Bugatti Chiron breaks 300 mph
Test driver Andy Wallace piloted a specially-prepared Bugatti Chiron to 304 mph, setting a new mark for street legal cars.
Speed sells.
Bugatti has announced plans to build 30 replicas of the car it used to break the 300 mph barrier.
(Bugatti)
The Chiron 300+ will feature the same streamlined, long-tail body as the prototype used to hit 304.77 on Volkswagen’s private high speed test track in Germany in August, along with its 1,578 hp, 8.0-liter, quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder motor.
(Bugatti)
Bugatti claimed a production car record with the feat, but it remains unofficial because the car only made the run one way. Most recognized records require the average speed of two runs in opposite directions to account for wind and surface variations.
In any event, the production cars won’t be perfectly identical to the record car. They’ll be delivered with a slightly higher, road-friendly ride height and a limiter set below the 300 mph mark. But Top Gear reports that Bugatti is considering a program that would allow owners to bring their cars to the track, have them modified to the top speed specification and let them go for it.
(Bugatti)
The standard model is black with orange stripes like the record car, but buyers can have them outfitted pretty much any way they want, because you get what you pay for and they’re paying a lot.
The starting price is $3.85 million, and several have already been sold. In fact, Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann told Autoblog he expects all of them “will be gone in the blink of an eye.”