What VW Group head honcho Ferdinand Piech wants, he gets. One of those things was a Bugatti supercar with an output of 1,000PS – and after a quite long gestation period, the 1,001PS (987hp) Veyron was launched in 2005.
The very same year, the Veyron recorded a top speed of 408.47 km/h (253.81 mph) at the VW-owned Ehra-Lessien test track, making it the fastest car in the world. Four years later, the targa-top Grand Sport arrived and in 2010 the Super Sport, with an increased 1,200hp output and a 431 km/h (268 mph) it was even more insane; and lest we forget, in 2012 the Grand Sport Vitesse, which combined the Super Sport powertrain with the Grand Sport targa bodywork was launched.
There were also around 30 special versions because, you know, the über-rich don’t really like bumping into a second multi-million dollar supercar that’s exactly the same; and of course, this suited Bugatti just fine.
In the past four years, at the same time it was churning out one special Veyron after another, Bugatti was also busy developing the successor to the Veyron. You can rest assured that this one will be even wilder, too.
According to Automobile magazine, the 8.0-liter, quad-turbocharged W16 engine will be carried over, though it will now sport direct injection and two of the turbos will be electrically powered to provide instant torque from low revs.
Power will once again be delivered to all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The top speed target is, reportedly, 460 km/h (288 mph) and the 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration will be under 2.5 seconds.
Although a lot of the carbon-fiber chassis architecture of the Veyron will be carried over, the report says that 92 percent of the parts will be either redesigned or brand new in an effort to reduce weight, increase rigidity and improve visibility and ergonomics.
The new car, which is believed to be called Chiron, after Bugatti racing driver Louis Chiron, and its price tag will be a little under US$2.5 million. The initial launch date was set for 2015 but it has reportedly been pushed back for 2016.
You can scroll down for the photo gallery and the video of a prototype that shows a view of the interior, which sports a VW Polo steering wheel (!), right after the break.
Photo Gallery
