SSC Tuatara Top Speed run apparently faked?

SSC Tuatara Top Speed run apparently faked?

Author
Discussion

ch37

10,642 posts

222 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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Wouldn't normally sit through a 20 minute YouTube video of a conspiracy theory but that was well done (Shmee's video), no sensationalism, just some fairly compelling stuff that at the very least deserves an explanation.

Do we know if they've actually submitted it to Guinness for verification?

anonymous-user

55 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s analysis.

fatbutt

2,660 posts

265 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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When you consider that the car has barely changed since the (3rd party designed) concept car of 2011, its not something I'd want to do mad speeds in.

https://cartype.com/pages/5510/ssc_next_generation...



As great as 'designers' are they are not generally the engineers who turn the dream into reality. I'd question why there hasn't been any nips, tucks, wings, etc. to the mock-up in the 9 years leading up until now. Has this ever seen a wind tunnel? Does anyone think those, admittedly cool looking, 'wings' on the back actually assist? I'm not surprised the test driver was scared sh*tless by cross winds!

-Z-

Original Poster:

6,036 posts

207 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Speed_Demon said:
Pre-emptive congratulations on your millions laugh
Maybe I'll be able to buy a heavily depreciated Tuatara? hehe

ch37

10,642 posts

222 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
mstrbkr said:
It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s analysis.
Yep that was the point I was getting at, just poorly worded. The video is a refreshingly straightforward look at the video with some well explained 'evidence' to back it up. It doesn't draw any sensationalist conclusions, it just wonders what the explanation could be.

harrylee1

20 posts

43 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Kudos to a couple of members of the Koenigsegg Registry for doing the maths and calling out the run in the first place. And kudos to Shmee150 for bringing together all the evidence and making a good video on it.

Too many people blindly believe what they're shown on social media nowadays. SSC raises suspicion now because:
1) they were already blocking Instagram accounts speaking about this way before Shmee150 posted his video.
2) Driven Studios (the company that filmed the run) has also been copyright claiming YouTube videos speaking out about the run too.
3) it was a closed media event - no cameras were allowed there.
4) SSC chose not to have a third party like VBOX to verify the telemetry data.

Edited by harrylee1 on Tuesday 27th October 13:47

donteatpeople

831 posts

275 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
fatbutt said:
When you consider that the car has barely changed since the (3rd party designed) concept car of 2011, its not something I'd want to do mad speeds in.

https://cartype.com/pages/5510/ssc_next_generation...



As great as 'designers' are they are not generally the engineers who turn the dream into reality. I'd question why there hasn't been any nips, tucks, wings, etc. to the mock-up in the 9 years leading up until now. Has this ever seen a wind tunnel? Does anyone think those, admittedly cool looking, 'wings' on the back actually assist? I'm not surprised the test driver was scared sh*tless by cross winds!
That's not really accurate, there have been changes to the centre of the splitter and the shape of the roof:



And quite a few changes at the rear:



vs



They may have also done wind tunnel work on the concept before the reveal to get a good starting point. 330mph is/would be impressive for a road car but as far as the aero required the 350mph land speed record was broken in the 1930s, it's not unbelievable that they could get it pretty close to good enough with a concept model.

Wh00sher

1,592 posts

219 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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Another video to add to the list.

Robert and Misha with a more mathematical one. Coming to the same conclusion as the rest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSNRKBj_hUE

fatbutt

2,660 posts

265 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
donteatpeople said:
That's not really accurate, there have been changes to the centre of the splitter and the shape of the roof:
Ok, 'significant' nips, tucks, wings, etc. Yes, cars from days gone by can go quick too but modern fast cars such as the Bugatti are stable at speed which is where the difference is between nice body/ big engine and a thoroughly well engineered product. Have you read any road tests of the Hennessey Venom? Undriveable seems to be the consensus. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is a pig at low speeds too.

I read through their website earlier today. If they'd have done wind tunnel work they almost certainly would have mentioned it given the cost involved. It does mention that it was designed with aero in mind but that means nothing without empirical results. Is it just me or does their website read like it was written in another language then put through babelfish to convert it to English?

