The Bugatti Veyron heralded not only the extraordinary resurrection of the illustrious French brand, but also the race to the highest top speed for production cars. The Veyron got it done exactly fifteen years ago this week. At 407 km / h, it became the fastest ever.
In the late 90s and early this century it couldn’t be crazy enough for the Volkswagen Group. Under the direction of Ferdinand Piëch, very special creations were previously created and when the Bugatti group got hold of, the boundlessness was taken to a new level. The Veyron became a pretty megalomaniac story, with the 1,001 hp 8.0-liter W16 with four turbos and three radiators to keep things cool, nestled in a smooth body with active aerodynamics. 0-100 km / h had to pass in 2.5 seconds, 0-200 km / h in 7.3 seconds. Everything about the car screamed from the beginning: records are going to be broken here.
That was exactly the plan that was on the table and was especially strongly underlined by Piëch. The Veyron had to and could go faster than 400 km / h. When the Veyron entered the market in 2005 (for that select group of people who could afford such a monster at all), it was time to chase a completely street-legal and standard Veyron to its top speed. On April 27, 2005, a Veyron of the very first batch on the test track at Ehra-Lessien was successfully driven past 400 km / h. 407 km / h came on the clock and that is the speed that immediately came to the top of the record list. 407 km / h was the average measurement over two stretches, because the peak was even more than 408 km / h. The average of two runs was recorded as a record. It worked.
Obviously it hasn’t stopped here since then. It turned out that there was much more in the barrel. With weight reduction, even more power and extra aerodynamic gadgets, the speed could be further increased. The more extreme 1,200 hp Veyron Super Sport went in 2010 to a top speed of no less than 431 km / h. Incidentally, the Super Sports for the customers were electronically limited to 415 km / h. Terribly disappointing, of course.
Although several production cars, including two Koenigseggs, went faster after the Veyron, the record is still held by Bugatti. No longer with the Veyron, but with her current monster; the Chiron. There was also a Super Sport version, which he knew last year to kick an insane ‘average top speed’ of 487 km / h. The peak even exceeded 490 km / h. With that, Bugatti has once again pushed a boundary, making the Chiron the first production car to pass the 300mph mark.