Ever since Bugatti lifted the veils off the new Chiron earlier this year, enthusiasts have been wondering if it is indeed faster than the most extreme Veyron, the Super Sport.
The answer comes from the brand’s CEO, Wolfgang Durheimer, who recently spoke to Autocar on the matter: “We will try to lock in a new world speed record. I know the Chiron will be faster, but we don’t know how fast. We have calculations from our simulations, but it is always different to sit in the car and actually do it.”
Set in 2010 at the Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien test facility by former Formula 1 driver Pierre-Henri Raphanel, who took the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport up to 268 mph (431 km/h), the world speed record for road cars should be demolished by the Chiron, as the manufacturer’s latest hypercar is believed to be capable of reaching 288 mph (463.49 km/h).
However, in order to do so, the high-performance machine’s speed limiter will be lifted from the current 261 mph (420 km/h), but this will not contravene with “the spirit of the production car definition”, as the same recipe was used six years ago, on the Veyron SS. An exact date for when Bugatti will try to enter its name into the Guinness World Records is currently unknown, but rumor has it that it could happen in 2018, at the same 13-mile (20.92 km) Ehra-Lessien facility.
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