Watch a Bugatti Chiron perform the standing mile in virtually no time at all.
The talk of the town these days is all about the new Bugatti Chiron Super Sport that broke the 300 mph barrier last August. Bugatti themselves have been tooting that horn for the past week, and why wouldn’t they? The 300 mph barrier has been an automotive milestone for almost a decade, ever since the Bugatti Veyron hit 263 mph way back in 2010.
Bugatti’s Super Sport was a modified Chiron featuring a longer body, reduced aerodynamic cross-section, a lower ride height, and a more powerful quad-turbo engine. It also had a stripped-out interior and a roll cage, although at 300 mph, you can imagine that any crash would be so catastrophic that a roll cage would merely serve to preserve the corpse for burial.
Thankfully, the roll cage wasn’t necessary and test driver Andy Wallace hit a top speed of 304 mph.
As amazing as that achievement is, we shouldn’t forget about the regular Chiron which is still a mean feat of engineering. Under the hood is an 8.0-L quad-turbo W16 engine with 1,479 hp and 1,180 lb-ft of torque. Power is routed through a 7-speed DCT to all four wheels, with zero to sixty taking just 2.3 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 261 mph.
As we’ve seen, the Chiron can easily go faster than 261 with the limiter removed. In this standing mile test, we don’t expect that limiter to come into play. But you never know.
It is immediately apparent as you watch the Chiron accelerate that this car has achieved something incredible. Zero to sixty is gone in a blink. Zero to 120 takes just a few seconds, and acceleration is smooth and steady right up to 200 mph. Then it seems the car finally starts to work for each additional mile, but by then the standing mile finish line has already arrived. The Chiron has already run the mile in just over 20 seconds.
Just imagine taking 20 seconds to go from zero to a mile away. That’s the power of a Bugatti Chiron.