Bugatti Chiron Sport sheds weight for Geneva

There are two ways to make a car go faster. Add more power or lose some weight. In the case of the Bugatti Chiron, which is filled to the brim with power, the latter is the most favoured choice. So, at the ongoing Geneva Motor Show, Bugatti uncovered the Bugatti Chiron Sport, which is 18 kilos lighter, faster around corners, and preposterously more expensive.

The Chiron Sport benefits from a slightly refreshed look courtesy of the new paint shade as well as the number “16” painted on the mesh of the central grill to denote the number of cylinders. There is a new set of wheel rims and a new exhaust deflector to differentiate the Sport from the “normal” bunch of Chirons (one of which we drove).

Due to the immense grunt it had, the Chiron was the master of the straights but just like the Veyron, it was not as fast through the corners as other hypercars due to its weight. To remedy that, Bugatti has shaved off 18 kilos from the Chiron by using more carbon fibre for the wheels and intercooler covers, and even for windscreen vipers.

The Bugatti Chiron Sport also comes with a dynamic torque vectoring system which can split the power between the four wheels to aid cornering. A dynamic handling package has been added and the suspension has been made stiffer to work with this system. All of this accounts for improved cornering speeds which can directly translate to better lap times. In fact, the Chiron Sport is a full 5 seconds faster than the standard Chiron around Bugatti’s Nardo test track. At the track, cornering speeds in excess of 200 kph have been registered.

The impressive power numbers remain the same at 1500 hp from the humongous 8.4-litre quad-turbo W16 engine. The number that had gone up though, is the price. The Bugatti Chiron Sport costs an eye-watering US$ 3.67 million which makes it even more expensive than the original Chiron which itself costs a planet.