► Bugatti Chiron set for 2016 arrival
► 1500bhp means a 275mph top speed!
► 70% of the Veyron parts are revised
Bugatti’s best customers first saw the successor to the 267mph Veyron SS – named Chiron – at a preview last July. Its public premiere was inked in for the Geneva show in March 2016. Then the dieselgate storm clouds blew in, with VW cancelling or delaying ‘non-vital’ investments. But Bugatti’s 275mph-topping, 1500bhp supercar is currently unaffected by the cuts, triggering a huge sigh of relief from enthusiasts the world over.
As Bugatti dealers in New York and Miami unveiled the brand’s new showroom design, Dr Stefan Brungs, Bugatti sales and marketing chief, confirmed: ‘North American customers are showing phenomenal interest in the next Bugatti super sports car. Its development is running at full speed.’
The Chiron is set to follow the Veyron blueprint closely: carbonfibre body structure, four-wheel drive and quad-turbo W16 engine. By revising 70% of the parts, the engineers have coaxed another 300 horses from the 8.0-litre W16, pushing it to 1500bhp; the dual-clutch ’box can handle nearly 1200lb ft of torque. Redeveloped tyres and a modified 4wd system with adaptive torque split and torque vectoring reportedly deliver a 2.3sec 0-62mph time. To go for 275mph v-max again requires a second key to drop the nose, lock the rear airbrake and shut certain air intakes.
The Chiron includes new design elements. Double-barrel headlights sit eye-level with the badge on top of the horseshoe grille, the roof-mounted air-intake scoops are dropped for semi-oval lateral apertures, and the engine is partly covered by a panel wearing Bugatti’s trademark centre crease.
The finished car seduced a double-digit number of clients into signing contracts and pledging to pay deposits in two tranches, with the second triggering the delivery of the jewel-like speed key as an appetite-whetter. They won’t be alone in itching to fire up the successor to the Veyron.