Chiron

Make
Bugatti
Segment
Coupe

Bugatti usually has something special planned for the Geneva Motor Show, and this year will be no different. Recall that Bugatti shared a mysterious teaser previewing a new hypercar last month. The French hypercar company may have been teasing its upcoming new model that will be sold alongside the Chiron, but the car hiding under the sheet appeared to be a new variant of the Chiron itself. And now it looks like our suspicions have been confirmed.

A post shared on Facebook shows a group of Bugatti Chirons hiding under a sheet in South Africa at the O.R. Tambo International airport ready to be transported. One of them is allegedly the new Chiron that will debut at Geneva. Reports suggest this new Chiron will be called the Chiron R positioned between the Chiron Sport and the Super Sport 300+.

From the photos, the Chiron R appears to have a downforce-increasing fixed rear spoiler as part of an enhanced aero package, suggesting it will be more track-focused and have sharper handling. This would make sense as Bugatti's CEO Stephan Winkelmann has previously said more variants of the Chiron are coming, including one that focuses on handling.

This could mean the Chiron R will have a slower top speed than the Chiron, which tops out at 261 mph in the standard version while the Chiron Sport 300+ broke the 300 mph barrier. Speaking of which, Koenigsegg is expected to challenge Bugatti at this year's Geneva Motor Show with a new concept version of the Jesko capable of exceeding 300 mph.

Being based on the Chiron means the Chiron R will be powered by an 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder quad-turbo engine. In the standard Chiron, this unit produces a monumental 1,500 horsepower and 1,180 lb-ft of torque, but the Chiron R could have slightly more power like other Chiron variants. In the Bugatti Centodieci, for example, the W16 engine has been tuned to produce 1,600 horsepower.

We'll have to wait until the 2020 Geneva Motor Show kicks off on March 3 to find out what Bugatti has been cooking up. Don't be surprised if Bugatti shares some teasers of the Chiron R between now and then.