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As if we thought a car couldn’t have more balls than the Bugatti Veyron, Bugatti goes and does it again.  With the Veyron blowing minds at 1000 hp, the car’s successor, the Chiron will top the scales at almost 1500 hp.  All we can say to that is, “$#%@ YEA!”  The Bugatti Chiron’s 8.0-liter, quad-turbo W16 motor still sits behind the two-seat cabin, is quoted to push out 1,478 hp to be exact, making it the most power production street car the world has ever seen.  The superman of street cars.  Faster than a speeding bullet, well, not really… no car travels at 1,700 mph, and even a really slow bullet, is still moving at 500 mph, so… ok, ok… the car is just ridiculously fast.   You’ll get to 62 mph in less than 2.5 seconds so you’re practically flying with a red cape at that point.  But if thats not enough you can get to 0-124 mph in 6.5 seconds and 0-186 mph in 13.5 seconds.  Yes folks, she’s 3 seconds faster than the Veyron.  Boom.  

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Lets not forget to mention it’s dual-clutch seven-speed transmission with 1,180 pound-feet of torque.   She’s about 340 lbs lighter than the Veyron, but all is forgiven… she has a DRIFT MODE!   Top speed at 261 mph… just to let you know, commercial jetliners take off the runway at 180 mph.  But don’t worry… for added safety, when the Chiron hits 236 mph, the hydraulically raised rear wing set kicks in, and it has an airbrake in place in to help you come back down from extremely high speeds.  

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While she’s learned a few things from the Veyron, Bugatti insists she’s an entirely new car.  The seven-speed dual-clutch is a development of the Veyron’s Ricardo-built unit, with alloy paddle-shifters on the steering wheel for manual use, and there’s now an electro-mechanical steering system. The air suspension improves high-speed body control without hurting the ride quality, with everything cruising on custom Michelin 285/30ZR20 front and 355/25ZR21 rear tires. 

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While the air suspension is fully adaptive for bump and rebound, it also lets Bugatti give the Chiron variable ride height, depending on the task at hand. Those tasks range from five preset modes, which include Lift (for keeping the nose out of trouble over gutters and speed bumps), Auto, Autobahn, Handling, and Top Speed.

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While Lift is a low-speed solution, the next three modes are limited to 236 mph, while you will still need to stop the car then insert and twist a Speed Key to engage the Top Speed mode for the full time-warp experience. Hitting 261 mph doesn't just need the car to drop its ride height. It needs aero help, too. The Chiron has a coefficient of drag of 0.38 in its Auto mode, 0.40 in its Handling mode, and 0.35 in its Top Speed mode, and  0.59 when it deploys the Air Brake.

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Bugatti also pulled out all the stops… err with the brakes we mean.   The Chiron has 16.5-inch front and 15.7-inch rear carbon-ceramic rotors, clamped by eight-piston front and six-piston rear calipers. Bugatti insists the stopping power is astonishing, pulling the Chiron back to zero from 62 mph in 103 feet, from 124 mph in 410 feet, and from 186 mph in 902 feet. What about 261 mph you ask?  Bugatti said, “Just don’t.”  Which makes us want to try it even more.  

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Inside the car you’ll find all the works, leaner, carbon fiber, brushed aluminum, and for your own safety, the Chiron has the world’s first airbag that can deploy through the carbon fiber dashboard to protect the passenger.  

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As for her heritage, the Chiron is named after Bugatti’s most famous racing driver, Louis Chiron, who raced for the marque in the 1920s and 1930s and was the official starter of the Monaco Grand Prix into the late 1970s. Chiron won the French Grand Prix in a Bugatti Type 51.  Finally the cost?   Naturally Bugatti set her price tag reasonably with a limited number in production so if you’ve got 2.6 million dollars to spare, you can be one of the lucky 500 people to purchase the Chiron.