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Bugatti breaks the 300-mph barrier in a longtail Chiron prototype

In one fell swoop, Bugatti reclaimed the top speed crown from Koenigsegg, and became the first hypercar manufacturer to break the 300-mph barrier. Andy Wallace, the French firm's official test pilot, recently set a speed record in a purpose-built, Chiron-based prototype on the Ehra-Lessien track in Germany. With 16 cylinders screaming in unison a foot away from his eardrums, Wallace reached 304.773 mph on Ehra-Lessien's 5.4-mile straight. To add context, the Veyron Super Sport topped out at 267.856 mph, and the Koenigsegg Agera RS stopped accelerating at 284.550 mph. Japan's Shinkansen bullet train normally runs at about 200 mph. The record-setting Chiron is faster than many small, Cessna-like aircrafts, and it can outrun a majority of the helicopters in the skies. Bugatti calls the record-setting car a pre-production version of a Chiron derivative. While technical details remain under wraps, we can tell its rear end has been extended in order to add downforce without creating drag. Round vents drilled into the top part of the front end reduce turbulence in the wheel wells, while peeking inside reveals a roll cage and a Sparco bucket seat for the driver. The prototype looks a little bit lower than a regular Chiron, too, but we'll have to wait until Bugatti publishes more information to find out what lies beneath the carbon fiber bodywork, and whether any of it will reach production. Italy's Dallara helped develop the special Chiron. Michelin contributed a great deal of expertise to the project, too. It provided Pilot Cup Sport 2 tires reinforced to handle 5,300 Gs while remaining street-legal. The company went as far as sending the four tires through an X-ray machine to scan for even the smallest imperfections. The run comes as a surprise, because the company's interest in setting speed records seemingly waned after it released the Chiron. Getting to 304 mph required a tremendous amount of effort, but Bugatti now has two additional bullet points on its resume. It's the first automaker to break the 300-mph barrier, and the Chiron stands out as the fastest car in the world.  We expect to learn more about Bugatti's record-setting run — including what's next for the record-breaking car — in the coming weeks as the firm continues celebrating its 110th birthday. In addition to the speed record, the celebrations have so far spawned the one-off La Voiture Noire and the limited-edition Centodieci.

Bugatti's Monterey surprise is an homage to the EB110

Seems luxury car purveyor Girard & Co told the truth about what's Bugatti is bringing to The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering this week. As picked up by The Supercar Blog a few weeks ago, Girard wrote on Instagram, "It is rumoured that Bugatti will be presenting a new car at Pebble Beach this year that is inspired from the original EB110SS, 10 cars to be built, with a price tag of Euro 8 million." Now that we're a day away from the weekend's events, Bugatti uploaded a video hinting at the reveal, and that video is full of the EB110:           View this post on Instagram                   Named after Ettore Bugatti on his 110th birthday, the EB110 was a supercar setting new standards. Uncompromising, with a modern design and very fast, the EB110 certainly stood out among the competitors of its day. Featuring the world’s first carbon monocoque, weighing in it 125kg, Romano ArtioliÂ’s creation was capable of an incredible 213mph. Powered by a 3.5l V-12 quad turbocharged engine, it first debuted in Paris 1991. #BUGATTI #BUGATTI110ans #EB110 #BUGATTIEB110 #Campogalliano A post shared by BUGATTI (@bugatti) on Aug 15, 2019 at 5:52am PDT Evo says the new Chiron-based offering is called Centodieci, that being Italian for "110." The name not only references the EB110, which was named for what would have been Ettore Bugatti's 110th birthday year when the EB110 debuted in 1991, it happens to tie into the special edition 110 Ans released earlier this year. The special edition Chiron Sport from February used the French version of 110 years, named for the 110th anniversary of Automobiles E. Bugatti's founding in 1909 in the then-German town of Molsheim.  As Evo also points out, the EB110 established a template for the Bugatti brand Volkswagen resurrected. Twenty eight years ago — and a year before the McLaren F1 — Roman Artioli's step in the supercar chain used a carbon monococque, four turbos, all-wheel drive, and active aerodynamics. The teaser vid doesn't give much away, but there's not long to wait. Bugatti will unveil the new toy on at 11:20 a.m. PDT Friday, and livestream the event on its newsroom site. Here's an embed to the livestream:  

Watch a Bugatti Chiron Sport race a French Navy fighter jet

Bugatti is done chasing speed records, but it's finding other ways to demonstrate what the Chiron's mighty W16 engine is capable of. It brought a Sport model to a naval base in France and put it head-to-head against a jet. On paper, the comparison is hardly fair. Driven by Pierre-Henri Raphanel, a former pilot who is now Bugatti's official driver, the Chiron Sport is powered by a quad-turbocharged engine rated at 1,500 horsepower. Made by Dassault, the Rafale jet boasts about 5,700 horsepower, though its dry weight checks in at around 22,700 pounds. And yet, after the flag drops, the Chiron races ahead of the Rafale for the first few hundred yards. Its lead doesn't last long; Raphanel explained the Rafale quickly caught up and took off. Looking at the plane's specifications sheet reveals it begins to leave the ground at 161 mph after sprinting for approximately 450 yards. Once it's airborne, it's gone. It's capable of reaching the speed of sound (Mach 1.6; 1,227 mph). Even with 16 cylinders, the Chiron isn't quite that fast; test driver Andy Wallace set a land speed record in 2019 by driving a longtail model to 304.7 mph. Slowing down both machines is easier said than done. The runway the Chiron and the Rafale raced on was relatively short, so Raphanel began braking at over 217 mph after accelerating for about a mile. The air brake integrated into the rear end helps scrub off speed without undue drama. Landing the Rafale safely requires a complex system that includes 10 pistons, a special anti-skid system, heat shields to protect the wheels, and nitrogen-filled tires. It approaches the runway at about 155 mph and comes to a full stop in around 150 yards. Bugatti brought the recently-introduced Les Legendes du Ciel version of the Chiron to the race. It's a limited-edition model that highlights the little-known link between some of the firm's earliest race cars and aviation with special graphics and specific trim pieces, among other details. While it initially looks like the sketch of a plane on the door panel is all that joins the Rafale and the Chiron, the connection is a little deeper: the jet's brakes were developed by Messier-Bugatti, a company now known as Safran Landing Systems that shares common roots with the carmaker.