Bugatti’s unholy trinity: Chiron vs Veyron vs EB110

One big birthday, three world-beating hypercars

Bugatti’s been around for 110 years, but the three most recent machines to wear that badge feel so utterly modern that you’d never guess.

The Bugatti Chiron, Veyron and EB110 are exceptions even among hypercars: super-exclusive exotics that are both masterpieces of engineering and also profoundly pointless.

Strangely, though, that’s not what bothers you when you’re at the helm of a blue streak catapulting towards a restricted top speed of 261mph. No, your main concern at that moment is how exactly you’ll slow down on a runway that’s rapidly running out. And slick with rain.

That’s also the moment you realise it’s never been about the real world. It’s been about bragging rights. And Bugatti’s won those in spades. But which is best?

French roots, Italian resurrection

It was back in 1986 that this exercise in one-upmanship started. Old Ferruccio Lamborghini – a man familiar with exotic machinery – had a chat with dealer and importer Romano Artioli about resurrecting the Bugatti name, and that conversation planted the seed that would become the EB110.

Mr Lambo soon lost interest, but a committed Artioli managed to buy the rights to the name, registering Bugatti Automobili in Italy in 1987 – and so it began.

Child of the ’80s

Development of the EB110 commenced in 1988 and its specification would soon make other supercars look tame. Its basic structure saw a carbonfibre tub wrapped in hand-formed aluminium and fitted with an all-alloy, quad-turbocharged V12 engine.

Power was sent to all four wheels via a six-speed gearbox, while Michelin had to develop special tyres for a machine that, during homologation, established a production-car speed record of 212.5mph.

One for the big 110

It broke cover in Paris on 14 September 1991, marking Ettore Bugatti’s 110th birthday – hence the name – in fitting style as the fastest production car on the market.

Alas, while the timing worked for the anniversary, things weren’t so rosy with the global markets: the economy tanked and production of the EB110 foundered. Just 85 GT editions were made, alongside 30 carbonfibre-bodied Supersports and 13 test machines, before Bugatti – in its Italian guise – went bankrupt.

Simple concept

But the marque wasn’t dead. Volkswagen acquired the rights for a rumoured £20m and top dog Ferdinand Piëch soon gave the engineers a brief for the ultimate vanity project: build a 1000bhp car that can top 250mph.

It wasn’t until 2001 that the board agreed to actually build it and it was another two years before the first prototype was finished. But it was worth the wait: the Veyron came equipped with an 8-litre W16 engine – essentially a pair of 4-litre V8s bolted together around a single crank.

Record breaker

Following numerous delays, the Veyron 16.4 was finally revealed in 2005, with a claimed power output of 987bhp. In April of that year, it clocked 253.81mph on a German test track.

Naturally, that wasn’t enough. Other variants followed, including the targa-style Grand Sport and Grand Sport Vitesse models, but it was the heavily re-engineered Super Sport that truly took things to the next level: deploying 1187bhp, it topped 267mph – and cost more than £2m.

Loss-leading machine

All told, 407 Veyrons were made up to 2013, each one losing VW a fortune – but staying true to its pursuit of those all-important bragging rights, Bugatti’s German owners seemed happy to toss millions on the pyre. And it was a similar story with its replacement, the Chiron.

Mirroring the original mandate, new boss Wolfgang Dürheimer delivered a simple instruction: “Make the new car better than the Veyron in every respect.”

Familiar, only faster

At its core, the Chiron followed a familiar recipe: quad-turbo W16 engine, carbonfibre structure and all-wheel drive. But it was much more than a Veyron makeover.

Peak power was 1479bhp at 6700rpm. It hit 60mph from a standing start in a blistering 2.5 secs, 186mph in 13.6 secs and 249mph in 32.6 secs. Fast was an understatement.

More in the tank

All the same, when the Chiron launched in 2016, some couldn’t help but point out that it was slower than the Veyron Super Sport. Bugatti’s retort? It’s limited to 261mph for ‘safety reasons’. Read: the tyres might go pop at 262mph.

Without the restrictor and ignoring the troublesome rubber, it could do at least 275mph – provided you had a runway long enough.

Cinematic battle

Which brings us neatly to our test – though it feels more like a theatre performance with all three Bugattis gathered together for a shootout like no other.

