Bugatti again is out to set a land speed record for production cars, this time with the new Chiron. It understandably wants to build up to the attempt, however, so it put a Chiron in the hands of Juan Pablo Montoya and set a “lesser” world record.
In August, the former Formula One driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 champion accelerated from zero to 400 kph (249 mph), then decelerate to zero mph in a Chiron faster than has ever been recorded using a production car. Montoya completed the zero-to-400-to-zero run — or as Bugatti calls it “the first step on the way to a new world speed record” — in just 42 seconds.
To put the Chiron’s mind-bending acceleration in perspective, Bugatti recently posted a video showing what the first 300 kph (186 mph) of the run looked like from inside the cabin.
The German automaker also posted another video of the run that was shot from a camera car, which completed the run ahead of Montoya, revealing that he finished the sprint to 249 mph in just 32.6 seconds.
The second post also sheds some light on just how impressive the Chiron is under breaking. It was able to shave off 249 mph in less than 10 seconds, despite the fact that the car has a curb weight of 4,400 pounds.
No wonder Montoya, who basically has driven every kind of race car on the planet, praised the Bugatti’s acceleration and breaking performance as “simply incredible.”
Thumbnail photo via Bugatti
