Dark Knight Set To Vanquish Veyron

B U G A T T I - C H I R O N

MOVE over, Bugatti Veyron; here comes the Chiron, a younger, fitter and — beneath the matt-black body wrap — more muscular machine that is set to become the world’s fastest production car.
The final stages of its development and testing on public roads are well under way; the prototype here was photographed in Germany. Rumours suggest that its W16 quad-turbo engine will make even the 1,183bhp Veyron Super Sport — the fastest of all Veyron models — seem as though it’s not firing on all cylinders.
Although the four-wheel-drive car’s power output, performance and, significantly, top speed remain closely guarded secrets, the likelihood is that it will be capable of travelling more than four times faster than the UK’s national speed limit, at 280mph-plus.
As much as 1,479bhp is being hinted at, and Martin Winterkorn, who recently stepped down as head of the Volkswagen Group (which owns Bugatti) over the emissions scandal, has previously said it will have a hybrid powertrain.
The new model’s name has been chosen in memory of Louis Chiron, a Monaco-born driver who scored numerous grands prix wins for Bugatti in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Quite where owners will be able to try the car’s extraordinary power for themselves remains unclear. In 2010James May drove the Veyron Super Sport to 259mph — 9mph short of its top speed — despite having the luxury of a private VW test track and a 5.5-mile straight at his disposal.
The Chiron will be built at Bugatti’s factory in Molsheim, northeast France. It is thought that its exclusivity will be ensured by the restriction of production to fewer than 500 cars.
The company has announced that the Chiron will make its debut next March at the Geneva motor show, a natural choice as the city is the winter retreat of billionaires and its underground car parks house priceless motoring collections.
As for the price, expect it to be as heart-stopping as the hypercar’s performance. Those who are too busy or too impatient to wait can order one now, says Bugatti. More than 100 buyers have done just that. Given that no one outside Bugatti has tried the vehicle, you might be justified in thinking bragging rights take precedence over the driving experience.
Wolfgang Dürheimer, president of Bugatti, says of the Chiron: “We want to make the best significantly better. It will set new standards in every respect.”