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Bugatti Chiron Prototype Spotted Testing On The Nürburgring

By Sanjoy Alexander

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - MARCH 01: The Bugatti Chiron is presented during the Bugatti press conference as part of the Geneva Motor Show 2016 on March 1, 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - MARCH 01: The Bugatti Chiron is presented during the Bugatti press conference as part of the Geneva Motor Show 2016 on March 1, 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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The Bugatti Chiron has got nothing to prove. So why is it lapping the Nürburgring? Has it finally given into the temptation to set a lap record on the feared racetrack?

A 1,479 hp, $3 million piece of mind-blowing automotive craftsmanship and engineering. That’s the Bugatti Chiron. Yes, it does look like a heavily-revised Bugatti Veyron. But I find it to be much more appealing to behold than the quintessential hypercar. There aren’t any doubts on the claims made by Bugatti on the Chiron’s capabilities too. So what the hell is a Bugatti Chiron prototype doing on the Nürburgring?

Head over to the Nürburgring Lap Times Top 100 page. You won’t see a Bugatti anywhere in that long list. There’s almost every single speed demon in there, hailing from the houses of Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren and Pagani. There are also the Japanese and the Americans. But Bugatti? Nope. So the sight of a prototype Chiron lapping the feared Green Hell triggers a lot of questions.

Deliveries of the Chiron has already commenced. So what exactly is being tested here? There is a co-driver with a laptop inside the matte black prototype that’s devoid of any Bugatti logos. Are they working on a track-focused special edition? Nürburgring isn’t the kind of place that carmakers pick for testing the top speed. So they aren’t doing these laps with a view to increase the top speed.

Is the Bugatti Chiron being prepared to take down the current King of the Ring? The NIO EP9 holds the current lap record.

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Now, the most plausible reasons behind this totally surprising sight could be that Bugatti maybe bitten by the Nürburgring lap record bug. What if Bugatti wishes to establish itself as the supreme leader of the Ring? A lot of carmakers – exotic, muscle, European and imports – are in the race for claiming the records in the respective categories and Bugatti wasn’t bothered about any of those in the past. What if the execs just changed their mind and thought of taking the lap record as a trophy?

The Bugatti Chiron prototype seen in the clip wasn’t being driven flat out. But that could be because of the presence of other cars on the track and this could just be the beginning of the carmaker’s round of testing and tuning prior to big day.

Next: Jamie Foxx Gives His Bugatti Veyron A Gold Wrap

In some additional Chiron buzz, the tire technology needed for the Bugatti Chiron to clock its actual top speed hasn’t been developed yet. In its current form with the speed limiter on, the Chiron tops out at 261 mph. That’s in fact a bit slower than the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport World Record Edition. But give the Chiron the right set of tires (which are yet to be developed), take that speed limiter off and the hypercar is claimed to be capable enough to hit 300 mph. We hope to see that happening sometime next year.

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