Can it go any higher?

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Bugatti raises the bar

Name a car after a racing driver and you really nail your colours to mast. And it’s not necessarily a winning formula. Try these for size…

Ferrari Vettel? Hmmm. McLaren Senna? Definitely not Ron. Mercedes Hamilton? Sorry Lewis, but no way. Lotus Clark? Sounds more like the illegitimate son of a superhero. Renault Alonso? Now that could have possibilities…but please, not on a go fast Clio.

Maybe that’s why mainstream manufacturers, in Europe at least, are happy to play the alphanumeric names game, with in the main only Renault, Ford and the Fiat Group happy to use their imagination to fire up the buying public. And good on them we say.

Renault Alonso? Now that could have possibilities…

Louis Chiron

But back to race drivers and Bugatti’s latest mind warp motor, the Chiron (pronounced Shiron). Which sounds just like it goes!  After the Veyron (named in honour of the 1930’s Bugatti Le Mans winner), they have turned to the dashing good looks of another of their drivers of that era, Louis Chiron, to be the namesake of the newest and fastest ever road car.

Did we call it a road car? Silly us. Supercar doesn’t do it either. And hypercar sounds a bit like a second hand car showroom. So maybe Bugatti is all you need to say to manage expectations.

“ We have made the best even better” as the president of company, Wolfgang Dürheimer, said at the launch. We’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.

1479bhp. 1,180ib ft of torque. 261mph (with the limiter!!!).

Now in the dizzy stratosphere that the Bugatti occupies there are few rivals and none who can really claim to be ‘volume’ manufacturers. But bragging rights at this level are still important, so the fact that the recently released Koenigsegg Regera can boast 1,500bhp will be a slight dampener in the bar of the Dog and Duck in downtown Dubai or wherever owners of such exotica gather to talk motors. Equally the American upstart from Hennessey, the Venom GT, which claims top dog title for fastest production road car at 270.4 mph, could also rain on Bugattis parade. But that seems unlikely.

Venom

koenigsegg

You see to date Bugatti (or their Volkswagen bosses) claim that they have already sold 166 of the 500 production run, which means they will have sold more than the total output of both the challengers already (by the way the required deposit is a very reasonable $250,000 of a total selling price of £1.9 million). They haven’t announced as yet if there will be contract hire deals or PCP deals available… this may be partly explained by the fact that, unlike its predecessor, they say they will make money on every car they sell (providing one assumes they sell every one).

Bugatti rear

Back to the bar then and let’s talk technical. The Chiron is powered by an 8 litre, quad turbo W16 engine that Bugatti claim is almost 100% new and enables he car to top out somewhere beyond 400kph (the speedo actually runs to 500kph). What the petrol consumption is at that speed they don’t say, but rest assured, the 22 gallon tank will need filling rather frequently. 0-60 is sub 2.5 seconds which gives it top trumps status in the acceleration stakes. It also takes the crown in the race to 124mph of 6.5 seconds.

“64 cars, 3 jets, 3 helicopters, and a yacht”

Seems a shame that they only offer eight standard colour trim combinations, which means we may have to cancel our order. However at this price point you only have to ask and no doubt your wish will be their command. Which makes you wonder why they bother with the combinations to start of with. Or are we being picky? Probably.

Bugatti interior

Perhaps we should take a hint from Bugatti boss Mr Durheimer who says that the Bugatti is not a car the the “standard car enthusiast” but more “extraordinary people” who on average own “64 cars, 3 jets, 3 helicopters, and a yacht”. Chances are that you won’t see one of these at the car park at Liddle any time soon then.

Anyway no doubt we won’t have to long to wait to see how much bad taste money can buy and the reveal of the first pink Chiron. Which might be the beginning of a new limited edition ladies model, the Bugatti Chifon?

More interesting still will be the launch of the go faster version. A thought which quite frankly leaves one thinking is there a point? Surely the Chiron is fast enough already? Well the chaps in Molshiem seem to think an extra bit of poke might well be needed. After all is does say 500 on the clock.

Published on 29th February 2016