Welcome to Molsheim, the place where Bugatti has started automotive history. And a lot has happened here. We're in the Alsace in France,
but Ettore Bugatti was an Italian man who bought this property. And a lot of things have befallen the Alsace. First it was owned...
by Germany, but then it was owned by France. Two world wars were fought here, but Ettore Bugatti survived.
His son was put in charge to let the brand Bugatti live on, but he wasn't able to continue his father's legacy.
Not with the racing cars nor the luxury cars like the Royale and Atlantique. Bugatti went defunct in the sixties,
after which it was bought by another Italian. Under his reign, Bugatti built the EB110, but it never became a profitable business.
But all of a sudden, Ferdinand Piech came into view. The recently passed Piech decided he wanted to add Bugatti to the Volkswagen Group,
with great plans in mind. Piech was also responsible for the Porsche 917, the notorious racing car which absolutely dominated Le Mans.
Piech wanted to build a street car which would be able to reach the top speed of the 917 on the Le Mans-straight: 407 km/h.
So, his engineers were tasked with building a street car which produced 1.001 horsepower and which was able to do 407 km/h.
And by the way, he said, it has to look like this. In the nineties, they already designed the first Veyron Concept.
It's here by the way. But they already designed the car before the engineers were able to come up with the technological solution...
to actually make that 1.001 horsepower car. That's why it took so long before the production Veyron was finally ready.
But that's history we're talking about, and Bugatti has been building the successor of the Veyron for some time now: the Chiron.
But this is the Chiron Sport, and I'm the first Dutch journalist to drive it.
Of course, this is a special moment for me. Countless times I've been next to the Bugatti Veyron, the Veyron Supersport, the Vitesse and even the Chiron.
Motor shows like Geneva always had one of them on display, but whenever it was about driving one, it has remained a dream ever since.
But now I'm here next to it. I can open the door, put the key in it and drive away. There's so much to tell about this car as well.
In the rear, there's the W16-engine producing 1.500 horsepower and 1.600 Nm of torque. I'll show it to you in a bit.
It does 0-100 km/h in 2,4 seconds, 0-200 in 6,4 seconds and 0-300 in around fifteen seconds. And it doesn't end there, because if you turn...
the key, the limiter of 380 km/h will be removed, so you can get up to a whopping 420 km/h.
However, the recently broke the 300 mph-barrier, which is around 492 km/h. They did that in a special version which produced 1.600 horsepower.
People were surprised it only needed an additional 100 horsepower to reach that amazing speed. But you should look at it differently.
In fact, the Veyron was also able to do 420 km/h, but because it was limited, it never reached that. It's the same with this car.
With the 1.500 horsepower, it was already able to do 450 km/h, so it only needed another 100 horses to reach 492 km/h.
That's an immense power output, and the idea you always have power left to play with - even if you're going 300 km/h - is bizarre.
This isn't the regular Chiron however, but it's the Chiron Sport. It was presented to us in 2018 on the Geneva Motor Show.
It only had a few small changes. It's 18 kg lighter, which doesn't seem like much. It now has carbon windscreen wipers and a thinner windscreen,
but a lot of the weight was in the wheels. Wheels carry the mass, and you notice the lightness in that much more than in a seat or something.
The exhausts then. The regular Chiron didn't have these four pipes over here, because it had a blower diffuser.
The Sport however, has them next to each other. The wing then, it's for downforce but above 180 km/h, it's an airbrake as well.
It will flip and the cW-value drops to 0,55 so it becomes some kind of sea container, which is nice if you want to brake at 350 km/h.
The spoiler is still raised, because it has been used recently. If the wing is up, these valves open up as well, so the engine can be cooled.
Cooling really was the biggest problem here. There was a reason the turbocharged Audi R8 prototypes burned down, because of the lack of air.
The Veyron had vents here and on the roof, and in the Chiron they've opened up the entire Bugatti-autograph-shape here.
All for extra air and cooling. The same goes for the front, because the brakes have to be cooled as well. That's why you've got these scoops here.
They're static, but the wheel keeps turning. That way, you generate some kind of turbine-effect which cools the brakes.
Just looking at it gives me chills. That's how impressive it is. Look at the size of it. This is the drivetrain of the Chiron.
