2011 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport

Exterior and Interior

The Bugatti Veyron is not the most beautiful or the most elegant car in the world, but honestly, iy doesn’t really matter. This car wasn’t built to catch your eye, but to stop your heart with its speed. Compared to the standard Veyron, the Super Sport version gets expanded and reshaped front air intakes, a revised back with double diffuser, and a centrally arranged exhaust system.

The Veyron Super Sport’s body has been fine-tuned to improve aerodynamic efficiency and maintain perfect balance in every situation. The all-carbon monocoque features a new fiber structure that ensures maximum torsion rigidity and passive safety. The skin is made entirely of carbon-fiber composites, and upon request, it is also available in 10% clear lacquered exposed carbon. A distinctive feature of the new supercar are two NACA ducts integrated into the roof and used to cool the engine.

The first five cars – known as the World Record Edition – appeared in a special black exposed carbon and orange finish.

Engine

Needless to say, the most impressive feature of the new Veyron Super Sport lies under its hood. The standard Veyron is considered one of the fastest vehicles on the planet, but things change quickly and Bugatti has to keep changing it up to keep up with the ever-growing group of high speed machines.

For that, Bugatti engineers have used four enlarged turbochargers and bigger intercoolers in order to boost the power of the 16-cylinder engine. The result is an output of 1200 HP and a peak torque of 1106 lbs-ft. The sprint from 0 to 60 mph is being made in 2.5 seconds, and the top speed has already been recorded at an impressive 267 mph. That being said, Bugatti announced a top speed of 257 mph for their supercar, and this is the version customers ended up getting when they placed their order (this decision has been made in order to protect the tires).

In order to keep all that power under control, Bugatti set up an extensively redesigned chassis to maintain safety at extreme speed – thanks to a slightly raised main-spring travel, stronger stabilizers, and new shock absorbers with a complex architecture originally developed for racing cars. This gives noticeably more precise control of the wheels and the car as a whole. With lateral acceleration of up to 1.4 G, improved interaction between the tires, and the intelligent all-wheel drive system, the Super Sport offers perfect handling and even more powerful acceleration of 1,500 NM on corner exits.

Prices

At its official launch, Bugatti announced a price of €1,950,000 ($2.4 million at the current exchange rates) for their supercar.

Competition

Okay, lets face it, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is a very expensive car. This car may have been built for speed, but other than the very few people that will actually get to test it to its limits, it is just for show. Of course, if you like speed, but don’t want to spend over $2 million on a car, a good alternative is the SSC Tuatara. This car has been specially developed to break the Veyron Super Sport’s world record, but besides that, it also has a great and elegant appearance. SSC announced the car will be powered by a quad-cam, twin-turbo V8 engine with an output of 1350HP. It will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds, while top speed has been announced to 275 mph. Better yet, it is priced at just under $1 million.

Another great alternative to the Veyron is the Koenigsegg Agera R. It is powered by a 5.0-liter V8 twin turbo engine with an output of 1,115hp at 6,900 rpm. The supercar will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and from 0 to 124 mph in 7.5 seconds. Top Speed has been reported at 260 mph. Although it’s more expensive than the SSC, it is still cheaper than the Bugatti at a price of $1.6 million.

Jay Leno reviews the Bugatti Veyron SuperSport

Chris Harris reviews the Veyron Super Sports