This all strikes me as a bit 'low rent'. I remember when his SSC car supposedly broke the product car record years ago and the verbal sparring he got into with those who doubted the claim. My guess is that this time the instrumentation was the problem and now they've backed themselves into an embarrassing corner by shouting from the hills how they've showed up the competition...

Hazmat1

233 posts

99 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Wh00sher said:
Another video to add to the list.

Robert and Misha with a more mathematical one. Coming to the same conclusion as the rest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSNRKBj_hUE
Given that shmee was sat upstairs at Apex filming his video I am utterly shocked that Robert and Misha came to similar conclusions...

Hazmat1

233 posts

99 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
mstrbkr said:
It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s analysis.
It’s not analysis without the actual GPS track

anonymous-user

55 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Hazmat1 said:
mstrbkr said:
It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s analysis.
It’s not analysis without the actual GPS track
Oh come on. Are we going to start arguing the definition of analysis now? It’s analysis of footage.

Kent Border Kenny

2,219 posts

61 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Hazmat1 said:
It’s not analysis without the actual GPS track
Of course it’s analysis. It analyses the video and extracts speed data in several ways.

Why would you say it isn’t?

Superleg48

1,524 posts

134 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Kent Border Kenny said:
Hazmat1 said:
It’s not analysis without the actual GPS track
Of course it’s analysis. It analyses the video and extracts speed data in several ways.

Why would you say it isn’t?
Pistonheads Pedantry. It is rife. wink

dukeboy749r

2,691 posts

211 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
notslopes said:
Well that's cobblers, the two cars are going in opposite directions, the Koenigsegg has hills in it's window aperture, the SSC doesn't and if you look at the road, the SSC is going downhill whereas the Koenigsegg is clearly going uphill.
If it is the same road, which you seem to agree it is, then how come the barrier is on the same side?

donteatpeople

831 posts

275 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
fatbutt said:
Ok, 'significant' nips, tucks, wings, etc. Yes, cars from days gone by can go quick too but modern fast cars such as the Bugatti are stable at speed which is where the difference is between nice body/ big engine and a thoroughly well engineered product. Have you read any road tests of the Hennessey Venom? Undriveable seems to be the consensus. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is a pig at low speeds too.

I read through their website earlier today. If they'd have done wind tunnel work they almost certainly would have mentioned it given the cost involved. It does mention that it was designed with aero in mind but that means nothing without empirical results. Is it just me or does their website read like it was written in another language then put through babelfish to convert it to English?

This all strikes me as a bit 'low rent'. I remember when his SSC car supposedly broke the product car record years ago and the verbal sparring he got into with those who doubted the claim. My guess is that this time the instrumentation was the problem and now they've backed themselves into an embarrassing corner by shouting from the hills how they've showed up the competition...
It's definitely not been done on a Bugatti sized budget and I doubt that it'll be as refined to drive or have the same finish. That doesn't mean there's not a place in the world for this type of car though. It looks like this video is a proper c'k up for them but I'll happily wait for someone to drive the car before declaring it's rubbish to drive.

Interestingly I've seen plenty of forum comments saying how bad the Hennessey Venom is to drive but all the road tests I've seen have been really quite positive. Evo have a video of a road test and were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to drive at lower speeds and complemented the car on how well sorted it felt.

DaveCWK

1,998 posts

175 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Any formal explanation yet? On the evidence/analysis presented so far there's only one conclusion - that they are lying about the speed achieved.

Hazmat1

233 posts

99 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Superleg48 said:
Kent Border Kenny said:
Hazmat1 said:
It’s not analysis without the actual GPS track
Of course it’s analysis. It analyses the video and extracts speed data in several ways.

Why would you say it isn’t?
Pistonheads Pedantry. It is rife. wink
I guess its why the FIA use GPS trace to analyze cars performance rather than just going by the tv feed. I mean they could happily look at the video to see if the driver had lifted under yellows but maybe the GPS trace is a bit more exact.

and yeah with speed records pedantry does matter.. hence shmee being in a huff

anonymous-user

55 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
But you didn’t say that. You said it’s not analysis unless it’s GPS!

sdiggle

182 posts

91 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Analysis > detailed examination of the elements or structure of something.

No mention of GPS....