Here we have the gearbox and here is the W16-engine. But what is a W16? Is it two V8-engines stuck together?
It's a little more complicated, because the V's aren't next to each other. Instead, they're woven together.
You could look at it as a V-twin, a V2. Only 8 of them next to each other, that's the way the engine is built.
Here's an animation for you, because it looks like this.
It's an 8.0-litre with four turbo's. Two of them are visible here. These units are 16% bigger than on the Veyron, and that comes with a problem.
Small turbo's have a very good response time, but they max out very easily. Bigger turbo's however, can handle more but take longer to spool up.
So what has Bugatti done? The engine starts with one turbo. The built-up boost from one cylinder bank, so 8 cylinders, will be sent to that one turbo.
When the engine reaches 3.800 RPM, it reaches maximum boost levels, so a valve opens to spool up the second turbo. That happens with the...
other set of turbo's as well. You can even see the valve over here and operate it with your hand. Normally, that would go electrically.
This is the valve which enables the second turbo to spool up. It receives half of the boost from the 8 cylinders, so from 4 cylinders.
They're all equally big and work together to reach the maximum power output of 1.500 horsepower and 1.600 Nm of torque.
Over here, we've got the gearbox. It's a 7-speed DSG, but not the one you'd find in your Golf GTI. Even though the double clutch-system is the same.
It's been specially developed for the Veyron and developed through for the Chiron. This also is the biggest clutch you'll ever see on a street car.
It's almost time to drive this thing, but before I get in the drivers seat, I want to show you something. Over here, between the seat and the sill.
It's the notorious second key, which has been there since the Veyron. If you want to go faster than the standard 380 km/h,
up to 420 km/h, you'll need this key. You turn it, and the car will do its checks if the car is able to do 420 km/h.
Think of tire pressure, oil, et cetera. Only then it'll allow you to speed up to 420 km/h.
I spoke about it with Andy Wallace, Bugatti's test driver, who'll be my supervisor today. He won Le Mans with Jan Lammers and...
was his team mate in Racing Team Holland. He'll be joining me today, to explain things about the car. And to make sure nothing goes wrong,
nothing weird considering the price of this car. He said that if you turn the steering wheel more than 90 degrees, 420-mode is turned off.
When he did his top speed-run, he came out of a banked turn but his steering wheel wasn't turned in a 90 degree angle when he reached 492 km/h.
Speaking of prices by the way. Pre-tax, this Chiron Sport will set you back €2.650.000. After tax? €3.500.000 in the Netherlands.
Funny enough, the added taxes are lower than with the Veyron. Back then, the added taxes were based on the catalogue price.
Now however, it's based on CO2-emissions. And no matter how polluting this Chiron might be, pricewise it's still better than being based on the catalogue value.
Right, time to set off. Where's my co-driver?
The cockpit first of all. There's lots of light around me. I would've thought there would be less sight behind me, but despite the pillar, there's enough to see.
I can see the top of the engine as well. The starting button is on the steering wheel, and you can feel the amount of stuff needed to fire...
up 8.0-litres. Put the gear lever in the middle to put it in reverse. That'll make a camera appear in the screen.
I have to put it in D, by pulling this or tapping the flappy paddles twice. What stands out is that the steering is very direct, but light as well.
You have a maximum of two whole turns, almost like a Ferrari. The way it sets off feels very easy as well, despite the fact you're low in the car.
It's relatively comfortable and not hard to control at low speeds.
When you accelerate a little, which you can do very linearly, it won't feel scary. If you're just driving around in second,
there's quite a lot of noise behind you. Not incredibly loud or anything, but there's a lot happening back there. You'll hear the wastegate...
whizzing as well. Just as a turbocharged engine is supposed to sound. You really get the feeling there's a lot happening here.
I'm able to dose the power easily because it's a progressive power production. When you accelerate, the boost builds up really quickly.
Even if you only use ten percent of throttle, you'll be flying. This car always gives you the feeling there's power left.
