It’s hardly a secret that Bugatti spent a long, long time in preparation to break the 300mph barrier in a production car, which was proving to be an indomitable challenge. Finally, in 2019, the French hypercar manufacturer was able to cross the 300mph-mark with a prototype, which was later turned into a production model called the Chiron Super Sport 300+. Just to create a car that could go faster than 300mph, the engineers at Bugatti had to face unthinkable challenges and come up with ingenious solutions to deal with them. In a new blogpost, Bugatti has tried explaining what all they had to do to transform the already capable standard Chiron into the unique Chiron Super Sport 300+.
The biggest challenge to cross the 300mph-mark was to deal with the aerodynamic drag. For a fast-moving object, the magnitude of the drag force is proportional to the square of the speed. What that simply means is faster you go more difficult is it to overcome aerodynamic resistance. Bugatti had to reengineer the body to further bring down the drag coefficient to make the hypercar more slipper through the air. In addition to that, the wings, diffuser, air curtains, and other aerodynamic components of the Chiron had to be updated to produce more downforce without increasing drag. The bodywork was crafted to help guide the air around the corners in the most optimal way. “Only perfect incoming airflow at the front of the car will keep harmful turbulence at bay and ensure that the airflow around the car stays clean,” says Frank Heyl, Deputy Design Director at Bugatti.
The mighty 8.0-liter W16 engine in the standard Chiron is already powerful enough to attain breakneck speeds. But Bugatti wanted to extract more power from the engine to crack the 300mph barrier. The engine was updated with reinforced pistons, a stiffer pressure control spring, and a reworked oil pump. As a result, the power increased from 1480 hp to 1577 hp. The French marque also worked closely with Michelin to develop Pilot-Sport-Cup-2 that has been purpose-built for high speeds. Bugatti has announced that deliveries of the $4 million limited-series hypercar to the new owners will start in early 2022.
