Video: Bugatti Chiron breaks 300mph barrier, sets new record

A team of engineers spent over six months working on the car.

In Lower Saxony, Germany, a modified Bugatti Chiron zoomed at an unbelievable 304.773mph (490.484km/h) with racing driver Andy Wallace at the wheel and became the first car to break 300mph barrier.

On August 2 at Ehra-Lessien, Germany's Technical Inspection Association verified the speed, qualifying the Bugatti to be faster than SSC (256.18mph two-way average, 2007), Hennessey (270.49mph two-way average, 2013) and Koenigsegg (284.55 vmax, 277.87 two-way average, 2017), reported Top Gear.

A team of engineers from Bugatti, Michelin and chassis wizards Dallara spent over six months on the car which has laser-controlled ride height to give the impression that the car is melting into the tarmac. The hypercar has at its rear a long tail, modified exhaust system and purpose-designed tyres, reported iol.co.za.

These project the exhaust emissions as far from the rear as possible to reduce their effect on drag and aero. The rear wing and airbrake have been removed and replaced with a static unit recessed into the tail to reduce drag. "The biggest challenge is to get the overall package right, not only design, not only aerodynamics, not only engine, not only tyres. It's to get everything together and working in one car," Frank Heyl, head of exterior design at Bugatti was quoted as saying in Top Gear.