The German-owned French carmaker has taken the wraps off the new Chiron. Named after the 1920s and 1930s Bugatti racing driver Louis Chiron, the car borrows styling details from the Vision Gran Turismo concept and like its predecessor, aims to sit at the very top of the supercar segment.
Limited to just 500 units, the Chiron is powered by a heavily revised 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged W16 engine that now develops 1,479bhp – 492bhp more than in its predecessor – and 163kgm of torque. The car uses a revised version of the Veyron’s seven-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel-drive system equipped with an electronic differential that provides a torque vectoring function. Braking is handled by 420mm front and 400mm rear disc brakes with eight piston and six piston callipers respectively.
The engine has been heavily reworked with larger two-stage turbos – two turbos function during step off with the other two joining in at about 3800rpm, reworked injection system, revised intercoolers and a new titanium exhaust.
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 0-100kph in under 2.5sec, 0-200kph in less than 6.5sec and 0-300kph in under 13.6sec. By comparison, the Veyron posted official times of 2.5sec, 7.3sec and 16.7sec respectively.
The Chiron is offered with five drive modes – Lift, Auto, Autobahn, Handling and Top Speed. Lift allows the driver to raise the ride height to negotiate speed bumps. Auto, Autobahn and Handling get a top speed limited to 380kph, while Top Speed allows the car to reach its max top speed of 420kph.
In terms of design, the Chiron gets tauter surfacing, bolder details and added aerodynamic efficiency over its predecessor. Key design elements include the traditional grille design, race-grade front splitter, distinctive LED headlamps, a semi-circular bodywork extending back from the front wheel arches towards the rear and ending at the A-pillar, full-width LED tail lamps, central exhaust and NACA ducts for cooling.
The cabin is trimmed in a combination of leather, carbonfibre and brushed aluminium. Among the new developments is a passenger airbag that deploys through carbonfibre – a first for a production vehicle.
The Chiron will be assembled at Bugatti’s headquarters in Mosheim, France. So far, Bugatti has received more than 150 orders for the new car, and deliveries will begin in October 2016.
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Uday Singh
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