The Bugatti W16 Mistral has set a new 453.91 km/h (282.05 mph) world speed record with the top down…on a damp track. However, it wasn’t an average of a two-way run so doesn’t really count.
For all that, it still eclipsed the 431km/h world speed record set by the hardtop Veyron Super Sport in 2010. Next stop, says Bugatti Rimac Chief, Mate Rimac, is 500km/h (311 mph). The firm wants to own the outright speed crown.
The W16 Mistral is powered by Bugatti’s enormous 8.0L, quad-turbocharged W16 engine which is no longer being made. Clearly it wasn’t a stock W16 Mistral because that is speed limited to 420km/h. Not that many owners will ever discover that; the ‘speed record’ was set at the Papenburg test track in Germany.
The official production car speed record remains with Koenigsegg. Its Agera RS managed 447.19 km/h (277.87 mph) in 2017. Bugatti and SSC have both gone faster but not officially, and with pre-production or non-homologated cars.
The W16 Mistral’s driver was Bugatti’s official test pilot, former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Andy Wallace. He is ideally suited to the job of checking out the top speed of a convertible, being bald.
Evidently Bugatti’s Rimac is asking tyre supplier Michelin about supplying rubber for an all-out assault on the production car world speed record. The title of “world’s fastest car” holds plenty of allure for all involved.
