Chiron Super Sport

Make
Bugatti
Segment
Coupe

The Bugatti Chiron is following in the footsteps of the Veyron that came before. Bugatti initially offered the standard Veyron with a 253 mph top speed, followed five years later by the Super Sport that upped the speed to 268 mph. One of these fine examples recently went on sale, in case you're interested.

Bugatti's standard Chiron has a limited top speed of 261 mph, so we always knew it had a little more to give. This was confirmed recently when the French manufacturer introduced the Chiron Super Sport. Power is up from 1,479 horsepower to 1,577 hp, while the 1,180 lb-ft of torque remains the same. Acceleration figures are almost identical. According to Bugatti, it's seven percent faster (four seconds) to 249 mph, while a longer seventh gear allows for the higher top speed of 273 mph.

The Bugatti Divo is a track car, but the Chiron Super Sport is all about being the fastest. All of these models count towards Bugatti's production run of 500 models.

The Chiron Super Sport is so much more than a longer final gear, however. This is essentially a Long Tail version of the Chiron. The extended rear end allows it to cut through the air more effectively and reduce turbulence at the rear.

Once you breach 250 mph, it's an entirely different world. Getting to 273 mph requires insane attention to detail. The Super Sport test mule requires an additional 100 sensors, so the team can measure everything that might impact the handling. Event the air pressure can have a drastic effect on a car traveling at that speed.

"It's crucial that the driver doesn't notice the interruption in traction when changing gears at 7,100 rpm. We, therefore, set the boost pressure regulation more finely in the last three gears," explains engine application developer Marco Schulte.

This basically means the Chiron Super Sport will dip the boost pressure momentarily during the final three gears so that it won't freak the driver out when it spins the rear tires at 236 mph. After that, it goes back to the full 2.8 bar boost again.

Bugatti's team of engineers is currently busy with final development on the Chiron Super Sport. More specifically, they're refining the handling between 236 mph and the 273 mph top speed.

"Following successful road tests at up to 236 mph, we are now refining the handling of the vehicle at up to 273 mph to allow the Chiron Super Sport to perform with uncompromising safety, even at this incredible top speed, and give the driver a good, and above all, safe feeling at extremely high speeds," explains Jachin Schwalbe, Head of Chassis Development at Bugatti.