On last 5 July 2010, at Volkswagen’s testing facilities at Ehra-Lessien (nearby its headquarters at Wolfsburg), the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport achieved a new landspeed world record for production cars.

With the presence of the German Technical Inspection Agency (TÃœV) and a representative of Guinness Book of Records the Super Sport the car reached an average top speed of 431 km/h.

The SuperSport was driven by Bugatti’s Pilote Officiel Pierre Henri Raphanel.

The top speed of 431,072 km/h (268 mph) was the average between two passages at opposite directions. The value even exceeded the company’s expectations.

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

 

From the official Press Release:

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport features a powertrain capable of 1,200-hp (882 kW) and a maximum torque of 1,500 Newton metres with a limited top speed of 415 km/h (to protect the tires).

The first five Super Sports to come off the production line will constitute a special series, with the same configuration as the landspeed record car.

The Super Sport is a development of the classic exclusive 1,001-hp Bugatti Veyron 16.4, launched in 2005. Among the specifications is the twin clutch gearbox with seven speeds.

In the lastest version, 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 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 has been fine-tuned to improve aerodynamic efficiency and maintain balance in every situation, while 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 clear-lacquered exposed carbon on request.

Dynamic exterior

The Super Sport’s flat, elongated silhouette is immediately recognisable. The 16-cylinder engine gets its air from two NACA ducts set 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 has sold 260 Veyron and 35 Grand Sport by now, of which 249 Veyron and 22 Grand Sport 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.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport will appear for the first time in public in California at the Pebble Beach Concours week end in mid August and will feature at Quail Meadow, Laguna Seca and on the concept lawn of the Pebble Beach Concours.

(Source: Bugatti)

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