Weighing a 1000mph Super Car with Bloodhound
Weightron Admin|4 November, 2015
Specialist weighing equipment supplied by Weightron Bilanciai is playing a small, yet vital role in the exciting BLOODHOUND SSC land speed record project. Product sponsors Weightron have supplied four ultra-low profile wheel weighing scales and instrumentation, which is being used to weigh the assembled BLOODHOUND car for the first time.
Knowing the accurate weight of the car, together with the weight distribution from ‘front to back’ and ‘side to side’, is a crucial part of the project. Up till now the Bloodhound engineers have only been working with a calculated weight derived from a combination of individual component weights and calculated figures as the car has been assembled.
The first weighing took place at Bloodhound’s Bristol headquarters prior to the public debut of the car at Canary Wharf in London at the end of September. This is the first time the car has been assembled on its low speed wheels in preparation for the first jet powered run at Newquay, Cornwall in 2016.
Bloodhound R&D engineer Lee Giles is very pleased with the initial weighing process: “The results from the live weighing were exactly in line with our calculated values. The difference between the two figures was only 50 kg which, given the thousands of components that make up the car, is very encouraging. The low profile weigh pads are very easy to use and the ramps make it simple to push the car onto them even though the weight is currently around 6000 kg. Further weighing will take place as the project progresses. When complete, the fully fuelled car will weigh almost 8 tonnes.”
Footnote: The BLOODHOUND Project is a global Engineering Adventure, using a 1000mph world land speed record attempt to inspire the next generation to enjoy, explore and get involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Designed and constructed in the UK, BLOODHOUND SSC includes components and sponsorship from international companies and will make its record attempt in South Africa. The car is powered by a unique combination of a Eurofighter jet engine and rocket motor giving a combined power output of approximately 135,000 HP.
