The Last Time

Highs: Quickest car we've ever tested, probing its lofty limits is easy, 16 cylinders (16!). 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport

- By Tony Quiroga. Photography by Marc Urbano

Highs: Quickest car we've ever tested, probing its lofty limits is easy, 16 cylinders (16!).

Lows: The letters we'll get complaining about the price, an era coming to a close.

Money can't buy more time on earth, but it will buy a $3,825,000 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport. And while 1578 horsepower won't extend your expiration date, accelerating hard in a SuperSport crams a hell of a lot of living into a short amount of time. You see, the Super Sport's four new turbochargers compress not only air but also time. Take, for example, the amount the Chiron Super Sport takes to get to 200 mph. Those 14.8 seconds squeeze in a month's worth of terror, joy, and comedy.

Your life does flash in front of you the first time you floor the Chiron's accelerator and unleash the W-16's gasfired hell on the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. Launch control brings the engine to about 2500 rpm, allowing the Super Sport to build some boost before takeoff. If 2500 rpm seems low, consider that the 8.0-liter reactor behind your head makes 562 horsepower at that speed and is already producing a peak torque of 1180 pound-feet. Let go of the Chiron's leash, and your spine gets hit with 1.5 g's of leather backrest while a disorienting fuzziness engulfs you. Traction is critical to acceleration, but even an all-wheel-drive system with massive Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (which are X-rayed at the factory to ensure they're up to near-300mph speeds) can't contain the Chiron's power. All four tires break loose and tag the pavement.