Sure, we're used to high speeds because of the electric cars with their acceleration numbers. But the way those feel from launch to 60 km/h,
that's the way this car feels from launch until you lift off. No matter what speed you'll be going. Until you're far beyond 200 km/h, that's...
how intense the G's are. Like a rocket. It's wet today and I'm lucky it's not raining, but the roads are very slippery.
That's why you notice it wants to slide, but the traction still is very good for weather like this. The four-wheel system divides very well.
I even did some launches with launch control, but when I changed to second I could use all of the power. That's how slippery.
On the power dial I could see I used 1.493 horsepower, from the available 1.500. But I'm not bothered by the traction in any way despite the weather.
And with power like this, that's an amazing job.
It has electronic power steering, as opposed to the hydraulic power steering of the Veyron. A lot more has changed however,
like active dampers. The Veyron didn't have those neither. Bugatti already started development on the Veyron in the nineties,
so the computer system in the Chiron is so much more advanced. That way, it's able to adapt to circumstances much easier.
When you stroll through a village like this, it might surprise you, the sight around you is pretty good.
I'm not scared to hit curbs or anything, like I'd be in an Aventador. You could drive this to work and back if you want.
You won't be incredibly tired either. What else is found in the cockpit then? You've got small screens on the turning knobs over here,
which show you the temperature and horsepower and such. You can also see the amount of used horses and top speed driven.
Believe me, if you're driving that fast you don't have time to look at the gauges. You're just staring at the horizon which comes closer rapidly.
It doesn't feature a big screen, because this car is supposed to last. Bugatti says the technology would only get outdated.
I like the way how smooth the gearbox works. The DSG is operated by the flappy paddles without any problems.
Whenever you're in manual, it won't change down when you use kickdown. Not that you need it, because of the overboost.
If it would change back, it would become unbalanced. It changes up whenever you reach the rev limiter however.
I won't reach that very easily though, because the power explosion is so huge, I'm shortshifting almost immediately.
Because it's so slippery, it slides a little, but you're able to correct pretty easily. Whenever you encounter a small dry patch however,
those four wheels will give you so much grip. You're able to corner incredibly quickly, so there's a lot of ease in the car.
The nice thing about this car is that it's actually usable despite the power output. If you compare it with those 800 horsepower...
Mustangs, or Callaway Corvettes. They're only powerful on paper, because you can't really do anything with that power.
That's not the case with this car, because you can use every horsepower. That's just as fascinating as the fact that it produces 1.500 of them.
Even with this weather, you're able to use the 1.500 horsepower without having to think you're in a powerful death trap.
Absolutely not. That's an amazing performance which is never seen in any other car before.
If I look at the used materials, it's a mix of carbon fibre, leather and aluminium. Not a piece of plastic around me.
The seating position is perfect, but the thing that impresses me most is communicative steering. It's almost Porsche-like how quick you feel one...
with the car. Also, the chassis has been sturdied some more. According to Bugatti, the turn-in has been sharpened...
but what I do notice, is that this has torque vectoring. The regular Chiron doesn't have that, and in slow corners that's nice because...
you can't really trust the downforce. It'll pull you to the inside. It doesn't really feel natural, but it does help you turn faster.
On this side there's a Start-button and on the other side, you've got a Drive Select-button. You can choose between EB-mode,
which stands for Ettore Bugatti-mode. You also have Autobahn-mode, which lowers the car and raises the wing.
The airbrake is engaged as well. You can also put it in track, which raises the wing even more and puts the car a tad lower still.
Also, the traction control will allow more. Those are the base modes, but you can also configure it to your taste.
Above 180 km/h, it'll automatically go into Autobahn-mode.
The power is so incredibly impressive. I've never seen anything like this. Maybe on short sprints, but not above 100 km/h.
There's so much overboost available.
I've caught myself thinking that whilst I'm not even going flat out. I'm at 80 percent maybe, but it's so quick...
It's such an impressive piece of engineering, I can't put it into words. It really humbles me.
The question is if there ever will be something like this ever again. The Veyron was supposed to be the last car like this,
so it's kind of a wonder that the Chiron came in the first place. But because of the electrification, hybrid would be the next step.
The fact there's this much power available in a car which is as luxurious and comfortable as this...
So much security and trust in the drive as this? I'm just full of admiration for the people who have made this.
It's a true world wonder.