America Ruined The Bugatti Chiron With These Bumper Pads

The good news is that owners can take them off.

By: Chris Bruce

Apr 13, 2017 at 1:17pm ET

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Thinking about insurance for a hypercar isn’t very sexy, but according to Jalopnik, the issue is causing Bugatti Chiron’s in the United States to gain two unsightly growths on the back. Because of a lack of protection against low-speed fender benders, insurers are forcing the hypercar maker to add these protuberances to the model's rear.

The pieces extend mere inches past the rear exhaust and look like they would do the absolute minimum for preventing body damage to the hypercar. Given their low height, it also appears that the average pickup truck would strike the coupe above these bumps in a rear-end incident.

According to Jalopnik, Bugatti is making the process as easy as possible for getting rid of these ugly protrusions. The two bumps are actually a single piece, and there are exposed screws that fasten it onto the rear. The only potential problem is that removing the tumor might also eliminate the way to secure the rear license plate. However, if the buyer can afford a $2.5-million hypercar, he or she should have the wherewithal to figure out another way to attach the plate.

Bugatti is building only 500 Chirons worldwide, and the most recent tally indicates that at least 250 of those hypercars already have buyers. So far, about a third of the production is for North America. The company intends to build 70 of them this year, and the initial examples are already on the road.

The Chiron uses an upgraded version of the Veyron's 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16, and it now develops 1,479 horsepower (1,103 kilowatts) and 1,181 pound-feet (1,600 Newton-meters). Officially, the company limits the top speed to 261 miles per hour (420 kilometers per hour), but over 280 mph (451 kph) might be possible without the limiter.

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Source: Jalopnik

Photo Source: Jake Holmes / Motor1.com