Bugatti knows how to deliver headline-grabbing, face-melting numbers like few other car manufacturers. With power from a quad-turbo W16, the Chiron is an incredible showcase of what the Volkswagen Group can do when given the time and money. The latest crazy number to come from the Chiron is a new world record for accelerating from 0-400 km/h, and then coming to a stop again.
It takes the Bugatti Chiron just 41.96 seconds to accelerate from standstill to 400 km/h (249 mph) and then decelerate back to zero. The car, piloted by Juan Pablo Montoya in front of assessors from SGS-TÜV Saar, was unmodified from standard and the whole maneuver was completed in just 3,112 m (10,210 ft).
Having stormed to 400 km/h in just 32.6 seconds, the Chiron takes just 9.3 seconds to stop, and needs just 491 m (1,611 ft) of road to come back to a standstill. Thank the carbon ceramic brakes, measuring 420 mm up front and 400 mm at the rear (16.5 and 15.7 in, respectively), although the flip-up airbrake at the rear doesn't hurt either.
"Bugatti is the first car brand that not only calculates how fast a car can go from zero to 400 to zero on a computer," says Wolfgang Durheimer, President of Bugatti. "We actually drove it. Where others are satisfied with theory, we validate our data with real-life values. Just like we did with the Chiron."
"When you are driving the Chiron for the first time and taking it easy, you cannot imagine how powerful it is," says ex-F1 and active IndyCar driver, Juan Pablo Montoya. "But as soon as you open the throttle, you hear the turbochargers pull up and all this torque comes in, and it just does not stop. It is like a linear power curve to happiness. The Chiron is so incredibly fast it takes your breath away. And its braking is at least as impressive."
The Chiron used in the test run will be on show at the Frankfurt Motor Show, where New Atlas is on the ground covering all the action.
Source: Bugatti
