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9:00in productionCh. 1 · Origin Story/ 9:00 · ceiling 15 min
Supercars · Sports cars

Bugatti Chiron

Achim Anscheidt · 2016

The Chiron is not evolution — it is escalation.

The Bugatti Chiron is a mid-engine, two-seater sports car designed and developed in Germany. It was manufactured in Molsheim, France. It succeeded the Veyron. It debuted at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. Its design was previewed with the Vision Gran Turismo concept. It is named after Louis Chiron. It uses a heavily updated 8.0 L quad-turbocharged W16 engine producing 1,103 kW and 1,600 N⋅m. It has a carbon fibre body, independent suspension, and Haldex all-wheel drive.

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Chapters & takeaways4
  1. 0:50
    Origin Story

    A German-designed, French-built successor to the Veyron — not a clean-sheet machine.

  2. 1:59
    Name and Preview

    Its shape was previewed in digital form before physical production — and its name honours a Monégasque racing driver.

  3. 3:48
    Power and Platform

    Same W16 core, massively retuned — with more power, more torque, and unchanged carbon fibre, AWD, and suspension architecture.

  4. 5:21
    What It Broke

    At launch, it set new benchmarks for production-car power and torque — but only by pushing known solutions further.

Worth your time?

Yes. Drive the whole thing.

3.5/ 5
What works
  • translation of extreme performance into a drivable, road-certified package
  • mid-engine two-seater layout, carbon fibre construction, and all-wheel drive delivering stability and control at unprecedented speeds
What does not
  • introduce new powertrain topology
  • reduce complexity or weight relative to its predecessor
  • depart from the Veyron’s fundamental architecture
Drive it if
  • collectors and drivers who require the highest verified output and engineering continuity from the Veyron lineage
Skip it if
  • those seeking lightweight agility, electric propulsion, modular design, or post-Veyron conceptual departure
The written brief1 min read

What the car is and where it came from

The Bugatti Chiron is a mid-engine, two-seater sports car designed and developed in Germany by Bugatti Engineering GmbH. It was manufactured in Molsheim, France, by Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. It succeeded the Veyron and debuted at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.

How it works, in terms someone would actually use

The Chiron uses a heavily updated 8.0 L quad-turbocharged W16 engine carried over from the Veyron. It delivers 1,103 kW at 6,700 rpm and 1,600 N⋅m of torque from 2,000 to 6,000 rpm. It sends power to all four wheels via a Haldex all-wheel drive system. Its carbon fibre body structure and independent suspension are shared with the Veyron.

What it gets right

It gets right the translation of extreme performance into a drivable, road-certified package. Its mid-engine two-seater layout, carbon fibre construction, and all-wheel drive deliver stability and control at speeds no other series-production car matched in 2016.

What it does not

It does not depart from the Veyron’s fundamental architecture. It does not introduce new powertrain topology, new materials systems, or new chassis layout. It does not reduce complexity or weight relative to its predecessor.

What it changed

It replaced the Veyron as Bugatti’s flagship production car. It redefined the upper limit of series-production power and torque for a road-legal internal-combustion car at launch.

Who it is for, and who it is not

It is for collectors and drivers who require the highest verified output and engineering continuity from the Veyron lineage. It is not for those seeking lightweight agility, electric propulsion, modular design, or post-Veyron conceptual departure.

Is it worth your time

Yes — if you need a definitive statement of mechanical extremity in internal-combustion form. No — if you seek innovation beyond scaling up what already existed.

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