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Bugatti evaluating a trio of Veyron successors

Bugatti is nearing the very end of its Veyron production run with only around 15 of the supercars reportedly left to be sold of the 450-car total. With so few remaining, the supremely posh automaker is already deep into development discussions of a successor, but it doesn't seem that the company has a final design in mind quite yet.
According to two unnamed insiders speaking to Bloomberg, Bugatti is evaluating at least three concepts for the Veyron's successor. They claim that the new model will be lighter than the current one with an engine capable of producing about 1,500 horsepower. Also, at least one of these prototypes is using an electric motor for additional boost.
These latest leaks lend further substantiation to the circulating rumors about Bugatti's future. One earlier report claimed that the hypercar would use a modified version of the current 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16, possibly with direct injection, electrically powered turbos and an additional electric motor to boost the top speed to around 286 miles per hour. Also, two prototypes (pictured above) were spotted testing at the Nürburgring earlier this year, and one of them wore an odd contraption on its back. Other speculation indicated the new model would reportedly be called the Chiron, a reference to a famous Bugatti racing driver and the name for one of the company's concepts that previewed the Veyron's shape.

Fast doesn't begin to describe it | 2017 Bugatti Chiron First Drive

Long after the heat of the moment, I pull off the highway in rural Portugal and glance at the Bugatti Chiron's center console. As the engine cools and the carbon silicon carbide brake rotors start to dissipate heat, the onboard computer's telemetry reveals some staggering figures: A peak speed of 377 km/h (do the math, and that's 234 mph), with the quad-turbocharged W16 squeezing a max of 1,466 horsepower at 6,691 rpm. Did I just drive a car or fly a plane? The mind-boggling brain shuffle of Bugatti's latest land rocket cannot be understated, even when placed in context against the now-defunct Veyron. In ultimate Super Sport trim, the Veyron produced a stunning 1,200 (metric) horsepower. The Chiron's leap to 1,500 ponies required considerable development, testing, and re-engineering. That exhaustive process saw significant challenges, even late in the game. Consider the high-speed testing incident in South Africa: despite extensive test-bench work, real-world driving revealed that the immense exhaust heat was melting the rear bumper and nearly igniting the car. The solution, it turns out, was to add a duct so airflow from the underbody could channel through and diffuse the heat. Hashtag: #1500HorsepowerProblems. For the 500 wealthy souls who will take delivery, the $2,998,000 Chiron is most certainly an emotional purchase. But it's backed by a battery of left-brain thinking aimed at making it a quicker, smoother, more involving car than its famously controversial predecessor. For starters, only five percent of the engine's parts are retained from the Veyron, the bulk of the new parts getting strengthened, lightened, and re-engineered to better cope with the thermal demands of the heightened output. The four turbochargers are 68 percent larger and now work sequentially so the first set can facilitate a torque plateau between 2,000 and 4,000 rpm. The larger, second set of turbos extend the flat line to 6,600 rpm. The seven-speed gearbox manufactured by Ricardo, which is essentially the only dry-sump dual-clutch on the production car market, has been strengthened and reinforced to withstand the engine's thumping 1,180 pound-feet of torque. The immense drivetrain is housed by a carbon-fiber chassis by Dallara that requires 1,500 hours to build. The Chiron also gains an adaptive chassis that uses five drive modes to set ride height, steering effort, damping, and power distribution.

Bugatti has sold the last Veyron

It's the end of an era, boys and girls: Bugatti has sold the last Veyron ever to be made. And in doing so, it sets the sun on a saga dating back ten years to when production began – and even longer since Volkswagen began development of what would become one of, if not the most powerful and fastest supercars of all time. The story of the Veyron dates back to 1998 when VW bought the rights to the Bugatti name. It subsequently rolled out a series of concept cars to preview what it had in store for the storied Alsatian marque, setting upon the final design in 2001 and determining to put it into production. It would be another four years or so before the Veyron would finally be ready, but once it was, nobody cared how long it had taken. It was one of the most impressive feats of automotive engineering ever undertaken and the harbinger of a new era of million-dollar exotics. (Or $2.6 million, we should say, because that's the average price paid for a new Veyron.) Bugatti set about making 300 coupes, which it completed in September 2011, and subsequently undertook the additional production of 150 roadsters. Now that final example – the 450th and final Veyron ever to be made – has been sold to a customer in the Middle East (naturally), the news arriving hot on the heels of a similar development with another seven-figure European exotic as the Pagani Huayra has sold out its entire allotment as well. Dubbed the Grand Sport Vitesse La Finale, the final Veyron will be showcased at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. Some time after that, we hope the House that Ettore Built will tell us a little more about what it has planned next. Bugatti sells the last Veyron - Bugatti president Wolfgang Durheimer: "An unprecedented chapter in automobile history has reached its climax" - World premiere for the 450th Veyron at the Geneva Motor Show - Veyron is the world's most powerful and fastest production supercar Molsheim, 23rd February 2015. Bugatti has sold the 450th and last Veyron. 16 cylinders, 1,200 PS, a maximum torque of 1,500 Nm, 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds and a world record speed of 431.072 km/h – these are the figures that describe the magic and uniqueness of the ultimate supercar of the modern era. The Veyron has caused a sensation across the world ever since its launch ten years ago.