Only a few moments ago the new Veyron 16.4 Super Sport achieved a new landspeed world record with 268 mph on Volkswagen Group’s proving ground at Ehra-Lessien nearby the Wolfsburg headquarters. In a perfectly staged show of the Volkswagen Group evening, Bugatti presented the car which Pierre-Henri Raphanel had driven to a new world record at the beginning of July this year.
Had a model been especially popular or highly successful in races, Ettore Bugatti’s customers often pushed the master to tease out of the engine a few horsepower more for their future car. Bugatti had been in a similar situation when their existing customers asked the company to not only design their second model optically differently but to also create a version with a sportier and more extreme driving experience. The result is a car with a uniquely high performance of 1,200- hp offering experienced drivers a whole new dimension of excitement. The first five Super Sports to come off the production line will constitute a special series of their own, with the same configuration as the land speed record car.
The Super Sport is a consequence of the further development of the classic exclusive 1,001-hp Bugatti Veyron 16.4, launched in 2005. This model offers a stunning set of specifications, such as the twin clutch gearbox with seven speeds, the extraordinarily precise driving performance in bends and excellent stability when braking and accelerating.
Continuous work in extreme performance ranges lead to constantly new conclusions, which enabled the engineers at Bugatti to develop the Veyron into a direction in which the driver can reach new dimensions. Every modification is designed to produce an even more powerful car for an agile ride. Four enlarged turbochargers and bigger intercoolers have been used to boost the power of the 16- cylinder engine, and the chassis has been extensively redesigned to maintain safety at extreme speed – thanks to slightly raised main-spring travel, stronger stabilizers, 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.
The body has been fine-tuned to improve aerodynamic efficiency and maintain perfect balance in every situation, while the new structure of the all-carbon monocoque ensures maximum torsion rigidity and passive safety – at reduced weight. The skin is made entirely of carbon-fiber composites, and the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is available in 100 percent clear-lacquered exposed carbon on request.
Every detail of this car, and not just its use of advanced motorsport technology, stems back to the pioneering spirit of company founder Ettore Bugatti. This brilliant designer came from a family of artists, and his philosophy was always to combine mechanical perfection and exterior beauty. This ethos remains alive and well at the company, and the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is wholly unmistakable, with every external modification serving to coax greater performance from the car.
The Super Sport’s flat, elongated silhouette is immediately recognizable. The 16-cylinder engine gets its air from two NACA ducts integrated into the roof, rather than from scoops above the engine. 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 has a tradition of making super-sport versions of successful models, usually with racing chassis and supercharged engines. These cars were considered as true racing machines for diehard Bugatti devotees. The most successful were the type 55 and type 57S; only around forty of each were built.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. has sold 260 Veyrons and 35 Grand Sports and 25 Super Sports by now, of which 250 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 World Record Edition – are in a special black exposed carbon and orange finish and have already been sold.
