Bugatti has stepped it up, but faces new competition
Yes, she is back. We are talking about the Bugatti Chiron. Just when you thought you had heard the last of this 3 million dollar beauty, Bugatti has stepped up their game one more time.
Besides being the most expensive production car in the world, Bugatti always claimed that the car could hit speeds of over 250 mph. But, they never proved it…until now.
Taking a ‘near production’ Chiron to the Ehra-Lessien proving ground in Germany the new car was clocked at 304.773 miles per hour. The Chiron no longer has to claim the 250 mile per hour mark, it just entered the “300 Club”. The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, was born.
What the company means by ‘near production’ is actually ‘slightly modified’. The idea behind this model was to eliminate down force and lift, to see if they could keep all four wheels on the ground at the same time. To do this, this monster uses a 1600 horsepower quad turbo eight liter w-16. This engine produces 100 more horsepower than the original Chiron. They made the body 10 inches longer for aerodynamics, and put some Michelin tires on it to carry the load.
A final thought: at 304 miles per hour, the car covers 447 feet every second.
The Bugatti makers are going to do a run of 30 of these cars and if you want one, they can be had for a hair under 3.9 million dollars. Thinking of trading in your old one?
OK, so you don’t have 4 million to spend on our old friend the Chiron, but you want a super car and you also want to care for the environment. How do you do that? Easy. Here are several choices that may bring a new pony into your eight car garage.
Bugatti Chiron hitting 304 mph
Most of the movers and shakers in the automotive business are now building, or will be shortly building, electric cars. In our case super cars.
First on our list is the Lotus Evija. Lotus, a name from the past, has been energized again by loans from Chinese International Geely, and now have come up with the Evija. This bad boy has 1972 horses and supposedly will turn a top end of 200+. But it will cost you 2.1 Million dollars..
Not bad, but honestly my favorite in this group is the Tesla Roadster. This Elon Musk-mobil will turn 0 to 60 in under 2 seconds, will have a top speed of 250mph, a battery range 620 miles and will run you only about 500K. They became available in the middle of 2020.
Pininfarina, a grand old name in Italian motorsports (known primarily as a coach builder), has the Battista…1900 horsepower, 2 second zero to 60, 217 mph top end, and a price tag of about 2 million.
Finally, the Drako GTE. This comes with 4 doors, four motors on a Fisker Karma platform. The men behind the company claim it will do 200 plus, corners unlike any other sports car on the road, and will only run you 1.3 Million. (Cornerng on a four door, something I think we would all like to see.)
Well there you have it, several super cars, all of which should be arriving in the next year or two, so start saving now.
Last but not least, there is a new E Car race series that we can all afford. So, if you can’t afford a super car, but love to watch them run, this may be just the ticket. In case you don’t know too much about E racing it’s modeled after the Formula 1 Format, just not as gaudy. (see our article for more info — https://agnituslife.com/racing-unplugged-formula-e-gen2/?preview_id=4742&preview_nonce=ff2e1d337f&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=4744).
True, the racing is a bit slower but the excitement is still there and the cars are getting better and faster every year. These cars max out at 335 horsepower, which may not seem like a lot but remember they weigh less than a ton, make zero to sixty in under 3 seconds and top out at 170 mph. Not bad for non-fossil fuel burning jalopies.
Formula E has become big business, with Porsche and Mercedes each running cars, as well as Audi. The schedule takes the drivers all across the globe having just run NYC, Saudi Arabia, then off to Chile, Mexico and Marrakesh.
Although the cars can cost a pretty penny, the race tickets start as low in some cities as $50 per day. Once the final few races get going, these prices will more than double, but from what I’ve seen the racing is great, the excitement is still there, and all that is missing is the noise. (which I kind’a miss!). Enjoy…
