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2017 Bugatti Chiron gets EPA fuel economy rating

There's no doubting that the new Bugatti Chiron is a beautiful marriage of beauty and brawn. But for a cool $2.998 million there are, shall we say, more practical supercars (stop laughing) to whisk you to Davos or South Beach. Put simply, the Chiron's fuel-economy ratings, released Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency, are absurd. Sure, the 1,500-horsepower roadster's quad-turbocharged, 8.0-liter 16-cylinder engine delivers 1,180 foot-pounds of torque, has a top speed of 261 mph and does 0-to-60 in 2.3 seconds (watch it run up to 218 mph, here). Certainly impressive. But there's a tradeoff: a measly 11 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving. That's 9 mpg in the city and a whopping 14 on the highway. That equates to an estimated annual fuel cost of $3,800, averaging $6.26 in gasoline — premium gasoline, no less — for every 25 miles driven. With a 9.1-gallon fuel tank, you'd be hard pressed, while zooming down the PCH or Autobahn, to squeeze out 100 miles before you'd need to find a filling station. Still, it's a slight upward tick from the Bugatti Veyron, which the EPA rated at 10 mpg combined. Bugatti says the W16 engine represents a 25 percent increase in performance compared to its predecessor, with nearly every single part of the engine examined and newly developed. Included are four turbochargers that are 69 percent larger than on the discontinued Veyron. Somehow we doubt that the miserly fuel economy ratings will hurt the supercar's prestige. Back in November, Bugatti design director Achim Anscheidt told Autoblog that the Chiron's uber-exclusive clientele owns an average of 42 cars in their impossible-to-imagine garages (plus 1.7 jets and 1.4 yachts, to boot). With that many hot wheels, it's safe to say the Chiron wouldn't rack up the miles too quickly. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bugatti Chiron: First Drive View 67 Photos News Source: EPAImage Credit: Bugatti By the Numbers Green Motorsports Bugatti Fuel Efficiency Luxury Performance Supercars Bugatti Chiron

Bugatti brings Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse "Gris Rafale" to Brazil

Bugatti's Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse is downright well-known around these parts. Not only have we reported on the 1,200-horsepower Veyron selling for a pretty penny at Pebble Beach, we've seen a funnyman Leno take one for a pleasure cruise in SoCal.
Apparently, Bugatti believes that the Grand Sport Vitesse is likely to be just as popular in South America as it has been elsewhere in the world, as the company has officially announced that it will be bringing the model to Brazil. Not wanting to merely send out a press release, the French supercar maker has gone and created a one-off Grand Sport Vitesse "Gris Rafale" to mark the occasion.
The new car has been finished in a fetching light shade of gray called Gris Rafale (French for "Gray Burst", with accent pieces done in striking blue carbon fiber. The interior treatment is a reversal of that motif, with blue leather and gray stitching. A special edition that only features a new colorway might seem like a weak effort for any other car, but on one of the most expensive, highest performance road-going vehicles of all time, we'll take it.

Check out the diverse ways Bugatti Divo customers are configuring their car

The limited-edition Bugatti Divo introduced in 2018 recently entered production after a development process that took two years. It made its debut in black with blue accents, and we've never seen it in another color — until now. Bugatti released computer-generated images of four Divo configurations commissioned by customers to illustrate the wide range of possibilities. One is painted in a shade of yellow inspired by the Type 55. Company founder Ettore Bugatti would love it; yellow was his favorite color, according to the firm. Another celebrates Bugatti's French roots with blue, white, and red accents inside and out, while a third wears a two-tone livery that highlights the Divo's meticulous design details as well as a contrasting blue exterior. Our favorite from the lot is a gray and blue car an anonymous customer chose because it's similar to the Chiron that's already part of his collection. These examples confirm there's no standard or right way to configure a Divo. Bugatti wants its loyal customers to view the car as a blank slate, and it noted over two-thirds of reservation holders decided to customize their car. Laure Beneteau, the carmaker's sales and operations manager, explained the sky is the limit when it comes to paint colors, upholstery types, and stitching patterns. She joined Bugatti in 2006 and has helped over 400 Veyron and 300 Chiron buyers configure their cars, so repeat customers trust (and value) her opinion. She's not about to see new faces, though; every collector who bought a Divo has at least one Chiron in his or her collection. Clients have the option of traveling to the company's picturesque headquarters in France and working with stylists to create a unique car. "Customers often have their own ideas, such as family crests, national flags, their own logos, or special color schemes. We then try to implement the ideas in technical terms. Some customers choose leather and color to match their handbag or their favorite pair of shoes," said Anne Beynat, Bugatti's sales coordinator. She added changes that would compromise the car's safety or alter the Bugatti logo are off-limits. Inside, customers can choose from many different types of leather. It can be new, vintage, thin, thick, perforated, or something else entirely.