrier for the first time. The Bloodhound LSR, the car in question, has actually been designed to go more than twice that speed, but not until next year.

You don’t just build a car, prep a course, and try for 1,000mph on your first go; it requires a methodical test program to work up to speed. That test program is now properly underway, and we spoke with Bloodhound’s driver, RAF Wing Commander Andy Green, to find out how it’s going now that he’s finally able to start giving the car a proper workout.

Even getting out to the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa has been a challenge; originally, the plan had been to start testing the car in 2015. But design changes and funding constraints meant that the Bloodhound didn’t run under its own power until 2017, and then only at speeds up to 210mph on a runway in Newquay, England. Less than 12 months ago, it looked like the decade-long project was completely done. Then in March Bloodhound was bought by Ian Warhurst, and in July we learned that the sleek machine, now painted white, was finally headed to the Southern Hemisphere.