In addition to being the first street-legal supe to break the 300-mph barrier, the Bugatti Chiron is officially the fastest-accelerating ride as tested by Car and Driver.
The French hypercar now sits atop a list compiled by the automotive outlet over more than 60 years of putting cars through their paces on a closed track. Using a Racelogic VBOX GPS data logger, driver Tony Quiroga record a zero-to-60 mph time of 2.4 seconds, tying the ‘Gatti with its predecessor, the Veyron.
Other key speed stats stats from the session include 100-160 mph in 5.2 seconds and 100-200 mph in 11.3 seconds. C&D contextualized the latter by noting that the Honda Civic Type R takes two-tenths of a second longer just to hit 100 mph.
In fact, Quiroga essentially says that despite its record-setting performance off the line, the high-speed range is where the colossal 8.0-liter W16’s 1,479 horses are most potent. Having tested the McLaren Senna and the Ferrari LaFerrari, he adds that the Brit and Italian “aren’t in the same league” as the Chiron.
Another interesting insight came not on the runway, but the skidpad. “With the tires on the edge of the 1.06 g of grip, it’s very easy to wake up the four turbos and send the heavy tail into a lurid powerslide,” writes Quiroga. “Bugatti has built a $3-million drift car.”
While yours truly hasn’t had the pleasure of getting behind the wheel of this savage, I felt confident in including Chiron in this list of the greatest 200-mph cars of all time over a year ago. I’m betting that Quiroga would agree, at least in retrospect.