Bugatti Chiron Sport - Weight Loss Worked

Last year Bugatti released the Chiron, a beautiful car, owned by people whom have too much money and don’t know what to do with it. On an episode of the grand tour Jeremy Clarkson revealed that perspective Chiron owners had many cars, a couple of homes globally, yachts and planes and much more money in spare.

The numbers in relation to the car are staggering, 1500 horsepower, 0-60, the W16 quad-turbo engine that is limited to 261 mph, the amount of petrol it can chug, not drink - CHUG, all the luxuries it has and even how much the tires cost. It even held a world record for some time. The price however one is in the 7 figures and people who can afford it, buy the car.

However, Bugatti while developing the Chiron, increased its horsepower from its predecessor the Veyron, by an entire 500 or 300 depending whether it was the Veyron or Veyron SuperSport. Keeping in theme with its predecessor, Chiron got a performance upgrade this year and Bugatti showed it to the world at Geneva Motor Show. I know, I know it came out in March It’s a bit late to write about it. Bugatti calls it the Chiron Sport.

Unlike the Veyron which got a 200 horsepower upgrade from 1000 to 1200 Bugatti have kept the 1500 horsepower system and have directed their focus on the other aspects of car performance. This time its they have made the car better by focusing on handling. Yes, you read the previous statement correctly - Handling. Bugatti’s Head of Chassis Development Jachin Schwalbe said “The focus for the Chiron Sport was to keep the Capabilities (speed and engine performance), and see what we could do in terms of improving the handling.”

How did they manage to do this, well the Chiron (not Sport) weighs 4400 Pounds. They decided to make it lighter - they shed nearly 40 pounds from the total body weight. The new wheel design has a subtle difference - the spokes are thin and doubled - shed 7 pounds per wheel. The stabiliser bars are now made out of Carbon Fibre with carbon fibre attachment levers this sheds another 5 pounds from the body weight. Making the car lighter was crucial so the windscreen wiper arm is also carbon fibre, this takes all carbon fibre body to a whole new level, including this being the first time I have of such an windscreen wiper. Lastly the rear window is of lighter material. Bugatti has revisited the steering systems and dampers to allow the car to perform well in a variety of situations. The total of weight loss of 40 pounds doesn’t sound like much, but, Bugatti keeps their priority for the driver of their cars i.e. the interior is as luxurious as before with the same amount of comfort, luxuries and infotainment. Jeremy Clarkson said the car felt a bit cumbersome to drive in the hills, I am certain he will be delighted to know the car is faster, specifically better on the turns.

Those Wheels Look 7lbs lighter Picture Credit: Autoblog

Those Wheels Look 7lbs lighter Picture Credit: Autoblog

What was the goal at hand for all this - To shave 5 seconds off the Chiron’s lap time at Nardo. They did it still keeping the same speed just better performance. To me I cannot afford the Chiron or Chiron Sport, but, its beautiful and I sure do admire it.