Bugatti produced just 60 examples of the Chiron Pur Sport and fitted each and every one of these 1,500 hp, 217 mph hypercars with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres. Michelin supplies the semi-slick to Bugatti in the front axle size 285/30 R20 (99Y) and rear size 355/25 R21 (107Y). But after Bugatti observed cracks on the rear tyres fitted to a prototype Pur Sport, it is notifying owners to return their vehicles.
If you’ve got a bit of spare cash laying around and some free time in early September, you might like to look in on auction house Gooding & Company’s ‘Passion of a Lifetime’ auction, being held as part of the Concours of Elegance event at Hampton Court Palace on 5 September.
Almost every sporty and upmarket vehicle has them – wheels made of aluminium. However, very few people know that the very first car to wear these wheels was a Bugatti. Some 95 years ago, French vehicle producer Ettore Bugatti fitted aluminium wheels for the very first time on a Type 35.
Electric supercars may have been the talk of the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, but the most expensive vehicle there – and anywhere else in the world for the matter – was the Bugatti La Voiture Noire. The Noire features, a carbon fibre body, a 1,500 horsepower 16-cylinder engine and an enormous US$11 million price tag.
While everyone else was drooling over the Bugatti Veyron Super Sports’s jaw dropping 267 mph (431 km/h) performance on the BBC’s Top Gear programme last night, Tyres & Accessories was observing the tyre geek angle – at those kinds of speeds even the best tyres simply don’t last very long. During his report, May pointed out that Bugatti engineers had told him the car’s tyres lasted for around 37 miles a speeds of up to 258 mph (414 km/h). At speeds beyond this, however, the tyres’ life expectancy is somewhat more opaque: “Ask an admiral how deep his submarine goes,” Top Gear’s May was told.
Every wondered what the most expensive passenger car tyres in the world are? According to a report published on the Autocar website on 14 January, Bugatti Veyron rubber must be a prime contender with a set of four new tyres costing £23,500 (26,926 euros; US$38,482) to replace. And if you were wondering which tyre manufacturer won the OE contract to supply these products, a quick look at tyrepress.com’s online archive reveals that the 406 km/h car, which is capable of 0 – 300 km/h in under 14 seconds fits Michelin Pilot Sport Pax System 245-690 R520 A (front) and 365-710 R 540 A (rear) tyres.
Kensington-based luxury carmaker, Bristol, has announced that it has produced a record braking variation of its Bristol Fighter model. Seen as something of a Bugati (Veyron) beater, the Fighter T’s twin turbocharged and intercooled 8-litre V10 engine is capable of producing 1012 bhp and a top speed of 270 mph, which has been electronically limited to 225 mph.
Gooding & Company