453.91 km/h is the brand new top-speed world document for an open-top automotive. Achieved on the observe services of ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg GmbH, Germany, on November ninth – a day now immortalized in Bugatti’s historical past, and the historical past of the automotive world. On the finish of its unimaginable run, the one-of-one W16 Mistral World Report Automobile returned to the devoted staff that had made it doable, reveling within the historical past that they had made collectively. However earlier than the landmark day was accomplished, the W16 Mistral returned to the observe – becoming a member of its three world-record-setting forebears in an iconic second in Bugatti’s story.
Collectively, the 4 vehicles signify the purest essence of innovation – showcasing not solely the evolution of Bugatti equipment however the increasing boundaries of engineering chance and an ever-growing mastery of outright efficiency. The Veyron 16.4 Tremendous Sport World Report Version; Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse World Report Version; Chiron Tremendous Sport 300+²; and now the W16 Mistral World Report Automobile – all have performed a novel position in carving out their place, and Bugatti’s incomparable legacy, within the story of the car.
Constructing on a good looking, intricate historical past of unparalleled class and style stretching again to the early twentieth century, Bugatti was to enter a brand new world – one outlined by a record-conquering pursuit of efficiency. It’s a story set in movement on the flip of the last decade, in June 2010, with an achievement that redefined the world’s notion of pace.
Rewriting the rulebook for road-going manufacturing vehicles
On a sunny day on the proving grounds of Ehra-Lessien in Germany, the stage was set for the Veyron 16.4 Tremendous Sport World Report Version to usher in a brand new decade of Bugatti creation with an unparalleled assertion of intent.
For Bugatti’s first Pilote Officiel, Pierre-Henri Raphanel, it was a day to attract upon his wealthy experience in motorsport and high-performance driving – assuming the controls of a novel automobile imbued with the ability of a modified, 1,200 PS model of the Veyron’s W16 engine. That includes 4 enhanced turbochargers and bigger intercoolers, the Veyron 16.4 Tremendous Sport noticed the Veyron’s chassis comprehensively redesigned – ready to cement its impression on the automotive world.
The momentous achievement of Bugatti’s world-leading engineers was made starkly clear with Pierre-Henri’s searingly quick world-record-breaking run, by which he reached an unprecedented 431.07 km/h. It was an accomplishment honored by bestowing the primary 5 manufacturing Tremendous Sports activities with their very own particular collection – the World Report Editions – that includes the identical configuration because the record-setting automobile and permitting Bugatti prospects to expertise the spirit of endeavor that created them.
Opening up a brand new world of chance
Such top-speed data weren’t solely the protect of closed-cockpit automobiles. Staying true to its ethos of uncompromising invention, in 2013, Bugatti turned its beautiful engineering experience to open-top automobiles. Primarily based on the Veyron Tremendous Sport platform, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse World Report Version was the outcome. Chinese language entrepreneur and passionate racing driver Anthony Liu was to take the breathtaking machine to the hallowed grounds of Ehra-Lessien – with a steadfast resolve to showcase the heights to which masterful engineering might take an elemental driving expertise.
The immense bodily forces of open-air efficiency required a meticulously curated design to tame. With the cockpit open to the weather, a strengthened carbon monocoque was crafted to ship supreme torsional rigidity, whereas a bespoke roof spoiler and intricately designed windbreak ensured optimum airflow administration at excessive pace.
The fruits of the Molsheim engineers’ ardour and dedication got here to bear at Ehra-Lessien, with Anthony reaching 408.84 km/h – and setting one other world document for the marque. Because the realm of open-cockpit automotive engineering was conquered, eight World Report Version automobiles have been created, resplendent within the signature two-tone black and orange paintwork that had grow to be a revered image of Bugatti’s world data.
Taking high pace to the final word heights
As Bugatti had established an inimitable historical past of world-record-beating achievement in the summertime of 2019, it was to take automotive efficiency to a stage that had been broadly deemed inconceivable.
The Chiron Tremendous Sport 300+ was the machine that had been totally engineered from the wheels as much as understand that immense feat. The 8.0-liter, quad-turbo, 1,600 PS engine with an enhanced thermal administration system represented the epitome of Bugatti’s iconic W16 masterpiece. The prolonged ‘longtail’ bodywork, bespoke for the mannequin, ensured better aerodynamic effectivity, decreasing aerodynamic stall by 40%.
Engineered to perfection and ready to redefine perceptions of human endeavor, within the arms of Bugatti Pilote Officiel Andy Wallace, the automotive surprised the automotive world. For the primary time in historical past, a series-production automotive had damaged the 300-mph barrier – formally reaching a monumental 490.484 km/h.
30 items of the Chiron Tremendous Sport 300+ version cement the legacy of a automotive that may stay within the annals of automotive historical past for eternity. Completed in Jet Black uncovered carbon fiber with two Jet Orange racing stripes down the size of the machine, the spirit of the World Report Vehicles carried on by – on the cusp of a brand new decade of Bugatti innovation.
Making a record-beating grasp of air
Regardless of the magnitude of the three World Report Vehicles’ achievements, the Bugatti staff didn’t cease of their quest for unparalleled pace. Because the winds of change gusted by the W16 engine’s story, so it was delivered to the ultimate Bugatti W16 masterpiece: the open-top W16 Mistral.
Named after a novel wind in southern France that heralds the altering of seasons, it’s a automobile that was introduced into being to honor the legacy of Bugatti’s W16 fashions. Just like the pure phenomenon, its existence conjures up overwhelming sensations of journey, awe, nostalgia, and anticipation for what’s to come back. In each honoring its forebears and trying to chart new record-breaking floor, the W16 Mistral World Report Automobile was created to finish the quartet of final Bugatti innovation – etching one other open-top world-record breaker into the historical past of Bugatti.
From the enduring Bugatti horseshoe grille on the entrance of the W16 Mistral, to the immense diffuser on the rear, air races by and over intricately crafted options designed to harness its energy. Mixed with the mighty 1,600 PS from the 8.0-liter 16-cylinder engine, the automobile goals to slice seamlessly by the air whereas delivering a genuinely elemental open-top driving expertise.
Such was the intricacy of the design and meticulous engineering of the production-series automotive, that the W16 Mistral World Report Automobile required little or no modification for its run; with the body-panel gaps masked for optimized airflow, the suspension arrange for much less air resistance, and the pace limiter eliminated for unleashing the total energy of the engine, the automobile was set to make historical past.
Armed with minimal fine-tuning optimizations, the spirit of the World Report Vehicles coursing by its veins, and the expertise of Andy Wallace on the wheel, so the W16 Mistral World Report Automobile carried out its world-record run in Papenburg on November ninth. And with the shopper of the distinctive automotive and Bugatti’s senior management in attendance, Andy made Bugatti and automotive historical past as soon as extra – vastly superseding the earlier open-top world document with an unimaginable 453.91 km/h.
Christophe Piochon, President of Bugatti Vehicles
“From 2010 to the current, Bugatti has celebrated the icons of its trendy period with top-speed world document makes an attempt. From the Veyron, by to the Chiron and now the W16 Mistral, the unrivaled ardour and dedication of Bugatti’s design groups has seen the W16 period outlined by monumental achievements. Seeing every of the World Report Vehicles gathered here’s a really emotional second for me; contributing to those tasks has been an extremely particular a part of my profession at Bugatti, and they’re pioneers in their very own proper – increasing the horizons outlined by the final.”
Above content material © 2024 Bugatti Automobili, reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee
