Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport - 431 km/h

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport set a new world record for production cars. The masterpiece, which is created by the VAG at Ehra-Lessien (nearby its headquarters at Wolfsburg) once again proved that it is the fastest vehicle on the Earth.

In the presence of the German Technical Inspection Agency (TÜV) and a representative of Guinness Book of Records the Super Sport achieved an average top speed of 431 km/h.

Saturday, 2 pm – Bugatti's Pilote Officiel Pierre Henri Raphanel puts his helmet and gloves on, pulls the safety belts tight whilst the engineers check the car a very last time: tyre pressure, temperature, all systems go. Then the orange black Super Sport crosses the light barrier, from now on the time will be taken, within one hour the car has to drive from South to North and then in the opposite direction.

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport (2010)

No one but the driver is allowed to touch the car during this time. The tension rises. A few minutes later we can hear from the left side the sound of a starting jumbo jet coming closer towards us. First we perceive the headlights of the Veyron, then we can recognize the shape of the car, a loud wooosh…. and Raphanel dashes in top speed past us. The GPS-tachometer stops at 427, 933 km/h. Now the same procedure from the opposite direction. This time the car reaches 434, 211 km/h. As average top speed the representatives of the "TÜV"and Guinness generate a value of 431, 072 km/h (268 mph). This even hit Bugatti's engineering team by surprise.

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

The extraordinary result is due to the extremely high performance engine delivering 1 200hp and staggering 1 500Nm of torque. The top speed is limited to 415 km/h, because of safety reasons!!! All that power comes from the re-freshened W16 Quad-Turbo engine, which received bigger turbochargers and bigger intercoolers so the power can be boosted. There are also slightly raised main-spring travel, stronger stabilisers, and new shock absorbers with a complex architecture originally developed for racing cars. This gives noticeably more precise control of the wheels and the car as a whole. With lateral acceleration of up to 1.4 G and improved interaction between the tyres and the intelligent all-wheel drive system, the Super Sport offers perfect handling and even more powerful acceleration of 1,500 Newton metres on corner exits.

The body is fine-tuned to improve aerodynamic efficiency and maintain perfect balance in every situation, especially at extremely high speeds. The new fibre structure of the all-carbon monocoque ensures maximum torsion rigidity and passive safety – at reduced weight.

The skin is made entirely of carbon-fibre composites, and the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is available in 100 per-cent clearlacquered exposed carbon on request.

The front air intakes have been expanded and reshaped, with the lower one extending elegantly around the sides to the wheel arch. The revised back looks sportier due to the double diffuser and a centrally arranged exhaust system.

Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. has sold 260 Veyrons and 35 Grand Sports by now, of which 249 Veyrons and 22 Grand Sports had been delivered. The Super Sport will begin production this autumn at Molsheim along with the Veyron and the Grand Sport. The first five cars – known as the 3 Bugatti World Record Edition – are in a special black exposed carbon and orange finish and have already been sold.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport will made its debut in California at the Pebble Beach Concours weekend in mid-August and will be featured at The Quail, Monterey Historic Races at Laguna Seca and on the concept lawn of the Pebble Beach Concours 'Elegance.