What’s striking about the EB110 in particular is its size: it’s much smaller than you expect – 6in shorter than a Ferrari 488. Ours is a 1994 SS edition, good for 603bhp rather than the 550bhp of the ‘standard’ GT. And it’s a thing of wonder.

Superlative performance

Snug in leather-clad seats, pedals slightly offset in a cabin with just a few ergonomic quirks, you expect the V12 behind to erupt with surround-sound fanfare. But there’s just a muted burble, all very civilised. 

Then comes the good bit: hit 4000rpm from a standstill and the turbos start to inhale air; acceleration builds abruptly but effortlessly. Keep the throttle nailed and forward thrust proves astonishing, the vast torque fired through all four wheels to deliver incredible levels of grip.

All sorted

There are no creaks, groans or clunks, either. The suspension soaks up the worst surface imperfections and the EB110 proves very manageable even at enthusiastic speeds.

That any car packing more than 600bhp can be this easy to drive is extraordinary, let alone one of its vintage. Remarkably, it was criticised in period for being too refined.

An exercise in excess

Then there’s the Veyron. Nothing about this car is normal – not least the styling, which still divides opinion. 

Open the door, stoop to enter and you’ll find the cockpit is its own work of art: the carbonfibre seats are swathed in luxurious leather, the centre console made from a single piece of aluminium and the instruments jewel-like, if difficult to read. It’s all supremely comfortable, even if there are several built-in blindspots.

Poise and punch

Then you blast off. Every heartbeat thumps in your temples as the Veyron bolts off the line with not even a hint of wheelspin, thanks to the electronic nannies. The tail squats slightly and you grip the steering wheel – but there’s nothing white knuckle about this ride.

Yes, you expect chaos and confusion – but there’s none of the writhing you get from so many supercars of old. Molten grip and perfectly weighted steering see to it that, though the sheer punch still broils your mind.

Hypercar about town

Track limitations mean that top-speed runs are out of the question, but from past experience we know the Veyron doesn’t threaten to take flight north of 160mph – and it’s a lot easier to navigate through urban arenas than you might imagine, provided you change the suspension from ‘Handling’ to ‘Standard’. 

When you’re not striving for the limits of performance, you really can potter in a Veyron.

Comfortable cruiser

And the same is largely true of the Chiron, perhaps even more so. There’s so much about this car that encourages hyperbole, but probably its most surprising trait is how easy it is to drive at low speeds.

The electronically assisted steering is light and sensibly geared; switch to ‘Handling’ mode and there’s greater heft, but you still feel as if you’re driving a leather armchair.

Well-built weapon

And, like a good armchair, you can’t help but admire the attention to detail. The badge? Genuine sterling silver. The audio tweeters? Packed with actual diamonds. The craftsmanship is truly breathtaking, as befits a car costing £2.5m.

And then you hit the loud pedal. Even if you’re familiar with supercars, nothing can match the sense of slingshot delivery as the Chiron hooks up. It’s organ-bruising stuff.

Fast starting, firm stopping

From rest, three-figure speeds arrive in less time than it takes to read this sentence – and the brakes stop you with such eye-popping force that you need a minute to recover.

Driving the Chiron at anything close to real speed is truly memorable, but it isn’t just the straight-line stuff that blows your mind. Emerge from a bend with your right foot half planted and torque proves endless. There’s no fuss, just a new crick in your neck.

Words are not enough

As with the other two, it’s hard not to lapse into blissful reverie trying to describe driving the Chiron, the gut-wrenching tension that turns to hypnotic, breath-stopping speed as acceleration builds with brutal menace, each flip of the right paddle delivering more commotion.

It operates at the outer limits of an envelope already signed, sealed and delivered by the EB110 and Veyron before it – and it’s magnificent.

Choosing time

Some say these cars don’t deserve the fabled Bugatti badge, that they leech off its historic reputation. We say they add lustre.

If we had our pick? We’d go controversial and take home the slowest of the bunch. The EB110 is, in just about every quantifiable way, the least good car of the world-beating trio – but it’s also the one that most finds its way into your affections.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a car you love rather than admire – and that’s how it should be, even at the limits.