Overhauling JCB\u2019s standard 74 hp (55 kW) engine into a dual-power hydrogen system required pushing total output to 1,600 hp (1,193 kW), or 800 hp (597 kW) per unit. Engineers doubled engine speed to 3,800 rpm, replaced traditional pushrod valves with double overhead camshafts for exact timing control, and installed high-pressure direct fuel injection. The architecture was converted to a dry-sump system, stripped of excess weight, and fitted with dual ice tanks that drop turbocharger intake air temperatures from 392\u00b0 F (200\u00b0 C) down to below 50\u00b0 F (10\u00b0 C).<\/p>\n
Managing those sub-50\u00b0 F intake charges behind the wheel was RAF Wing Commander Andy Green. Green previously piloted Thrust SSC past the sound barrier in 1997 and drove the diesel-fueled JCB Dieselmax to 350 mph (563 km\/h) in 2006, prior to his appointment for the Bloodhound project.<\/p>\n
Green channeled 1,600 hp (1,193 kW) and 2,600 lb-ft (3,525 Nm) of torque through an all-wheel-drive system yesterday, laying down a first pass of 400.623 mph (644.74 km\/h). The immediate return run hit 412.135 mph (663.27 km\/h), locking in an officially calculated two-way average speed of 406.320 mph (653.91 km\/h).<\/p>\n
Official land speed sanctioning bodies mandate that vehicles complete two opposing runs across a measured mile within 60 minutes to eliminate atmospheric wind advantages and micro-elevation changes on the salt.<\/p>\n
That 60-minute performance window placed the Hydromax far ahead of the 185.5 mph (298.53 km\/h) hydrogen combustion record set by the BMW H2R in 2004. It surpassed the 303 mph (488 km\/h) hydrogen fuel cell record held by Venturi Buckeye Bullet 2 since 2009, as well as the 341 mph (549 km\/h) electric vehicle mark set by VBB3 in 2016, while trailing the absolute wheel-driven benchmark of 449 mph (722 km\/h) set by Challenger II\u2019s nitromethane V8s in 2018.<\/p>\n
Positioned against those historical salt flat figures, Green noted that \u201cBonneville is the spiritual home of the world land speed record, and JCB Hydromax has just written itself into that history.\u201d Green stated that \u201cthe car was terrific\u2014stable, strong, and fast,\u201d adding that \u201csetting a world land speed record with hydrogen power, twenty years after Dieselmax, is a huge privilege\u201d for a project reaching 412.135 mph on its fastest single leg.<\/p>\n