Bugatti Chiron Super Sport unveiled

If stepping onto a TGV still feels risky even after vaccination, Bugatti has added a new method of obtaining socially-distant high-speed thrills: the new Chiron Super Sport.

It’s essentially a more luxurious version of the earlier Super Sport 300+ from 2019. While the 300+ had a stripped-back all-black interior, the Super Sport’s cabin comes with a mix of leather, aluminium and carbon-fibre.

Both cars feature a lengthened body with a 250mm longer tail, and two pairs of vertically stacked exhaust pipes for improved high-speed aerodynamics.

In the Super Sport, the brand’s 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 boasts 1176kW — up 73kW from the regular Chiron — as well as 1600Nm between 2000 and 7000rpm. The engine’s redline has been moved up 300rpm to 7100rpm.

With a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive as standard, the Super Sport can reportedly hit 200km/h within 5.8 seconds and 300km/h in 12.1s.

Top speed is electronically limited to 430km/h, which is well short of the 304.77mph (490.48km/h) achieved by a long-tail Chiron prototype at the Ehra-Lessien test track in Germany.

That said, it’s exactly the same top speed as the 300+ designed to commemorate that run.

The Super Sport rides on specially-developed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres capable of driving up to 500km/h.

Other changes include firmer dampers, harder springs, a more rigid steering system, and an electronic chassis control ssytem capable of reacting within six milliseconds.

The Chiron Super Sport is priced from €3.2 million ($5 million) before taxes, or €300,000 ($470,000) less than the 300+, which was limited to a run of just 30 cars.

Production of the Super Sport will start soon at the company’s factory in Molsheim, France. The first cars will be delivered in early 2022.