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Bugatti Veyron Successor Prototype Seen Driving Slowly Around the Nurburgring

Did they even do Nurburgring testing at the time when the Bugatti Veyron was launched? Probably not, otherwise they would have noticed all that technology is making the car too heavy to handle around a track. Regardless, that didn't stop Floyd Mayweather from buying several examples over the years.
Bugatti Veyron successor testing 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
It looks like the boxing champion will have a car collection to replenish after he retires this year, since Bugatti are working on a successor to the Veyron.

It's been dubbed the Chiron, after a concept shown in the 90s, but very little is officially known about its future. The project has been started and stopped several times over the past two years, but it seems engineers are now committed.

This following video shows how a Veyron test mule is driven very slowly around the Nurburgring track. Not once but twice, it avoids going around the famous Karussell corner.

With all three of the latest hybrid hypercars making around 900 horsepower, the rumor mill suggests the Veyron’s successor is expected to sport around 1,500 horses. 1,200 of those will come from the quad-turbocharged W16 8-liter monster, with the rest from a new electric motor.

So far, Volkswagen has invested billions into the Bugatti revival program and got nothing in return. The original plan was to make the fastest cars in the world and then introduce watered down version with less performance and more luxury features. Of course, since the Galibier sedan project has been scrapped, it's clear the scheme has been abandoned.

The biggest hurdle faced by Bugatti engineers is to keep weight down. It's one thing to add more power, but when the Koenigsegg One:1 matches its 1341 hp (1,360 PS) with a weight of only 1,341 kg (2,956 lbs), getting the most out of an electric battery becomes difficult.

Of course, Volkswagen can scrap the Veyron successor at any moment, just like it did with the R8 e-tron or the trio of rear-engined sportscars that were supposed to be made with Porsche and Audi.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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