The engineers from Molsheim are hard at work to get the new Bugatti Chiron Super Sport ready for her first deliveries in a few months, the customers will be getting this amazing new hypercar from France from August 2021 onward, and with a top speed of 440 km/h this is the fastest production sports car in the world, so they better make sure it performs and is safe to drive at those impressive speeds.
The intention of the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport is to combine several almost impossible-looking requirements together, be a luxury GT, achieve the highest top speed in the world, and do that with the driver being comfortable … that’s a very tall order, but Jachin Schwalbe, Head of Chassis Development at Bugatti explains why this new Super Sport edition will pull it off.
The development of this latest edition of the Bugatti Chiron has taken it to the open road already, where the test pilots were able to fine-tune most things on the pre-production prototype at speeds up to 380 km/h, but the Super Sport is capable to go beyond the 400 km/h mark with ease, and making sure the car stays stable at those speeds requires taken her onto a closed high-speed track … where they managed to thunder by at the 440 km/h Vmax speed.
To make sure all the necessary data is gathered during this multi-day testing session, the stunning gold and black finished Chiron Super Sport test mule was fitted with about 100 additional sensors … Bugatti heavily relies on the experience of their test drivers, but some things need a more technological approach … in come the sensors and computers to calculate the perfect balance between additional downforce from the rear wing, without compromising top speed with unnecessary drag … this includes the angle of the rear wing, the height of the suspension, the setting on the dampers, and even the electronic steering assist … in the end, it will be a very tight combination of both to ensure the client can use his, or her, new Bugatti Chiron Super Sport to the maximum.
The biggest difference between the Chiron, Chiron Pur Sport, and this new Chiron Super Sport is the extended bodywork, the so-called Longtail set up, but if you look really close you’ll notice just about the entire body on the Super Sport has been modified for optimal aerodynamics to keep the car stable at speeds over 420 km/h.
To achieve the performance and speed required for this new limited edition Bugatti also had to tune their famous engine differently, the 8.0-liter W16 quad-turbo engine now pumps out 1,600 PS (1,176 kW) which is 100 PS more than the regular Chiron, a feat accomplished by using larger turbochargers with highly efficient compressor wheels. And while the car comes with a 7-speed gearbox, she will only change up from 6th to 7th gear at 403 km/h with the engine at 7,100 rpm.
Some more figures perhaps? The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport will reach 400 km/h from standing still in 28.6 seconds … in less than half a minute you’re doing about four times the legal speed limit in most countries, going from 0 to a pedestrian 100 km/h only takes 2.4 seconds … still Bugatti will only make 500 units of their Chiron, and this €3.2 million Super Sport version is part of those 500, after that it’s game over for the Chiron model.
