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Bugatti Veyron Super Sport Top Speed
In July 2010 at Ehra-Lessien the Veyron Super Sport averaged 431.07 km/h, or 267.86 mph, across two runs in opposite directions. Running it both ways is the convention that makes a record official, because it cancels out any help the car got from wind or from a slight gradient. Guinness recognised it as the fastest production car in the world. The 48 cars sold to customers are electronically limited to 415 km/h to protect the tyres.
Full specifications
| Engine | 8.0L quad-turbo W16 |
|---|---|
| Power | 1,200 PS (1,184 hp) |
| Torque | 1,500 Nm |
| Drivetrain | All-wheel drive |
| Transmission | 7-speed dual-clutch |
| Production run | 48 units |
| Record date | July 2010 |
| Predecessor record | Veyron 16.4, 407 km/h |
About the Veyron Super Sport
The standard Veyron had already done 407 km/h back in 2005, which at the time nobody thought a road car would ever manage. The Super Sport was Bugatti going back and doing it again properly. It got bigger turbochargers, reworked intercoolers and a stiffer, slipperier body, and power went from 1,001 PS to 1,200 PS.
At 431 km/h the car is covering roughly 120 metres every second, and at that point power stops being the thing holding you back. Tyres are. Michelin built a special construction for this car and it still degrades quickly on a full-speed run. That is why customer cars are governed at 415 km/h, and why unlocking the rest needs a separate key and a specific sequence to activate it.
The record did get contested for a while. The argument was over whether the record car's speed limiter was set the same way a customer car's would be. Guinness pulled the record, reviewed it, and then reinstated it. It stood until the Koenigsegg Agera RS beat it in 2017.
Forty-eight were built. It is worth remembering what the Super Sport actually settled: not just that a road car could go this fast once, but that it could do it in both directions, on the same tyres, with a witness. That is a much harder thing to do.
Two-way average recorded at Ehra-Lessien, July 2010. Specifications from Bugatti.