Bugatti's latest Veyron cracks world-record 431km/h

BUGATTI has revealed the limited-edition Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, which last weekend set a production car world land speed record of 431km/h at Volkswagen’s own Ehra-Lessien proving ground near Wolfsburg.

Just 30 examples of the ultimate Veyron – built to offer “experienced drivers a whole new dimension of excitement” - will be built following the global public debut of the world’s fastest production car at California’s Pebble Beach Concourse next month.

The first five Super Sport cars to roll off Bugatti’s Molsheim hypercar factory in north-east France will wear the same special black exposed carbon and orange body finish as the world-record car, but sadly all five World Record Edition models are already spoken for.

The rest will apparently come with the same extreme configuration as the world-record car, led by a fully reworked 882kW (1200hp) and 1500Nm – yes 1500Nm – version of the 736kW/1250Nm quad-turbo 8.0-litre W16 engine that powers the standard Veyron, which entered production in 2004.

Now, according to Bugatti, even before it has reached production, the Super Sport has set a faster than expected world production car average speed record of 431.072km/h (268mph), after reaching 427.933km/h and then 434.211km/h in the opposite direction at the German high-speed bowl.

Achieved in the presence of representatives from Germany’s technical inspection agency, the TUV, and the Guinness Book of Records, the faster than expected record was set in perfect 25-degree conditions just after 2pm on June 26 by Bugatti’s own ‘pilote officiel’ Pierre Henri Raphanel.

“We took it that we would reach an average value of 425km/h,” said Bugatti chief engineer Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, “but the conditions today were perfect and allowed even more".

Following the tradition of super-sport versions of successful Ettore Bugatti models such as the supercharged type 55 and type 57S, only around 40 of each were built, Bugatti says the higher-velocity Veyron comes in response to demand for even more visual and dynamic performance from the standard Veyron EB 16.4.

Launched in 2005 at a base price of around $1.8 million in Europe, the 1888kg Veyron set a production car speed record of 408.5km/h in April 2005, which was bettered in October 2007 by the SSC Ultimate Aero TT (412km/h), just 24 of which were built in 2006 and 2007.

Bugatti’s new Super Sport has now reclaimed the Guinness world record thanks to four larger turbochargers and bigger intercoolers for the 16-cylinder W engine, a more focussed chassis with firmer springs, stiffer anti-roll bars and race-based dampers, and an all-carbon monocoque bodyshell with revised fibre structure to optimise torsional rigidity and passive safety.

Also available in 100 per cent clear-lacquered exposed carbon on request, the body’s aerodynamic efficiency was fine-tuned to improve cooling and control turbulence within the wheelhouses at high speed.

At the front, revised lower air inlets are positioned further outboard and continue up along the leading edge of the front wheel-arches, complimented by new ducts behind the front wheel-arches and two new NACA-style roof vents, which replace the engine ducts above the rear-mounted in the standard Veyron 16.4.

Combined with a double rear diffuser incorporating new dual central exhaust outlets, the result is said to be superior wheel control, improved high-speed stability and improved interaction between the tyres and the intelligent all-wheel drive system, There is no change to the 16.4’s superbike-like 2.5-second 0-100km/h acceleration claim, but Bugatti says the Super Sport delivers superior lateral acceleration of up to 1.4g and can hit 200km/h and 300km/h even quicker than before in 7.3 and 15 seconds respectively.

Bugatti, which was purchased by Volkswagen in 1998, says it has delivered 249 versions of the 260 Veyron coupes it has sold – from a planned production run of 300 models - as well as 22 of the 35 Grand Sport roadsters for which it has orders.

After a range of special-edition models, the targa-topped Veyron first emerged two years ago at the exclusive Pebble Beach event. Bugatti said it would decide by mid-2010 whether to produce a third body derivative of the six-year-old coupe, based on the four-door Galibier concept shown at Molsheim last September.

If it gets the green light, expect the first of 300 examples of Bugatti’s boutique hyper-sedan to emerge within 12 months of Veyron production ending, in 2013.