There’s no purer Bugatti than the US$3.5-M Chiron Pur Sport

MANILA: If there’s ever a hypersports car that was designed to devour corners and glide along winding roads, that would be the new Bugattti Chiron Pur Sport.

The new design generates a tremendous amount of downforce while lowering weight to increase agility. This is made possible by a striking splitter in front, a 1.9-meter rear spoiler, and a rear diffuser.

Wide air inlets and an enlarged horseshoe panel channel cool air to the radiator while the temperature-resistant exhaust tailpipes are made of 3D-printed titanium. “We focused particularly on the agility of the Chiron Pur Sport. The vehicle generates more downforce at the rear axle while the large, front splitter, air inlets, wheel-arch vents featuring optimized air outlets and a reduced vehicle height strike a clean balance at the front”, said Frank Heyl, head of exterior design and deputy head designer at Bugatti.

The cabin has been stripped to its bare minimum. Large surfaces have been upholstered with Alcantara to save weight. Dynamic patterns have been lasered into the Alcantara door trim panels featuring contrasting fabric highlights with a metal look. Alcantara guarantees an ideal grip on the steering wheel and improves the side support on seats – even at extreme lateral acceleration levels. All trim and controls are made exclusively of either black, anodized aluminum or titanium. Contrasting cross-stitching adds color highlights, as do the steering wheel’s 12 o’clock spoke and the blue center spine.

It gets a new set of magnesium wheels that are 16 kilos lighter and comes with a special cover over the five wheel nuts to minimize turbulence. “All of the modifications make the Pur Sport1’s handling more accurate, direct and predictable. Lower unsprung masses result in improved grip because the wheel maintains contact with the road surface more easily. Anyone behind the wheel will immediately feel its lightweight character through bends”, said Jachin Schwalbe, Head of Bugatti Chassis Development.

It’s pièce de résistance though is the new chassis setup. 65% firmer springs at the front and 33% firmer springs at the rear, it also comes with an adaptive damping control strategy geared towards performance as well as modified camber values (minus 2.5 degrees). Carbon-fiber stabilizers at the front and rear additionally minimize roll. Engineers have guaranteed more direct contact with the road surface by making the connection between chassis, suspension and body 130% firmer at the front and 77% firmer at the rear. “This setup makes the Chiron Pur Sport steer more directly and accurately through bends and maintains the grip levels for a very long time – even at high speeds. In conjunction with 19 kilograms of weight reduction of the unsprung masses the Pur Sport almost glides across roads,”  said Jachin Schwalbe.

Apart from the four familiar EB, Motorway, Handling, and Sport drive modes, the Chiron Pur Sport features the new Sport+ drive mode to make this enhanced performance more emotionally tangible. In contrast to Sport mode, the traction control system kicks into action on dry race tracks at a significantly later point in the new mode aimed at more skilled cornering experts, making it possible for drivers to change their personal driving style even more than before from razor-sharp ideal lines to drifts, also through fast corners.

To match mechanical grip, the new transmission features an overall gear ratio that’s been configured 15% closer together to improve the power distribution of the 8.0L W16 engine with 1,500 hp and 1,600 Nm of torque. Eighty percent of the transmission has been revised while the entire gear set including four shafts and seven forward gears has been adapted to the new conditions. “We reconfigured each gear and calibrated new ratios despite this iconic engine boasting an abundance of power. The gears are closer together now to enable shorter gear jumps and also benefit performance. Most of all when coming out of corners the Chiron Pur Sport accelerates even more aggressively in conjunction with the added grip as well as the more direct chassis and suspension,” said Gregor Gries, head of major assemblies at Bugatti.

The result: The Chiron Pur Sport accelerates from 60 to 120 kmph almost two seconds faster than the already lightning-fast Chiron.

“We spoke to customers and realized they wanted a vehicle that is geared even more towards agility and dynamic cornering. A hyper sports car that yearns for country roads with as many bends as possible. An unadulterated, uncompromising driving machine. Consequently, the vehicle is called Chiron Pur Sport. By cutting the weight by 50 kilograms while simultaneously boosting the downforce and configuring an uncompromising, sporty chassis as well as suspension setup, the Chiron Pur Sport boasts incredible grip, sensational acceleration and extraordinarily accurate handling. It’s the most uncompromising yet agile Bugatti of recent times”, explains Stephan Winkelmann, President of Bugatti.

Also read: Brace yourselves for a new Bugatti hypercar