After eight years of development, the British Steam Car Team are now just months away from attempting to break the world speed record for a steam-powered car – a record that has stood since 1906. The speed to beat is 127.659mph (205km/h) and organizers are comfortable of reaching a new top speed of 200mph (322km/h).
The team rolled out the car for the first time last week, completing several low-speed runs before attempting one high-speed attempt. Organizers now hope to make their first record attempt early next year and are in talks with officials at Edwards Air Force Base in California to use a local dry lake bed. Of given the go-ahead, the Southern California Timing Association will be on hand to marshal the event.
The layout of the steam car shares many characteristics with regular production vehicles. It’s a rear wheel powered, rear engine vehicle that has a traditional rack and pinion front wheel steering system. The braking system consists of four wheel discs (parachute assisted) and there is double wishbone independent suspension at all four corners.
Power comes from a two stage steam turbine fed by a boiler running on LPG and developing a peal of 360hp (268kW). The 13in diameter turbine drives an epicyclical gear train with a 4:1 ratio for a wheel speed of 3,000rpm at 200mph. The boiler section is in the center of the car directly behind the single seat cockpit. For space reasons, there are actually four separate boilers each capable of being run independently.
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