Bugatti's next top speed target could exceed 310 miles per hour

Bugatti has just won the track speed record for a production open-top car equipped with a Mistral roadster clocked to 282mph earlier this month at the ATP Automotive Test Papenburg high-speed test track in Germany. It was an abandoned practice under former chief Stephan Winkelmann after the Chiron Super Sport300+ reached 3019 at 304.773mph, making it the first production car to pass the 300-mph mark.

Bugatti is today operated by Mate Rimac, the founder of the technology company Rimac and the electric hypercar mark of the same name. He said Bugatti has not done so by setting a new top speed record, suggesting that currently the next stop could be 500kph, or 310.686mph.

In an interview with Top Gear following Mistral's record run, Remac said he had discussed with tire supplier Michelin whether the tires could handle speeds of 500kph.

"Can we put five in front of the maximum speed record?""Maybe next. Let's see," he told Top Gear.

Some modified cars exceed 300 miles per hour. Johnny Bomer, the brain behind the Johnny Bomer test site at the Florida Spaceport, took his modified 2006 Ford GT to such a speed on an earlier occasion. But doing so with road tires that must meet Bugatti's safety and durability standards is the last real challenge, although aerodynamic safety is also an issue. We are talking about speeds twice as fast as the speed at which an airliner takes off.

Michelin has been working since at least 2018 on road car tires designed at more than 300 miles per hour. Bugatti has worked with Michelin to develop a set of Pilot sports cup 300 tires for use in Chiron Supersport 2+. Bugatti said that Michelin had tested tires up to 317 miles per hour in the United States, but did not mention the method.

Under Rimac's leadership, Bugatti introduced Chiron's successor in the form of a tourbillon. The car, scheduled to go into production in 2026, was revealed in May with a plug-in hybrid powertrain that combines a naturally aspirated 8.3-litre V-16 with 3 electric motors, bringing the total output to 6 horsepower to 1,775 horsepower. The car's top speed is limited to 276mph, but given that the 1,577 hp Chiron Super Sport300+ has already achieved the feat, it's not surprising that a true Vmax over 300mph will be how fast the tourbillon will be? We'll probably have to wait a few years to find out.