Worlds Fastest Kettle

The worlds landspeed record for a steam powered vehicle was broken yesterday,in a Californian Air Force Base, by a British team, called the British Steam Car Challenge. It was broken with an average speed of 139.84 mph beating the original speed of 127.7 mph. It did reach a maximum of 151.085 mph, but only the average speed of two runs in different directions is used. The first run reached a top speed of 136.103 mph and the faster second run allowed for the record beating average.

The original record was set in 1906 at Daytona Beach in a Stanley Steamer, but with the steam engined vehicles soon out of date compared to there combustion engined counterparts all has been quiet on the steam powered world record front. That was until ten years ago when Frank Swanston (who sadly passed away before the project was complete) set up a team to beat said record and bring the steam engine into the 21st century.  The driver of the car, Charles Burnett lll, is no stranger to going fast having competed in drag car and drag boat racing as well as landing himself in the Guinness Book Of Records in 1999 for breaking the offshore water speed record of 137 mph. He is a big supporter of environmentally friendly vehicles and hopes this record will raise awareness of alternative methods of travelling and help with the fight against global warming.

The car is relatively simple, for a record breaking vehicle, with a two stage turbine engine that has a 13,000rpm red line, which is fuelled by LPG. This allows the 12 boilers to produce the same power as 1500 kettles. enough for 23 cups of tea per second! (23ctps? sounds like how you measure the speed in which old people work!) Working at 400°C and 40 bar of pressure, 360 hp is made at the rear wheels, Although with 7.7 metres and 3 tons to move this isn’t as much as it sounds. The car was never created to be revolutionary it was more of a demonstration to young British engineers about clean fuels and environmentally-friendly technologies.

It doesnt look very good as a showpiece against climate change and global warming, but rest assured that the smoke is actually steam flowing out at 40 litres per minute. With 1 ton of water needed to drive it for 25 minutes and a 2.5 mile build up and run off needed to get the car to speed dont expect to see them in the local Toyota dealership next to the prius‘ any time soon.