By Jacob Oliva , Motor1.com Nothing much here but a Chiron Sport hitting its limited top speed. Ah, the Chiron Sport . The track-focused hyp...
Nothing much here but a Chiron Sport hitting its limited top speed.
Ah, the Chiron Sport. The track-focused hypercar is as fast and delicious as a normal Chiron but Bugatti gave it a substantial weight loss and enhanced performance on corners. Though it's mechanically identical to the Chiron, harnessing a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine that produces 1,500 horsepower (1,103 kilowatts) and 1,180 pound-feet (1,600 Newton-meters) of torque, the Chiron Sport is more expensive with a $400,000 premium over a standard Chiron.
With this amount of power, one can only imagine how's it like to push the French hypercar to its top speed.
Top Gear, however, was able to get access to a Bugatti Chiron Sport and did an actual top speed run on Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessein testing facility. The private tarmac features a high-speed circuit with 5.4 miles (8.7 kilometers) worth of straight road, well enough to allow the Chiron Sport to reach its theoretical top speed of 261 miles per hour (420 kilometers per hour).
As Top Gear puts it, the top speed figure is theoretical because nobody outside of Bugatti has ever hit the mentioned numbers above. Also, it's important to note that it isn't only theoretical but electronically-limited as well.
Of note, the Top Gear's top speed run with the Chiron Sport isn't as sensational as some may have hoped it would be. The Veyron has set a record at 268 mph (431 kph), while the Koenigsegg Agera RS was able to do reach 278 mph (447 kph) on a closed Nevada highway. Bugatti's holding off on its own unrestricted run because it's still waiting for the right tires to use.
While Top Gear's run is a little over the theoretical top speed at 263 mph (423 kph), it's still a bit short in beating the Veyron and the Agera RS. Can Bugatti do an unrestricted top speed run already?
COMMENTS