Bugatti makes a road-going version of the W16-engined hypercar that became the first to hit 300mph
It’s only six minutes and four miles between Bugatti’s factory in Molsheim, eastern France, and a sports centre car park in the nearby village of Bischoffsheim.But between the two places, Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace has already demonstrated how the firm’s latest hypercar, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, can generate more than 900bhp at no more than 4000rpm and navigate the biggest, harshest speed bump in Christendom without cracking its underbody.As we pull up near – but not too near – a driving-school hatchback whose bemused instructor and student are practicing parking, it’s a deft example of this car’s abilities.We’re testing this Chiron on the road “because it is a road car”, says Wallace. It also just so happens to be one with 1587bhp (1600 metric horses) and a speed limiter that doesn’t kick in until 273mph (440kph). The Super Sport is a slightly more habitable version of the limited-run Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, which replicated a prototype car Wallace took to 300mph. It’s mechanically identical but has an interior more like a regular Chiron, so more leather and comfort.There are still ludicrous numbers, though. It will do 0-62mph in 2.4sec and 0-124mph in 5.8sec. Given the advent of silly-fast electric cars, that isn’t so spectacular in isolation. But it will also go from 0-186mph in 12.1sec and 0-249mph in 28.6sec. It could maintain its near-300mph top speed until its fuel tank emptied in about eight minutes at full whack if there were a road or track long enough to try it.(Incidentally, this continuous top-speed running isn’t so easy in electric hypercars at the moment, because of the heat generated by power transfer. Given that Bugatti’s majority shareholder is now EV specialist Rimac, you can imagine that these engineering challenges are on its to-do list.)
Source: Autocar
