MT Editor Jonny Lieberman jumps behind the wheel of not 1 but 2 Bugatti Chirons
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MotorTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Hi there, and welcome to embarrassment of riches day
00:13 here at Motor Trend.
00:14 I'm not kidding.
00:15 Surrounding me is $8 million worth of French hypercars.
00:20 (upbeat music)
00:22 Wow, it's so fast.
00:25 (upbeat music)
00:28 (upbeat music)
00:30 The blue one over my shoulder there starts at $3.4 million.
00:35 With that fancy carbon fiber bodywork,
00:37 you're talking at least 3.7 million.
00:39 The Chiron Pure Sport here is $200,000 more to start,
00:43 but as it sits, this car is 3.9 million bucks.
00:47 What are they?
00:48 Well, both cars are powered by a 16 cylinder
00:51 quad turbocharged eight liter W configuration engine
00:55 that makes 1500 horsepower,
00:58 but more importantly, 1180 pound feet of torque.
01:02 And all that torque is available basically everywhere.
01:05 What's the difference between them?
01:07 Well, Bugatti customers said,
01:08 "You know, we like our Chirons,
01:09 but we don't really need to go 300 miles an hour.
01:12 Could you build us one that handles better?"
01:13 And Bugatti said, "Yeah, sure."
01:15 Hence the Pure Sport.
01:17 This car is about 110 pounds lighter than the Sport,
01:20 and they got there mostly by removing
01:22 the hydraulically actuated rear wing.
01:24 Also, it's got less unsprung weight
01:26 that made the wheels lighter.
01:27 They added some fender vents,
01:28 which removes high pressure air from the front.
01:30 But to me, the two biggest changes are
01:32 they added 2.5 degrees of negative camber to the wheels,
01:36 and the gearbox, which is 80% new, has 15% shorter ratios.
01:41 That used to be the quickest accelerating car in the world.
01:45 This one's quicker.
01:46 So what do they like to drive?
01:47 I can't wait to find out.
01:51 Okay, I'm inside of the Bugatti Chiron Sport,
01:55 and you might be wondering, "Why did he put his mask on?"
01:58 This guy, and that's the rub.
01:59 When you're driving a Bugatti,
02:02 they put a minder in the car
02:04 to make sure that you don't go off the cliff.
02:07 But I've talked to him, and he's not gonna say anything.
02:09 So don't worry, don't worry.
02:10 Nice guy, nice guy.
02:11 So this is the Chiron Sport,
02:13 and it's hard to describe cars like this.
02:17 I was saying that Bugatti customers want in,
02:19 and Bugatti thought they could sell a better handling
02:23 version of the Chiron,
02:25 and this is the first few moments I'm driving it,
02:28 but this thing does handle well.
02:31 You can tell it's a large car,
02:33 and you can tell it's on hydraulic suspension.
02:36 And again, if you said to me,
02:38 "Hey, how would you make this car handle sharper?"
02:40 I would say, "Negative camber."
02:42 That would be an easy one,
02:45 'cause the front is just not as crisp as say,
02:49 like, I don't know, like a McLaren 765
02:52 or something like that.
02:53 But the power this thing makes,
02:56 it's a (laughs)
02:59 it's just, it's ludicrous.
03:00 And again, I said that almost 1,200 pound feet of torque.
03:05 It's available almost instantly.
03:07 It shows up at 2,000 RPM,
03:09 and then the fat torque curve stays flat
03:12 all the way to the red line.
03:14 Now, this car does have a slightly lower red line
03:17 than the Pure Sport.
03:18 This one is like 6,700 versus 6,900,
03:21 but again, it's a quad-turbo car.
03:23 We're not thinking in terms of red line, right?
03:25 This isn't a Porsche GT3
03:27 where that 9,000 RPM is magical.
03:30 In the Chiron, 2,000 RPM is magical
03:34 because you've got all the torque there is.
03:37 It's nuts.
03:37 And then there's the sound.
03:38 The sound they make is crazy.
03:40 I've always likened it to like a steam factory,
03:42 but something is always popping, whirling.
03:45 There's a blow-off valve.
03:47 It's, it's, there's just nothing like it.
03:49 I'll shut up for just a second
03:51 and let you just kinda hear what eight liters
03:55 and 16 cylinders and four turbochargers
03:58 and all the plumbing sounds like.
04:00 It's absolutely unique in the car world.
04:05 So cool.
04:05 And again, though, back to the handling.
04:08 It's hard to say you really need a better handling version.
04:11 I'm gonna be really, I don't know.
04:14 I don't know what to expect with the Pure Sport.
04:17 You know, quicker gears, I guess.
04:19 You know, if you're not measuring acceleration,
04:23 I don't know if you're gonna be able to tell the difference,
04:25 but maybe I will.
04:28 Who knows?
04:29 That was the Chiron Sport.
04:31 We're gonna climb out of this thing
04:32 and get into the Pure Sport.
04:40 All right, it's a little louder in this one.
04:43 This is the Pure Sport.
04:45 And yeah.
04:47 This is definitely the one you would wanna buy
04:52 if you like canyon roads.
04:54 And I hate saying that
04:55 because that's what the Bugatti press release said,
04:57 but they're not making it up.
04:59 This just, again, they're saying it's 110 pounds lighter
05:04 or something like that.
05:05 And it feels, I don't know, 500, 1,000.
05:08 Pick a big number, lighter.
05:09 The turn in is so much crisper.
05:11 It feels much less fluid
05:13 than the regular Chiron or the Sport.
05:15 It's a little harder core.
05:18 It's more up on its knuckles.
05:20 It's more athletic feeling.
05:21 And again, it just slices through the gears.
05:25 It's so quick.
05:27 And that's really what I've learned
05:30 in my one day with two Bugattis
05:33 is that you're just always going much quicker
05:37 than you assume you'd be going.
05:39 They just, the power is so real, so ferocious.
05:44 There's so much of it.
05:46 You're riding this just, I don't know,
05:49 insurmountable wave of torque that never quits.
05:52 And then this one, I mean,
05:53 the other one, the brakes are really good.
05:55 This one, they feel even better.
05:56 And again, I mean, it's gotta be the camber
05:59 on the front wheels, but.
06:01 Wow.
06:05 (laughing)
06:06 It's just, I'm giggling because it's just nuts.
06:09 It's just, it's just another level.
06:12 I don't know, I mean, four million bucks.
06:14 Sure, you should buy two.
06:15 It's great.
06:16 It's hard to be critical and logical.
06:20 I mean, I got my buddy from Bugatti here.
06:21 I don't wanna say too many nice things,
06:23 but just a unique experience.
06:25 It's this combination of,
06:26 I am driving somebody else's $4 million car,
06:30 and I wanna live.
06:31 I wanna kiss my son tonight when I get home.
06:34 But at the same time, just, wow.
06:39 So yes, yes, they've done it.
06:43 Bugatti has taken the Chiron.
06:46 They've made a driver's car with the Pure Sport.
06:49 And just, I don't know how they did it.
06:53 They did it.
06:55 Should you have the means, this is the car you should buy.
06:58 I'll leave it at that.
06:59 I'm gonna shut up and enjoy myself.
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