Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ Top Speed

Breaking 300 mph was less an engineering problem than an aerodynamic one. Above 400 km/h the Chiron's standard bodywork generated enough drag and lift that more power alone would not have carried it further, so Bugatti stretched the tail by 25 centimetres. The longtail shape delays airflow separation, cutting drag and settling the car at speeds where small instabilities become dangerous.

The W16 was pushed to 1,600 PS, up from 1,500 in the standard Chiron, and the tyres were specially developed with Michelin and X-ray tested individually — at 490 km/h the tread carries loads that would destroy an ordinary tyre in seconds.

Because the run was made in one direction only, it does not meet the two-way averaging convention used for outright production-car records, and Bugatti has never claimed it as such. What it did establish was the 300 mph barrier, which had stood unbroken since the category began.