We're not sure anyone will be all that surprised that the much anticipated Bugatti Veyron Super Sport has set a new land speed record for production cars, hitting 431kph at VW's Ehra-Lessien proving ground. The Super Sport shattered the SSC Ultimate Aero's 2007 record by almost 19kph, so if you're prone to histrionics, the margin by which the Super Sport has raised the bar is really the bit worth yelping about.
Driven by professional Bugatti pilot, Pierre Henri Raphanel, the performance was verified by German officials while a Guinness Book of Records writer was among other, er, journalists on hand to witness the record breaking run.
The Super Sport hit 427kph on its outward run, and reached just over 434kph on the return trip; the record is based on the average. If anyone could trump the Bugatti Veyron's Herculean specs, a certain logic dictates that Bugatti themselves were most likely to pull it off, and that's exactly what has happened with the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
The Super Sport features the Veyron's bog standard (we kid) 8.0-litre, W16 engine, but has enlarged both the turbo and intercoolers to develop 1,183bhp; a sizeable increase of 196bhp over the previous model.
Torque also enjoys a nice lift from 1,249Nm to 1,500Nm, meaning that the Super Sport might become the only car in Dubai that, after waiting at a red light, can actually get through the intersection before some genius starts honking — usually half a second after the signal changes.
With its carbon fibre body, the Super Sport is around 49kg lighter, and has a stiffened suspension for improved stability and up to 1.4Gs of lateral acceleration. The car reaches 100kph in the same 2.5 seconds as the plain vanilla Veyron, so no change there. Instead, the Super Sport waits until the chips are really down, casting shame on its antecedent with an astounding 0-200kph in 7.3 seconds and 0-300kph in 15 seconds. We're not sure how long it takes to reach top speed, but in order to protect the Super Sport's tyres, the car is limited to a gentler 415kph.
With its new NACA ducts and redesigned double diffuser, the Veyron Super Sport is, sadly, expected to be the end of the road for the Veyron line. Since coming out the starting gate in 2005, Bugatti has sold 260 Veyron coupés and 35 Veyron Grand Sports, which are differentiated by their removable roof panel. With a price rumoured to start at Dh9.2 million, the Super Sport takes the ultimate supercar to a new level in price and performance, and is available in clear-coated carbon-fibre for that ‘tough-guy' look.
The Veyron Super Sport will be seen publicly for the first time next month at ‘tough-guy' central; Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance in Carmel California, where long time resident Clint Eastwood was once mayor. Five of the first Super Sports will be styled as "World Record Edition" replica models. The only real question is how many of the five will we scoop up for our personal stable?
