Bugatti Chiron is the First Production Car to Make 1500 HP

Just over a decade has passed since Bugatti began building the Veyron supercar, but the brand is marking the end of an era at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show with its new Chiron.

Like its predecessor, the Chiron uses an 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W16 though power has been boosted to an incredible 1,500 horsepower and 1,180 lb-ft of torque. That makes this car the most powerful production car ever, with an output about 300 hp more than its predecessor.

That means that this new French supercar can jump from a standstill to 60 mph in under 2.5 seconds and continue on to 186 mph in just 13.6 seconds.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

That extra power comes courtesy of four larger turbochargers than those found on the Veyron, which now use a new two-stage turbocharging setup. Off the line, only two turbochargers engage, while the second two activate at 3,800 rpm. This eliminates turbo lag according to Bugatti and delivers a linear power curve from 2000 rpm.

2016 Geneva Motor Show

Top speed is going to be limited at 260 mph for “road travel,” so expect an even faster version to eventually become available, though it may not be road legal. Bugatti also says that it will go for a new world speed record with the car, which has a speedometer that goes to 310 mph.

Styling has been made more angular than the smoother and rounded Veyron, giving the Chiron a more aggressive, angry look, though overall the styling is mostly evolutionary.

The Chiron is built around a carbon fiber monocoque which has torsional rigidity equal to what is found with an LMP1 race car. In fact, it is the world’s first car to have an airbag that shoots through a carbon fiber housing.

Only 500 units of the Chiron will be produced in total, with each costing at least €2.4 million. Bugatti says that one third of that total production run is already reserved.

Discuss this story at our Luxury Lifestyle Forum