The new Bugatti Chiron, the successor to the original Veyron, was revealed the Geneva motor show this week.
It has a colossal 1479bhp, can reach 62mph in less than 2.5sec - despite weighing 1995kg - and has a maximum top speed of 261mph.
Read our full review of the Bugatti Chiron
Previewed by the Vision Gran Turismo concept car at last year’s Frankfurt motor show, the immensely powerful Chiron aims to occupy the position its highly celebrated predecessor held at the very top of the supercar ladder, one rung above the McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder – all of which have now ceased production.
Bugatti describes the second of its modern day models as the most powerful road car to ever reach series production. However, with volumes set to be limited to 500 and a price to match its extreme performance at an eye watering €2.4 million (about £1.9 million) it will remain out of reach for all but the seriously rich.
Bugatti boss Wolfgang Dürheimer portrays the quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 powered Chiron as an all-new car that uses little from the Veyron.
But while the new Bugatti has been comprehensively re-engineered and now features a full carbonfibre construction, it adopts a similar mechanical package to its record-breaking predecessor.
At its heart is a heavily revised version of the quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 configured petrol engine used by the Veyron. With a faintly absurd 1479bhp developed at 6750rpm, the mid-mounted unit delivers 492bhp more than the engine used by the Veyron – in the process providing the Chiron with a power-to-weight ratio of 741bhp per tonne. Torque has also risen by a substantial 257lb ft, peaking at 1179lb ft on a band of revs between 2000 and 6000rpm.
According to Bugatti's official figures, the Chiron achieves fuel economy of 12.5mpg on a combined cycle - that's 8.0mpg urban and 18.6mpg extra-urban. CO2 emissions stand at 516g/km. For comparison, the original Veyron emitted 586g/km CO2, and achieved 11.3mpg on a combined cycle; 6.7mpg urban and 18.1mpg extra-urban.
Among the more significant developments brought to the Bugatti powerplant is a redesigned carbonfibre inlet manifold, heavily reworked injection system featuring 32 individual injectors, larger and more powerful turbochargers, a revised intercooler system and new titanium exhaust system with a total of six catalysers that is claimed to provide a substantial reduction in back pressure over the old system.
In a bid to provide the new Chiron with what Bugatti describes as a more linear delivery of power than the Veyron, the new turbochargers are operated in a two-stage process; during step off just two turbochargers function initially, with the remaining two joining in to boost performance when the engine speed rises above 3800rpm.
The colossal reserves are channeled through a reworked version of the Veyron’s seven-speed dual clutch gearbox and multi-plate clutch four-wheel-drive system; the latter has an electronically controlled differential that provides a torque-vectoring function to vary the amount of drive apportioned to each of the rear wheels and the basis for what Bugatti dubs an “easy to drift” function.
While it is yet to undergo final certification testing, Bugatti has released preliminary performance figures suggesting it has achieved its stated aim of making the Chiron faster than the Veyron with claims of 0-to-62mph in under 2.5sec, 0 to 124mph in less than 6.5sec and 0 to 186mph below 13.6sec.
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This is a heavily facelifted
This is a heavily facelifted
Neither hot nor cool.