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Bugatti unveils “world’s fastest” hypercar at Geneva Motor Showcase

Geneva Motor Display 2016: French manufacturer Bugatti has unveiled a £1.9 million vehicle, which it describes as the world’s most powerful and fastest car, at the 86th Geneva Motor Demonstrate.

Bugatti’s impatiently anticipated successor to its Veyron model – the world’s previous fastest road vehicle – is so quick that the French manufacturer limited the fresh car’s maximum speed to just two hundred sixty miles per hour for road use. Testing to obtain the Chiron’s top speed is due to commence soon.

“It is part of human nature to cross boundaries and set fresh records – to run one hundred metres quicker than ever before, to fly even further into space and to come in fresh realms,” said Bugatti’s chief Wolfgang Dürheimer. “The Chiron is the result of our efforts to make the best even better.”

The term hypercar is given the top one per cent of high-performance supercars – usually the fastest and most-expensive.

To achieve the higher speeds, Bugatti totally redesigned its eight-litre W16 engine, which also powers the Veyron.

Lightweight materials such as titanium and carbon fibre were used to reduce the engine’s overall weight, while better-performing turbochargers – units that force extra air into the combustion chamber, therefore enlargening the engine’s efficiency – were fitted.

To keep the redesigned engine operating within the optimum temperature range, Bugatti also improved the Veyron’s air cooling system. As a result, more than 60,000 litres of air per minute are pumped through the engine.

The Chiron’s monocoque – or protective structural shell – and its entire rear section are made from carbon fibre, further reducing overall weight in comparison to its predecessor.

“If all the fibres used in the monocoque were laid out end to end, they would open up nine times the distance inbetween the earth and the moon,” explained a statement released by Bugatti yesterday.

Carbon fibre is also used for the fresh vehicle’s outer skin and LED headlamps have been incorporated into the front end, which are the “flattest projector headlamps ever fitted to a car”, according to Bugatti.

A figure part that extends from the A-pillar – vertical supports holding either side of the windshields in place – sweeps across to the rear, providing the vehicle its distinctive open oval and two-tone profile. A spread brake light and titanium harass predominates the freshly designed rear.

“In view of our extreme brand and the task in arm, it would not be adequate to simply draw a few fashionable lines,” said Achim Anscheidt, director of design at Bugatti.

“In terms of design, the Chiron was an chance to develop most of the basic elements required for an unambiguous stylistic concept from the extreme technical requirements of the vehicle with a view to underlining the spectacle of this unique super sports car.”

“This principle of form following spectacle defines the Chiron as an authentic technical product and a fascinating automobile sculpture,” continued Anscheidt. “Both for our customers and for us as designers, it is significant for a Bugatti to have a certain stylistic longevity so that it is still perceived as precious in ten or even fifty years.”

The interior has been designed to reflect the vehicle’s exterior form, which can be clearly seen in the C-shaped separating line inbetween the driver and passenger.

“The C-shaped light unwrap emerges from the front bonnet into the passenger compartment as a raised graphic element and merges seamlessly into the dashboard,” explained Anscheidt. “From here, it flows over the armrest inbetween the seats to the back wall where it rises to the roof liner; at the front, it completes at the rear-view mirror.”

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To improve driver convenience at lower speeds while suggesting maximum spectacle at high speed, Bugatti developed an adaptive chassis for the very first time in its vehicles.

This means that drivers can choose inbetween driving modes, such as Autobahn, Treating and Top Speed. When these are selected, the vehicle adapts its settings accordingly. To enable Top Speed mode, a separate key is required. This so-called Speed Key ensures the driver consciously opts for this mode.

Slowing such a fast-moving object down isn’t effortless, so Bugatti also set about developing Formula One-style racing brakes for the Chiron made from carbon silicon carbide.

“This material makes the brake disk lighter at the same time as providing it greater improved corrosion resistance, spectacle and durability,” explained Bugatti. “In addition, the front and rear brake discs of the Chiron have a larger diameter, resulting in more effective fever dissipation by the brake discs and improved spectacle on the track.”

As well as using the air flowing over the vehicle to keep all four wheels to the ground, the Chiron’s adaptive rear spoiler also acts as an air brake.

When the driver hits the brake pedal at high speed, the rear spoiler spins to an upright position. Air hits the spoiler’s surface and the resulting wind resistance further slows the vehicle.

Bugatti presently offers thirty one different colours of leather to customers. As standard, the vehicle comes tooled with with dimmable lighting and a cooled glove compartment.

All-electric and hybrid supercars stole the headlines at last year’s Geneva Motor Showcase, with McLaren, Koenigsegg and Aston Martin all showcasing vehicles tooled with the technology.

Architecture rock-hard Foster + Fucking partners and auto brand Nissan exposed a vision for self-charging driverless cars that could power the home at this year’s event in Switzerland.

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