Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport Prepping For Nürburgring Run

When the silks were pulled from the Chiron Pur Sport at this year’s Geneva Motor Show – or at least the digital equivalent thereof – Bugatti keenly emphasised that this was far from ‘just’ another special edition. Weighing in 50kg lighter than the model on which it was based while still packing a 1,500hp 8-litre quad-turbocharged W16, the Pur Sport featured a noticeably revised aerodynamic package, one prioritising higher downforce and increased agility. With this, it was Bugatti’s intention, as explained by company president Stephan Winkelmann, to produce “an unadulterated, uncompromising driving machine.”

Cue scoffing in the Petrolicious office. This after all was the same model, in Super Sport 300+ guise at least, that took the French marque beyond the 300mph / 480kph mark for the very first time.

However, newly released images of two prototype Chiron Pur Sports at the Bilster Berg circuit in Germany suggest Bugatti is about to make us eat our words.

“One of the most demanding racetracks in Europe” as stated on its official website, Bilster Berg is 4.2km long, includes 19 turns and 44 crests, and features a 70m difference in elevation. Plenty of potential then for Bugatti’s eight engineers, and test driver/chassis setup engineer Sven Bohnhorst, to test two Pur Sport prototypes in anger in, what is said to be, the first step in a prolonged test program. One that could well end at a certain famous race track in Germany….

“There too, the aim will be to test, test and test again until all components are perfectly matched and the Chiron Pur Sport offers the best possible performance,” development boss Jachin Schwalbe explained to Top Gear Magazine. “Even for our engineers who are very familiar with the Chiron, this is so much fun they don’t want to get out of the car.”

Alongside its whopping great 1.9m rear spoiler, which saves 10kg over the outgoing hydraulic equivalent, and the ‘science fiction inspired’ X-wing mounts attaching it to the bodywork – yes, really, the driver-focused Chiron Pur Sport also features a brand new rear diffuser, an absolute monster of a front splitter, wider air intakes, and bespoke magnesium wheels designed to increase air flow to the new titanium brakes. Throw in Sport Cup 2 R-clad, ultra-lightweight, 3D-printed titanium exhaust and carbon fibre around the waist for that proper drivers’ car look.

That, plus stiffer springs – 65 per cent at the front, 33 per cent at the back – revised adaptive dampers, and a stiffer chassis means the test results from Bilster Berg will make interesting reading for the 60 clients on the list for the €3 million / $3.4 million hyperbeast.

And yes, don’t worry, Bugatti’s latest will still move like a bat out of hell. Though the top speed has been reduced(!) to a still lung-rupturing, electronically limited 350kph, the newly configured seven-speed transmission sending 1,500hp and 1,600Nm (1,180lb ft) of torque to all four wheels features a gear ratio 15 per cent closer for more brutal acceleration.

*Images courtesy of Bugatti. Hat tip to Top Gear Magazine