The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport is a fascinating package of performance and comfort. But its days are numbered, and the death knell will soon ring for the 16-cylinder engine. A preliminary farewell round with this milestone in automotive history, a "dream card in the car quartet".
At its headquarters in Molsheim, Alsace, Bugatti will "assemble" exactly 500 Chirons by hand from around 1800 individual parts. The 400th copy has just been prepared for handover to the future owner. This is a Chiron Super Sport with a body made of bare carbon fiber with a dark green color effect. The countdown is on schedule.
But what is actually behind this automotive milestone that bears the name of the Monegasque racing driver Alexandre Louis Chiron (1899 - 1979)? The power flounder is still full of juice, but it is still rolling inexorably towards the siding. This is not the only reason why a good dose of respect is appropriate when approaching the hypercar. Especially when our partner for a superlative trip is also a Chiron Super Sport worth a good 3.8 million euros.
Nervousness clearly outweighs the first few meters behind the wheel of the hypercar. But after a few minutes, the fascination of the never-ending acceleration of the hypercar and the incomparable sound of the four big turbochargers right behind the passengers' heads wins out.
You really have to let the technical data and the acceleration values melt in your mouth to really appreciate the total work of art Chiron Super Sport. And it's not just the blood pressure of outspoken petrolheads that rises: anyone who thinks that combustion engines are the devil's stuff should actually call for the exorcist when they see this Franco-German luxury product. It's about 16 cylinders in a W arrangement, eight liters displacement, 1600 hp at 7000 rpm and a maximum torque of 1600 Newton meters.
Graphically, the latter is very similar to the South African table mountain: It is continuously on from 2250 to 7000 rpm. At 440 km/h (!) the speed is electronically limited. It goes from zero to 100 in 2.4 seconds, to 200 in 5.8, to 300 in 12.1 and to 400 in 28.6 seconds. Any questions about this dream card in the car quartet?
Of course, a very important one: How does it feel when this unbelievable power is unleashed on all four special Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires in the 285/30 ZR 20 format? In order to be able to at least partially understand this on public roads, we first get a full professional behind the wheel for support during the test drive around Molsheim: the Pilote Officiel from Bugatti. Andy Wallace started 21 times each in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Daytona, he completed the 12 Hours of Sebring 19 times. He was at the top of the podium six times.
In other words, the man understands the art of driving. When he spurs the Super Sport on, the passenger's cheeks are drawn back and the corners of his mouth turned up. A few blinks of the eye and we're at 247 things. A step on the brake pedal, the face is momentarily deformed forward.
After changing drivers and getting used to it, a courageous step on the accelerator pedal is then given at the first opportunity. Stay a little longer, a little longer, then a curve, brake hard. The unflinching precision with which the naturally all-wheel-drive Chiron does this is impressive. We quickly managed a top speed of almost 200 km/h, not bad at all for a Chiron beginner. Andy raises his thumb - that encourages us to further exhaust the almost infinite performance potential of the hyper athlete.
For sports car fans, this is pure enjoyment accompanied by a touch of melancholy. Because the production of the Super Sport and the series in general is coming to an end, all the remaining 100 copies have long been sold. Next up is the Mistral, a stunning roadster with the engineering of the Super Sport but with significant design differences. Although: You can tell from afar that a Bugatti is rolling.
The death knell then rings for the W-16 cylinder. This huge piece of the finest drive technology with this performance and this consumption (according to the WLTP standard 21.5 liters per 100 kilometers, CO2 emissions 487 grams per kilometer, efficiency class G) looks a bit like a dinosaur on the verge of extinction.
But the Chiron certainly has its place in the Hall of Fame of automotive history as one of the fastest cars in the world: the Super Sport 300 managed 490.484 km/h.
And who was behind the wheel during this record drive? Right, it was Andy Wallace. He is already mentally preparing for the test drives with the next drive generation - with significantly fewer cylinders and a lot of electrical support.
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