Every Bugatti Chiron is roughly tested before entering production and before reaching its clients. And the speed test is one of the most challenging.
During high-speed test-drives conducted over several days, the engineers fine-tune the mechanics, damping, and aerodynamics before the first models of the new Chiron Super Sport, being produced by hand in Molsheim, will be delivered from the end of August 2021 onwards.
“Following successful road tests at up to 380 km/h, we are now refining the handling of the vehicle at up to 440 km/h 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.
This comes down to multiple technical modifications and optimizations. Various parameters can be modified and compared based on variable settings for the rear wing angle, vehicle height, damping, and electrically assisted steering. This is done lap after lap, all in top speed mode. Up to six engineers then discuss the perfect setup. “Our engineers are from a wide variety of specialist backgrounds, enabling them to comprehensively verify our assessments, ensuring the best possible result and therefore maximum performance for the future owners while ensuring there is maximum testing safety,” says Jachin Schwalbe. This is exclusive work – at 440 km/h (273 mph), the Chiron Super Sport is the world’s fastest production sports car.
The Chiron Super Sport differs from the Chiron and the Chiron Pur Sport, among other things, due to its extended and aerodynamically optimized bodywork, which has been designed for extreme high speeds beyond the 420 km/h mark. The extended rear holds the laminar flow to the automobile for longer, resulting in a significantly smaller trailing surface. This reduces drag and improves the aerodynamics – complex work at top speeds of over 400 km/h.
The idea of a long tail emerged in summer 2019 when the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+4 became the first production vehicle to breach the threshold of 300 miles an hour – a speed record for production vehicles that it still holds to this day, having hit exactly 304.773 mph (490.484 km/h) to make it the fastest production sports car around. The series production run of the Super Sport 300+, limited to 30 units, was immediately sold out.
