At more than 490 km/h, Bugatti sets a speed record with the Chiron

It's hard to imagine the feeling of a car traveling at nearly 500 km/h. This staggering figure was almost reached by Andy Wallace at the Ehra-Lessien test track in Lower Saxony (Germany), aboard a modified Bugatti Chiron on August 2, 2019.

The winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans 1988 (with Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries on Jaguar XJR-9LM) became the world's fastest man in a car. And what a car! 

The Bugatti Chiron has been aerodynamically modified by Dallara. The changes are mainly at the rear, with the removal of the spoiler and the airbrake as well as the lengthening of the bodywork by 25 centimeters. 

To shave a few grams off the scale, the passenger seat was removed. This gain is offset by the addition of a roll bar. As for the tires, Michelin has developed exclusive Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, tested in the United States on test benches up to 511 km/h. “In one minute, the tires rotate up to 4100 times”, when the 500 km/h mark approaches! 

Under the rear hood, the enormous engine W16 8.0 liter quad-turbo reaches 1 horsepower. This beast was therefore taken by Andy Wallace with the mission of crossing the 300 miles per hour mark (or 482,80 km/h). 

A crazy task but one that didn't seem to bother the pilot. “The Chiron was well prepared, I felt completely safe, even at these very high speeds. » 

“When starting, I pushed the engine to full throttle, for about 70 seconds. It was important that beyond 200 km/h, I exited the corner, to reach maximum speed on the straight. I needed to be fully focused”, he analyzes.

For the record, Andy Wallace knows the Ehra-Lessien ring perfectly, having seen a speed record set in 1998 in McLaren F1. At the time, he had “only” reached 391 km/h! 

This mechanical feat obviously makes Stephan Winkelmann, President of Bugatti, very happy. “With the world record of the Chiron, we are once again entering an absolutely new world. Never before has a series manufacturer achieved this speed. »

From now on, the Melsheim (Bas-Rhin) firm will focus on other technological fields. The records are over! “We have proven time and time again that we build the fastest cars in the world. In the future, we will focus on other areas as a priority. »