Why make one derivative of your hypercar when you can—and should—have two very distinct versions, each of which takes the already wild base car’s attributes to the extreme? That’s the thought-process at Bugatti, as it continues to capitalize on the dynamic capabilities of the Chiron.
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport: Designed for Cornering
Bugatti de-emphasized the Chiron’s top speed with the Pur Sport. In fact, engineers reduced the Chiron’s 261 mph top speed to 217 mph in the Pur Sport. The goal: To make the quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter 16-cylinder hypercar more fun to drive at lower speeds on a twistier tarmac, Bugatti’s deputy design director, Frank Heyl, said. Heyl’s design team worked closely with the French brand’s engineers during the Pur Sport’s development process.
The $3.5 million Pur Sport is made for cornering, which it achieves thanks to a 110-pound diet, extra downforce, and grippier tires. It also features reworked chassis and powertrain tuning that includes a suspension engineered for more maneuverability and a gearbox with shorter ratios that allows the car to make use of the engine’s 1,479 horses at lower speeds. Additionally, the Pur Sport welcomes a new Sport Plus drive mode that aims to satiate buyers looking to powerslide, or drift, their seven-figure Bugatti.
The Pur Sport has a more aggressive face with angry eyebrows, a wider front splitter, and a big rear wing, which spans more than six feet wide. It also looks lower and wider than the standard Chiron due to Bugatti’s decision to paint the top of the car while keeping the Pur Sport’s carbon-fiber body panels exposed elsewhere on the car’s front end. The effect continues to the Pur Sport’s side profile. Meanwhile, the car’s rear-end is done up entirely in exposed carbon fiber.
Further accentuating the rear is a set of thin and light titanium tailpipes (that were 3D printed, no less!). Shaving weight behind the rear axle was necessary to achieve more even weight distribution. Meanwhile, optional wheels with integrated aero blades help cool the brakes by drawing out and expelling heat.
Bugatti will start production of the Chiron Pur Sport’s 60-unit run in the second half of 2020.
Chiron Super Sport 300+ is Built for Speed
The Super Sport 300+ is the Chiron designed to break records, and its aerodynamic attention to detail reflects that. Bugatti plans to build just 30 of these approximately $4 million models, whose lineage goes back to the summer of 2019 when Bugatti broke the 300 mph barrier. Specifically, the French brand’s highly tuned hypercar topped out at 304.773 mph.
To achieve this performance, Bugatti turned the 16-cylinder engine’s power up to a full 1,500 horses. But that’s not all the car benefits from in its quest for extreme speed.
“With the Chiron Super Sport 300+, it was clear to us from the start that we needed to greatly reduce wind resistance. A vehicle that can go over 300 miles per hour has to be extremely streamlined,” Heyl said. With its Chiron Super Sport 300+, Bugatti fit a longer tail section to reduce drag.
The exhaust outlets are revised too, with the quad tips moving to the rear-end’s sides. This decision allowed Bugatti to install a more effective diffuser (styled after the English Electric Lightning F6 and its twin afterburners) at the center of the car’s rear.
The front of the car was designed to route air around the body, with air curtains that guide air around the car’s corners while also keeping it against the side of the Super Sport 300+. Additionally, the front fenders each feature nine holes, which vent air from the wheel wells.
No doubt, Bugatti took the sage advice of Ron Swanson in creating the Chiron Pur Sport and Super Sport 300+. After all, why half-ass two things (speed and handling) on one Chiron derivative, when you can whole ass one thing on two different variants of the car: One focused on outright speed, the other fixated on carving corners.
