Skip to main content

Bugatti Chiron Speed Limited by Tire Technology

It’s been a while now since Bugatti debuted the Chiron and still we don’t know what the top speed is. Rumors abound and the speedometer goes all the way to 310 mph, but we may not know the car’s true top speed until tire technology catches up with this speedy machine, according Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace.

Although its current, limited top speed of 261 mph is faster than almost anything else on the road (or the track for that matter), Wallace implied to Popular Mechanics that it reaches that speed without much difficulty.

It seems, therefore, that there’s more in it. But we won’t know if it’s capable of bending the speedometer needle for a long time, because there’s no road legal tire that can handle the forces involved in spinning at 300 mph.

07_CHIRON_Molsheim_34-front-up_WEB

As Popular Mechanics writes, the 2.5-gram valve cap on a Chiron’s wheel weighs about 16 lbs when it’s centrifuging at 261 mph. And as speeds increase, the forces increase exponentially, so every mph is harder than the last and 300 is a lot of miles per hour.

Wallace says he suspects that Michelin will sign off on a top speed of more than 280 mph with current tire technology, so it seems unlikely that, in its current guise, the Chiron will hit 300 mph. Who knows, though, if a future Super Sport Chiron could break the barrier when tire technology finally catches up.

For now, Chiron owners can ruin their tires at lower speeds, thanks to the handling mode, which according to Wallace, lets the car drift. The speeds won’t be all that low, though, since its big tires prevent even the Chiron’s 1,500 hp from breaking traction too quickly. One shudders to think of how much replacing burned out tires would cost.

[source: Popular Mechanics]

The post Bugatti Chiron Speed Limited by Tire Technology appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2rRD5Op
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Saying Goodbye to the CC V6

For all its size and its global reach, Volkswagen is still, in many ways, a deeply human company. There was, for instance, the Bugatti Veyron an ego project if ever there was one. Then the purchase of Ducati, a move most called folly. And then there was the Phaeton, the Volkswagen that most folks can’t afford. Not only were these moves all strange, I’m sure that they made VW’s accountants furious. None of them made good business sense, but they were all deeply interesting and they all are evidence of the heart that beats at the center of VW. Among these follies is the CC, a car that everyone agrees is rakishly handsome, but that no one really wanted to buy. The car couldn’t last, but the world is brighter for its having been in it. With the approach debut of the Arteon, it seems like a good time to look back on its sadly departing predecessor. The version I drove, because I live in Canada, is a V6 Wolfsburg Edition, which apparently isn’t available in the States. Nor is the V6, not as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan

Filed under: Government/Legal , Green , Mitsubishi , Fuel Efficiency , Japan Mitsubishi says its shady fuel-economy test practices may have been used on all vehicles it sells and has sold in Japan. Continue reading Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 May 2016 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments from Autoblog Volkswagen http://ift.tt/21X3bHv
Post a Comment
Read more

More 3.0-Liter TDI Settlement Details Expected by January 31

Volkswagen and the TDI Plaintiff’s Steering Committee were in court today for another status conference following the agreement in principal reached earlier this week. Little new information was given at the conference held before Judge Charles Breyer today, but the court ordered the parties to develop a formal settlement agreement, class action notices, and a class notice plan by January 31, 2017. For now, though, owners still don’t know how much to expect in compensation. Elizabeth Cabraser, lead Counsel for the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee reaffirmed in a statement today that the compensation would be “substantial.” The potential cost to Volkswagen is widely reported to exceed $1 billion, though, with an additional $225 million going into an environmental trust to help offset excess emissions. Buy back offers are still only expected for the oldest 20,000 of the roughly 80,000 VW Group vehicles sold in America with the 3.0-liter TDI engine. Those vehicles are mostly SUVs, like ...
Post a Comment
Read more