Now, though, everyone at the polo club can finally breathe a sigh of relief—Bugatti apparently has fused the Grand Sport chassis and body with the 1200-bhp quad turbo W-16 engine that propelled the Super Sport to a record-setting 268-mph high-speed run.
In Roadandtrack, the white test car caught by our spy photographers has only minimal camouflage on its front air intakes. Unlike the Super Sport coupe, this new roadster version keeps the chromed air intakes of the standard Veyron. For obvious reasons, the sleeker NACA ducts found on the roof of the Super Sport make no sense on a car with a removable top. That means the car will likely have a top speed that’s not quite as fast as the Super Sport Coupe’s electronically limited 258-mph max.
But fear not, performance isn’t exactly going to be an issue here. The Super Sport coupe accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, according to Bugatti, and can pull up to 1.4g on a skidpad. During our test drive, we praised this all-wheel-drive supercar for also being remarkably “smooth, quiet and comfortable” during normal driving conditions.
Look for the Grand Sport Super Sport to go on sale later this year, or early in 2012. This could be one of the final hurrahs for the Veyron before it’s replaced, possibly by a super sedan similar in size and design to the C16 Galibier Concept seen two years ago.
