The famous hill climb everyone is talking about when they mention the Goodwood Festival of Speed is a total of 1.9 kilometers of narrow, winding road flowing uphill through the grounds of official Goodwood House in Sussex, England, and it takes a combination of skill and nerve to navigate record-setting hypercars up the hill, getting the apex wrong and going into the grass running parallel to the track, even for a very small amount can spell serious disaster, especially at the speeds some of these cars can reach today.
For the 2022 edition, Bugatti Automobiles came in force, three cars, all original world-record-setting models in their own right, with a combined power output of no less than 4,000 PS … we’re talking about the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, and the recent Chiron Super Sport 300+, which were not only at Goodwood to look good on the stand, but also attacking the hill climb, as an added bonus all three cars were finished in their distinctive black and orange color combination, the modern era of Bugatti, with a lot of visible carbon fiber.
Christophe Piochon, President of Bugatti Automobiles, commented: “With these three record-breaking automobiles, Bugatti has demonstrated its abilities over many years to overcome immense engineering and design challenges to produce hyper sports car that set new standards across the industry. Each represents the continual evolution of the brand and our collective desire for perfection. I’m looking forward to passionate Bugatti fans from across the world being able to witness these marvels showcase their speed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.”
Back in 2010, Bugatti already reached 431 km/h or 268 mph with the absolutely breathtaking Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport World Record Edition, setting the world record for production cars, thanks to four larger turbochargers and enlarged intercoolers, the power of the W16 was increased to 1,200, PS, this also required a serious modification to the chassis to make sure this new Veyron Super Sport would be safe at those elevated speeds, the 1,500 Nm of torque was a force to be reckoned with, but Bugatti decided to limit the top speed to ‘just’ 415 km/h on the production units, as a side note, the first five Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sports to leave Molsheim constituted a special series of their own, known as the World Record Editions, with an identical configuration as the record-setting car.
Just three years later, in 2013, Bugatti revealed the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse at the Shanghai Motor Show, this car set the world record for production cars with a convertible top, this car managed a top speed of 408.84 km/h or 254.04 mph at the testing grounds in Ehra-Lessien, thanks to a carbon monocoque with high torsional rigidity the removal of the roof section didn’t compromise the strength of the Grand Sport Vitesse, and the special roof spoiler managed to keep wind noise and air turbulence often experienced in a convertible to an absolute minimum.
When the Bugatti Chiron was unveiled, we all knew it was just a matter of time before they would come up with another record-setting model, and this would become the 2019 Chiron Super Sport 300+, the 1,600 PS from the W16 8-Liter engine would help to propel this specific model beyond the illustrious 300 mph barrier, the Chiron Super Sport 300+ managed to reach exactly 304.773 mph or an astonishing 490.484 km/h. You can immediately recognize the Chiron Super Sport 300+ from the ‘normal’ Chiron model from the 25 cm longer bodywork at the rear, the so-called Longtail.
Thanks to a longer, aerodynamically optimized bodywork, this car is capable of extreme speeds beyond 420 km/h, the laminar flow can pass over a longer surface and reduce the aerodynamic stall by more than 40 percent, thanks to a newly developed thermal management system for the hyper sports car’s engine and gearbox, they stay cool even when traveling at the automobile’s top speed, production of this very special car was limited to 30 units only, and all of them were finished in this magnificent Jet Black exposed carbon fiber with dual Jet Orange racing stripes.
