Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport Sets Land-Speed Mark

Just the Facts:

• Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport sets a new land-speed record for production cars.
• The supercar hit 267.8 mph at VW's German test track.
• Guinness World Records officials were on hand to witness and verify the record-setting run.

EHRA-LESSIEN, Germany — As the Bugatti Veyron nears the end of a five-year production run, parent Volkswagen has crafted a brilliant finish for its $1-million-plus supercar: A final, ultra-exotic edition of the Veyron 16.4, appropriately dubbed the Super Sport, has just set a new world land-speed record for production cars of 431 km/h — a blistering 267.8 mph.

Representatives from Germany's official TUV and, of course, Guinness World Records were on hand to witness and verify the record-setting run at VW's test track here, just outside the company's Wolfsburg headquarters. Behind the wheel of the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport was Pierre Henri Raphanel, Bugatti's "pilote officiel."

VW is billing the Super Sport as "the climax of the Veyron series," and that seems like a fitting description for what appears to be the ultimate — no, the extreme — Bugatti.

VW has managed to boost output of the 8.0-liter W16 engine to 1,183 horsepower and torque to 1,106 pound-feet through a variety of enhancements, notably the application of four larger turbochargers and intercoolers. Power is fed to all four wheels through a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox.

Chassis developments include beefier stabilizer bars, racing-type shocks and greater spring travel. VW said a revised carbon-composite monocoque has greater structural rigidity and is lighter in weight. The carbon-fiber skin, painted orange and black on the record-setting car, can be ordered in exposed carbon covered in clear lacquer.

To improve airflow and cooling, VW also tweaked the car's exterior, installing two NACA ducts in the roof, expanding the front air intakes and adding a double diffuser in the rear.

VW said the top speed on the production Super Sport will be electronically limited to only 258 mph "to protect the tires."

The Veyron 16.4 Super Sport will make its public debut next month at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and goes into production this fall at Molsheim, France. The first five cars off the line will be configured identically to the land speed record car and finished in orange with black exposed carbon.

Inside Line says: Don't bother breaking into your piggy banks, kids. Bugatti says all five World Record Edition Super Sports are already spoken for. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent