Riding Shotgun In The 1500bhp Bugatti Chiron

- in Cars

The new Bugatti Chiron makes almost 300bhp more than its Veyron Super Sport predecessor. The top speed is limited to 261mph for “road use”, but the firm states this is “by no means the end of the road” for the Chiron. The speedo runs up to 310mph (500km/h).

Bugatti Test Driver Loris Bicocchi takes journalist Jethro Bovingdon for a passenger ride in the new Bugatti Chiron – and we remind ourselves how its predecessor re-wrote the hypercar rule book with one final drive in the 1200bhp Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse.

A secret to making 1,479 hp and 1,180 lb-ft (1600Nm) of torque is in the sequential pairing of the four turbos. Two operate at low speeds and larger ones are engaged at higher RPM. To cope with the increased performance, the carbon fiber body was reinforced. It takes a team of 20 people six months to assemble.
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A titanium exhaust also features, as do six enormous catalytic converters. The manufacturer also claims the Chiron uses the highest-performance clutch ever fitted to a passenger car. Carbon-silicon carbide brakes with eight pistons rein all that power in, as does the air-brake that protrudes from the rear haunches.

A seven-speed automatic routes that power through all four wheels. The AWD system was tuned with more emphasis on the rear axles. While it is constantly vectoring torque for great cornering, the front is limited to 30% of maximum power. Drift mode enabled!