As the automotive world prepares for one of the biggest events on the calendar – the Geneva Motor Show, opening to the public this Thursday – Bugatti has taken an early lead in buzz by unveiling the dramatic new Chiron.
Previously reported on last month, the Chiron arrives with a swollen corral of 1500 horsepower by way of an enlarged quartet of turbos. Torque is an equally-prodigious 1180 lb-ft, all funnelled through a revised version of the Veyron’s seven-speed, Ricardo-sourced dual-clutch gearbox. That power is again put to pavement via all four contact patches (285/30ZR20 front, 355/25ZR21 rear), this time with an electronic centre differential featuring torque vectoring. Surprisingly, it shares a feature with the newest Ford Focus RS: a drift mode. Yes, really.
Showcasing a full-size version of the Vision GT at Frankfurt last year, Bugatti has stayed incredibly close to that concept with this production model. Lead by design boss Achim Anscheidt, the trademark C-shape in the profile harks back to the company’s pre-war models like the 57SC Atlantic (and is even mirrored in the car’s name itself). In place of the enormous track-bred wing is an automated spoiler/airbrake, much the same as the Veyron’s. While the LMP-style fin is gone, there is still a prominent spine from nose to stern, said to aid stability right up to the car’s (electronically-limited) 261mph top speed.
Gone are the Veyron’s swollen rear haunches, replaced with a sharper, more pronounced shoulder line. These terminate at what’s surely to be the car’s most controversial side: the rear, complete with a single full-width light bar in place of the more traditional circular units found on its predecessor. A popular trend amongst performance cars in recent years (see McLaren P1, Audi R8, Lexus LFA et al), the huge swathes of negative space visually lighten the rear. The key word is ‘visually’, however: Bugatti has stated the car weighs significantly more than the Veyron, tipping the scales at 4,400lbs (roughly 2,000kg).
Interestingly, this weight increase comes despite a lack of hybrid componentry. While competitors from McLaren, Ferrari, and Porsche all adopted varying degrees of electrically-assisted shove, the big Bug still relies solely on that monster W16 engine.
There are four-carats worth of diamonds in the car’s sound system. The passenger airbag is the first of its kind to burst forth from within the carbonfibre dash. The all-new monocoque chassis has the sort of torsional rigidity normally seen in LMP-class cars. Those eight LED headlights double as air intakes for the massive 16.5-inch front brakes. This almost obsessive level of attention to detail makes it little wonder Bugatti will be charging $2.6 million to the remaining 350 people looking to own the Chiron. Yes, remaining: of the 500 production unit total, the company has already sold 150 units to customers.
We’ll be keeping an eye on Bugatti and the Chiron this week. With the close ties to Polyphony via the Vision GT project, we’re certainly keen to see where and when the Chiron will make its digital debut, as it’ll be slightly more accessible to the rest of us!
Head on over to the Chiron’s dedicated discussion thread in our Automotive News section to talk about this beast, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
See more articles on Bugatti and Bugatti Chiron.
Totally disappointing. The veyron was already way too heavy as it is yet these idiots make it even heavier. A successor should be better, not worse. And it doesn’t even beat the Veyron SS top speed anyways
It’s electronically limited to it’s top speed. Kind of like how the McLaren F1 can’t actually do 240 unless they remove the rev limited on the car, with it on you’re not getting anywhere near that speed. I’m pretty sure they have their reasons for limiting the top end. I just hope it out handles it’s older siblings, those previous cars were pigs.
I’d love to see you do better. Go on, have at it.
So with 400 more hp than the first Veyron it does not have a higher top speed?
Maybe it’s the drift mode that makes it more worthwhile :D
Where does it say it doesn’t have a higher top speed?
@Johnnypenso – The Veyron SS has a top speed of over 270, IIRC. So the Chiron is actually a downgrade in that department.
Drift mode?! Hell to the yes.
And still nothing in gt6…
Let’s be honest with ourselves. The likelihood that we GT6 content is actively being developed seems low at best, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Bugatti VGT doesn’t show up in GT6 at all.
Which means of course that it’ll go live tomorrow, just to prove me wrong =)
GT6 is more than 2 years old now. It’s done, move on.
@Johnnypenso, so is Grand Theft Auto V. In fact, it’s three months older than Gran Turismo 6. But we’ve been getting consistent updates for those two years. Oh, that’s right? Because they were wise enough to develop for next (current) generation hardware. -_-
I used to play GT6 every single day. But their incredibly short-sighted decision to wait this long into the PS4’s life to release is ridiculous. Not to mention the long list of “coming soon” content to GT6. You know, like the DOZEN Vision cars that never came to fruition. Just brand logos and sketches with nothing to show for it.
It also doesn’t help GT’s chances of greatness when so many other VERY GOOD racing titles have come since, or are on the horizon. I have owned every single GT title since their very first title, and I’m sure plenty of others will buy this title at launch. But I honestly think they’re going to have to pull off a miracle to recapture the level of interest they once had. Not with Project CARS and Asseto Corsa stealing a lot of their thunder, not to mention the laundry list of more casual racing games that are offered on the PS4.
