Bugatti’s History of Record-Breaking When Bugatti launched the incredible Veyron in 2005 it truly had broken and rewritten the hypercar rulebook. Here was a car that was as refined as a Rolls-Royce and as easy to drive as a Golf, yet with 1000 horsepower from its revolutionary 8.0L W16 and a top speed of 253mph, it was by far the fastest production car in the world. Then came the much more aerodynamic Veyron Super Sport, which set a new top speed record of 267 mph. Almost a decade later, the Chiron Super Sport 300+ became the first road car to break the 300mph barrier, with a top speed of 305mph. After this milestone, then-CEO Stephen Winkelmann announced that Bugatti “Have proven several times that we build the fastest cars in the world. In the future, we will focus on other areas”. However, new CEO Mate Rimac recently refuted this claim, stating, ‘It was. It isn’t.’ And based on this recent test, that claim seems 100% true. The Legendary Mistral: Finished in World Record Liveries Before we dive deep into the test, we have to first analyse the car that achieved this incredible top speed, the incredible Mistral. 99 of these beauties have been built, with a body mostly constructed of carbon fibre. Each Mistral costs $5.4 million and it serves as a swansong for Bugatti’s 2-decade-old 8.0L Quad-Turbo W16. Under the skin, this beautiful car is just a Chiron Super Sport with the same 8.0l Quad Turbo 1578 horsepower W16 with 1180 lb-ft of torque. Like the Super Sport, this car is all-wheel-drive and features launch control. The result is 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds and a limited top speed of 261mph. But to achieve such speed is not just down to raw horsepower but aerodynamics. The design of the Mistral follows Bugatti’s principle: "Form follows performance.” Its iconic horseshoe grille has been widened, and the redesigned C-line is raised. The car also features massive air intakes. These features ensure more air passes through the car. Whether that be feeding more into the massive turbochargers, orkeeping the gearbox, rear axle and W16 Volcano cool for optimum performance in any condition. So given all that, it was no surprise it was able to achieve such a high speed. The Mistral used for this test was part of the exclusive Singh collection, which includes a range of Bugattis like the Veyron Super Sport, Veyron Vitesse, and Chiron Super Sport 300+, all in matching colours. Seems black and orange are the ideal colours for going fast. Their Mistral is finished in Bugatti’s signature “Jet Orange” with visible black carbon fibre and orange accents extended throughout its body and wheels. These all call back to Bugatti’s previous world breakers, the Veyron SuperSport and SuperSport+ so it’s no surprise, that this car is called the “Mistral World Record Edition.” The Test in Question: Setting a New World Record for Convertibles The test for Bugatti’s latest speed trial took place at the infamous Papenberg High-Speed Oval in North West Germany on November 9th 2024. Despite having a history at VW’s Ehra-Lessien track, since Bugatti is now owned by Rimac, they no longer had access to the legendary WW2 track. No matter, the team felt the 7.6-mile-long 50-degree angle banked high-speed oval was ideal, specifically designed for top-speed runs. At the wheel was Bugatti’s chief test driver, Andy Wallace, the man who’d taken the Chiron Super Sport well past 300mph. Before the official run, he took the Mistral for a warm-up lap to gain heat into the tyres as well as getting Wallace familiar with the machine and the track conditions. During these runs, Wallace maxed the Mistral to 124mph on the banked corners to prepare the car for a high-speed blast down the main straight on the record run. During these runs, he remarked, “Throughout the testing program leading up to this moment, it was incredible to feel how stable the car felt. I got the sense that it wanted to go faster.” And with everything sorted, it was time for the main event. With the boffins at Bugatti and SGS-TÜV Saar GmbH lining the car with speed measurements and setting a speed trap, all was ready. Wallace took the Mistral round banked track at 124mph before mashing the throttle on the 2.5-mile-long straight. And for the last time, the W16 Volcano burst into life and gave it its all. Wallace described feeling the full intensity of air resistance and the final roar of the W16 engine as the Mistral sliced through the air. By the midpoint, history had been rewritten, and Bugatti was back on top. The Mistral had achieved 282.04mph, a new record speed for convertibles. To put that into perspective, the previous convertible car to hold this record was the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder with a top speed of 265.6mph. Yet at 17mph higher top speed, the Mistral hasn’t just beaten it but truly humiliated it. Hennessey have their work cut out with the Venom F5 Roadster if they want it to beat the Mistral. The W16’s Finest Hour at the End of its Life The Mistral’s top speed record is more than just bragging rights, it’s a showcase that Bugatti are following on from what Mate Rimac stated, that their days of record-breaking are far from over. But in addition, it represents something more. The next masterpiece from Bugatti, the Tourbillon, uses a brand-new V16 unit alongside 3 electric motors. This means the iconic W16 has reached the end of its life, and will be produced no more. That’s certainly a depressing thought but look at it this way. At the end of its life, it went out with a bang. For this 2-decade old war horse propelled the Mistral to break a new top speed record. It is truly one of the greatest engines ever fitted to a road car wholeheartedly celebrating Bugatti’s mantra of form follows performance. It’s always hard to say goodbye to an icon, but it’s always grand to see an icon go out with such a bang. Source: Bugatti Automobilli
