Hypercars have a numerical dead zone. They’re literally extreme machines. At one of the spectrum are their low acceleration times and the number of people in the world who can buy them. At the other end are their statistical outliers of horsepower, torque, and top speed. Beyond those are their astonishing prices. The Bugatti W16 Mistral is a great example of this. Earlier this month, the €14 million ($14,772,800) one-off W16 Mistral World Record Car set a new top speed world record for an open-top car: 453.91 km/h (282 mph).
This is nothing new for Bugatti, as it has set top speed records with other cars in the past. In June 2010, the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport maxed out at 431.07 km/h (267.8 mph). Three years later, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse hit 408.84 km/h (254 mph) – with its roof panel off. As advertised, the Chiron Super Sport 300+ reached a top speed of 490.48 km/h (304.7 mph) five years ago.
To put the 1,578-horsepower quad-turbo W16 Mistral in the record books, Bugatti took it to ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg GmbH (the same place Chevrolet took the new Corvette ZR1 on its blast to 233 mph). After warming up the W16 Mistral’s bespoke tires, Bugatti Pilote Officiel and Le Mans-winning racer Andy Wallace sped up to 200 km/h (124 mph) before entering the track’s banking, then flattened the gas pedal. He didn’t let off until the speedometer hit the new record number. “When it came to the moment itself, the experience was overwhelmingly thrilling; feeling the elemental forces from the open-top cockpit, the sound of the immense W16 engine emanating from the air scoops next to my ear – it made the achievement incredibly emotional.”
Wallace wasn’t the only one who got to experience the rush. The W16 Mistral World Record Car’s owner witnessed history being made and rode shotgun next to Wallace as he took the car to nearly the same speed that set the world record.
The exposed black carbon fiber and Jet Orange W16 Mistral will join the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, and Chiron Super Sport 300+ World Record Cars in the The Singh Collection, “a private car collection that showcases aspirational achievements of the Punjab community” – and the bold accomplishments of Bugatti’s brilliant engineers and brave drivers.
Source: www.classiccars.com