@vespid well unlike GTA 5, GT6 doesn’t have a bunch of stupid microtransactions to rip off its fans with or missions that give no rewards forcing players to either grind the hell out of the game or to fork over the cash.
That’s the only reason GTAV is still going so don’t even think about using that as an example of well supported game.
Not to mention, it’s GTA. News flash but GTA is kind of popular. Comparing it to a racing game on a dead console is ridiculous. What were you thiknking?
@TomBrady, are you attempting to tell me that GT6 doesn’t have microtransactions? I guess I must be imagining those cards you spend REAL money on to get IN-GAME credits. -_-
I have had GTA since launch, amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in in-game money (from grinding) and have never once purchased a Shark Card. Wanna know what other game requires grinding to get money? Gran ******* Turismo! It always has! If anything, GTA is the perfect analogy, as well as the perfect example of how to drive a franchise into a brick wall. If there was no new content in GTA, there would be no reason to continue to grind. If GT6 had new content that you could buy or earn credits toward, guess what… there’d be more reason to play, more reason to grind, and more sales of their BS cash cards. And don’t act like this isn’t done elsewhere in the racing world. Forza? Sells new content. Project CARS? Sells new content. Gran Turismo has done so a few times, but PD love to release new content at a snail’s pace, and the series has fallen by the wayside (deservedly) as a result of it. Maybe doing so could generate the extra cash they need to hire enough people to crank out content in a timely manner like Turn 10 Studios does for Forza.
@Vespid82 I’ve had GTA V since it released on PS3 and also have the PS4 GTA V bundle, as much as I have played that game, it’s a monster grind way more grinding than GT6 ever could be. Don’t even pretend to say that the MT in GT6 are remotely similar to R* deliberate attempt to get folks to buy their shark cards. When the in game economy in GTA ramps up prices compared to the offline game by a factor of 5-10 then something is wrong, also you make money at a much slower rate as well online. They keep that hamster wheel turning by throwing out tidbits here and there. GTA Online is ok at best, still lacks a useful character movement system, severely lacking indoor areas, incredibly bad AI police with absolute awareness, AI that can hit you from sniper range with a hand gun. Everything in GTA Online is overpriced and aimed to make you spend money and either grind like crazy or skip the grind and just spend money to get money. GT6 has a limit as when you have all the cars you can stop but you get money boosting events that appear every other week. GTA Online has no limit, hence the reason why R* keeps on trucking with GTA Online it’s making them tons of cash. So you think you can fairly compare GT6 MT to GTA, you my friend must have rose tinted glasses on. Perhaps you should be realistic when comparing the games yes? GTA Online is available on how many formats and GT6 is only available on one…which one is going to have the potential to make the most money off MT?
@SavageEvil Alright, how about this then? I’ll hit a little closer to home. You, like the other commenters, clearly chose to ignore the FACT that a dozen VGT cars never came to fruition. You ignore the FACT that handful of updates to GT6 were “poor” at best. You ignore the FACT that Turn 10 Studios, which also makes Forza for one system, trumps Polyphony Digital when it comes to releasing DLC content. My point is, it’s not like these are impossible feats to achieve. Polyphony just sucks at doing them. When their own single-console rival (Turn 10) has been doing it for multiple titles, it’s clear that PD are just dragging their feet… as always. I’m 1,000,000% certain I am far from the only person around here that thinks this. I’m just one of the few that still checks this place from time to time, hoping for some sliver of new content.
It’s pretty telling when almost every single piece of news on “GTPlanet” is anything BUT Gran Turismo.
@vespid82 “GT has fallen by the wayside,” eh? Guess the sales figures are wrong then. Even GT’s strongest competitors are struggling to sell a million copies each.
Beautiful! I wasn’t expecting that close of a resemblance to the Bugatti VGT to be honest, but it looks awesome! Way more classy than the Veyron, and it has a menacing look. Some details like the R8-esqe steering wheel and the Aventador-like rear quarter panels are no surprise imo (same company after all), but overall, it looks amazing!
No I would prefer it if they fixed the issues that actually matter rather than build this entirely un-necessary car.
Wrong comment…
Good to know Volkswagen is spending their money on worthwhile causes…and not you know, fixing the diesels…
Pretty sure the diesel issue is Volkswagen’s problem, not Bugatti’s.
Same Company – Bugatti is a loss making prestige brand for the VW Group.
Point is, his sarcastic comment isn’t at all relevant to this and comes off as an immature dig at VAG as a whole.
@RACECAR
You are correct.
Yes, because it’s not possible to both work on a new car model in development for years and work on other issues at the same time.
Wish to have update with interior for this, and other VGT cars.
Looks good (much more than the Veyron).
Wow, it literally is just a wingless version of the VGT…
Wait they used the exact same pictures and everything! They just removed the racing bits.
Speaking of the VGT, where is it? Are we ever going to get it in GT6?
I guess this car will be avaiable just in GT Sport
Most likely with the Hyundai VGT.
It’s not wingless, the wing retracts just like the Veyrons’. The VGT is a race preppred version for all those people who bawl and whimper that VGT’s are not real cars and other such absurdities but utterly forgetting that all cars being life as concepts. The VGT car is supposed to be a no holds barred track model, so it skips the automated shenanigans.