RE: Bugatti Chiron goes 304 mph!

[phil4]

If they'd stopped at the safety additions... I'd have agreed it was a production car... but aero tweaks and an extra 100bhp isn't a production Chiron.

[aliasdred]

Velox56 said:

So does this actually count as a production car?

If anything gets them disqualified I would bet it'd be the changed final gear. But seriously who cares? People-Customers-Other Manufacturers would know it can go 300+ and thats what matters now. Its more like making a statement rather than taking the record now.
Plus, if they want to make 50 special edition Chiron-300(s) then they'd be looking at 200willing customers ready to shell upwards of 4mil for each. Not that the production one would do 300(still limited to 261, but could do 300 just bypassing the limiter)

Edited by aliasdred on Monday 2nd September 10:14

[rossub]

phil4 said:

If they'd stopped at the safety additions... I'd have agreed it was a production car... but aero tweaks and an extra 100bhp isn't a production Chiron.

Agree totally. Feeling a little deflated after reading the initial headline.

[markcoznottz]

To be fair the McLaren F1 and xj220 tested to top speed cars weren't standard. The F1 that autocar figured wasn't either.

[xjay1337]

rossub said:

phil4 said:

If they'd stopped at the safety additions... I'd have agreed it was a production car... but aero tweaks and an extra 100bhp isn't a production Chiron.

Agree totally. Feeling a little deflated after reading the initial headline.

Given it's the same power they have in that other silly named model they have I don't really think it the achievement can be taken away.

[RobDickinson]

markcoznottz said:

To be fair the McLaren F1 and xj220 tested to top speed cars weren't standard. The F1 that autocar figured wasn't either.

And the Koenigsegg whilst a 'production car was a unicorn also.

[simonbamg]

wab172uk said:

Very impressive stuff. The record will no doubt be beaten in time, but to be the first to achieve it, is the bigger achievement.

Bit pointless as a road car, but still very very impressive.

You could argue every car is a bit pointless on the road, why do you feel the need to mention it

[Augustus Windsock]

wag2 said:

You would think that someone who can design a car like that would know about Newton's third law.

I’m not quite sure of the context of the above, simplistically it’s the ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’ thing.
Let’s not forget that LSR cars for instance don’t have to worry about driving on public roads, so steering and suspension (as such) need only be tailored for one precise set of parameters, rather than having to deal with bends, bumps etc etc.
Having said that, this is gloriously pointless.
Glorious in that Bugatti have stuck 2 fingers to the tree-hugging, yoghurt-weaving save-the-shrimp brigade, and shown what they can do.
Pointless as obviously there’s nowhere that you could open the taps and do this. Plus I’m sure that it would empty the fuel tank in a couple of minutes at full chat, and then you’d need to stop and change the tyres (thinking of what James May said on TG)
But bravo, Bugatti, bravo!

[Its Just Adz]

Incredible, what a piece of engineering.

[Venturist]

This is absolutely excellent.
Looks cracking too!

[KTF]

Why the picture of the not closed bonnet with the wire hanging out?

[selym]

A great achievement but I was more wowed reading Wallace's description of the issues driving at 300mph.

[anonymous-user]

Absolutely crazy, awesome work.

[The Ferret]

RudeDog said:

Fiver says an electric car beats it in the next ten years

This was my first thought, although I don't think you'd have to wait anything like 10 years for it.

[Sandpit Steve]

Wow, that’s a seriously cool mic drop from Bugatti, hey, our car just did 300mph. We know that Koeingsegg and Saleen were looking at being the first to crack 300, both put right back in their box.

Apparently you need to make 50 examples to officially set the record, does anyone doubt Bugatti’s ability to sell 50 copies of the 300mph car?

[mat205125]

This whole power and stats arms race usually leaves me stone cold, however something about breaking this barrier in a lightly modified car (soon to be a production spec car, once they release the limited run to the record spec) is deeply impressive.

Appreciating that the car has been limited electronically to date, it's still massively impressive that it's smashed it's own top speed by so much with such a modest power hike.

Making power is relatively easy. Engineering from Michelin and the wheel manufacturer is quite incredible. I guess for the record to be legitimate, the tyres must be homologated and road legal???

[RDMcG]

Amazing number. Yes , probably an electric will do it but this is a sort of runout achievement as we slowly phase out of the magnificent internal combustion era . Great description from Andy Wallace

[Harry_523]

This will almost certainly become a production variant (supersport probably) in the coming months, so no beef with that.

I love that they went to 304mph, just to stretch the goalpost that little bit further than the 300mph target of the Hennesy's and Koenigsegg's

[mwstewart]

Wow. That's incredible. It must be a rush - 200 feels pretty rapid to me.

[mat205125]

xjay1337 said:

rossub said:

phil4 said:

If they'd stopped at the safety additions... I'd have agreed it was a production car... but aero tweaks and an extra 100bhp isn't a production Chiron.

Agree totally. Feeling a little deflated after reading the initial headline.

Given it's the same power they have in that other silly named model they have I don't really think it the achievement can be taken away.

Article said:

The car used for the record was in what is described by Bugatti as "near production" spec, with safety modifications and some slightly aerodynamic changes plus a taller seventh gear. It also had a 1600hp version of Bugatti's monstrous quad-turbocharged W-16, 100hp more than the regular Chiron and the same output as the recently announced Centodieci. PH believes the firm will be selling a celebratory limited edition car built to pretty much the same spec.

This would/will legitimise any concerns or objections to the record