It was fun while it lasted.
Bugatti set a new land speed record in July 2010 with an unrestricted Veyron Super Sport. Pierre Henri Raphanel, official test driver, averaged 267.8 MPH (430.9 Kph) on Volkswagen’s Ehra–Lessian high-speed oval. Anthony Liu, a Chinese racing driver, set a record for fastest open-top production car using the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. He did 254.0 mph (408.8 km/h) at the same German proving ground.
Andy Wallace, Le Mans winner and Bugatti tester driver, took a custom-built Chiron to Lower Saxony on August 2, 2019. It reached a speed of 304.7 mph (4990.4 kph) and was a record breaking speed.
As Bugatti’s president Stephan Winkelmann has announced, there won’t be any more top speed records set by the Molsheim-based marque in the near future. Bugatti had set a goal to become the first automaker in the world to break the 300-mph barrier. They have achieved that feat with the longtail Chiron. Winkelmann says that they will now be focusing on other areas.
That means that Koenigsegg has the Jesko, Hennessey has the Venom HTML5, while SSC North America has the Tuatara. These automakers are still interested in competing to set the fastest production car speed record. The Chiron Sports that was used last month is no longer available for purchase, so it is technically not a production vehicle. It is believed that a Chiron Super Sport will be released in the future. It will have similar specifications.
This would not be surprising considering that Bugatti launched a Veyron SS World Record Edition back then. However, it was only 10 mph slower than the top speed record of 258 mph (415 kph). To celebrate the Grand Sport Vitesse, there was also a WRE edition.
Bugatti released additional details on the modified prototype, including the tires. To withstand the high speeds, the high-speed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubbers were reinforced. The belts were able to withstand the 5,300 Gs, but still remain street-legal. This could indicate that a Chiron SS may be coming.
They can rotate at a staggering 4,100 times per minute. The tires have been tested in the United States at speeds up to 317.5 mph (511 km/h). To ensure maximum optimization, each tire was X-rayed and then the set was mounted on the longtail Chiron just before the record-breaking run.
Andy Wallace, the driver, is no stranger in setting land speed records. He set one in March 1998 using a McLaren F1 at 240.1 mph (386.2 kph) To check everything was working properly, he increased the Chiron’s speed to 186 mph (303 kph). He then floored the prototype to achieve top speed on the 8.8 km (5.4 mile) straight. The car covered 136m (446 feet) per second at maximum speed.