Bugatti has been caught lying, but in a good way. Before you call Molsheim and cancel your Chiron Super Sport order, you might want to know its W16 is likely to deliver more power than advertised. That's what happened with this fine example of the "French" hypercar, which was recently put on a newly built dyno. The 8.0-liter engine with its four turbochargers was pushed to its maximum, delivering a colossal 1,618.6 PS at the crank.
That works out to 1,595.8 horsepower, so let's round it to a cool 1,596 hp. A look at the official specs sheet provided by Bugatti shows the Chiron Super Sport has 1,600 PS or 1,577 hp. Doing the math, its sixteen-cylinder engine produces an extra 19 hp over the manufacturer's claim. The hypercar with a big ICE heart was generating that kind of power at 338 km/h (210 mph), which is a moderate velocity when you consider the Super Sport is electronically governed at 440 km/h (273 mph).
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport dyno test
If you're curious to know the torque figure, that one too was above the official number provided by Bugatti when it unveiled the Chiron Super Sport. Back in June 2021 when the mid-engined beast debuted, we were told the W16 had 1,180 pound-feet (1,600 Newton-meters) on tap. However, the dyno test shows the engine generating 1,228 lb-ft (1,665 Nm), so an additional 48 lb-ft (65 Nm) than the OEM rating.
Long sold out, the Chiron SS (without the "+" at the end of its name) was offered for €3.2 million before options. As with other derivatives of Bugatti's hypercar, it represents the epitome of the internal combustion engine. The good ol’ ICE has its days numbered, but it's not going out without the proverbial bang.
The W16 will remain in production for the foreseeable future taking into consideration customer deliveries of the track-only Bolide won't commence until 2024. As a matter of fact, Stephan Winkelmann has strongly suggested the 8.0-liter monster will remain available throughout this decade. It likely means the Chiron's successor is going to retain the biggest combustion engine in the industry. Fingers crossed.
