“Le roi est mort, vive le roi!” The French automaker sets higher bars for the auto industry with the Veyron’s successor, the Chiron. Let’s read some amazing features, shall we?
It’s nothing but extremely hard to imagine a road-legal series car to surpass the Veyron. I mean, in its tenth year on this Earth, the Veyron was challenged only by one – the Hennessey’s Lotus-based monster named Venom GT – and that looked like a really strong effort, compared to how easy Veyron made it look all this time. Reaching a super-high maximum speed, that is.
And it might not be a ground-breaking record – compared to the previous one – but somehow Bugatti managed to squeeze another seven mph for Chiron’s top speed, upping it to a maximum of 261mph. Yes, Chiron – that’s how is called the new King of the roads, after the ’20s and ‘30s Grand Prix driver Louis Chiron.
So what has happened under its new, art-deco suit partially inspired by the iconic Type 57? The Chiron uses the same platform as the Veyron’s, only here it’s been upgraded in terms of performance and comfort.
The 8.0-liter W16 quad-turbocharged engine now boasts 1,479hp and 1,179lb-ft, driven to all four wheels via the reworked 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. For those who always wanted to drift a €2.4m hypercar, good news: the upgraded multi-plate clutch four-wheel-drive system features an electronically controlled differential and an “easy to drift” function.
Regarding the performance, sprint figures haven’t been revealed yet, but Bugatti claims the Chiron does 0-to-62mph in less than 2.5 seconds; 0-124mph in under 6.5 seconds and 0-186mph below 13.6 secs.