Back on top: Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is once again the world’s fastest production car – for now…

By Stephen Edelstein April 16, 2013

The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is officially the fastest production car in the world – again. It hasn’t gotten any faster, and neither has its competition, but the Guinness Book of World Records has changed its ruling on a technicality that temporarily disqualified the 1,200 horsepower legend.

Last week, Guinness ruled that Bugatti had made an illegal modification to the Veyron SS for its 267.8 mph record run at Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien test track in Germany in 2010. Bugatti disengaged the car’s electronic speed limiter, which normally restricts it to 258 mph.

In an official statement released last Friday, Guinness said disengaging the speed limiter wasn’t significant enough of a change to warrant removing the Veyron’s crown.

“Having evaluated all the necessary information, Guinness World Records is now satisfied that a change to the speed limiter does not alter the fundamental design of the car or its engine,” Guinness said.

All in all, it’s been a pretty good week for Bugatti. In addition to getting the production car speed record back, Volkswagen’s crown jewel is claiming the world record for an open-topped car.

The Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, which is to the Veyron Grand Sport as the Super Sport is to the standard Veyron, achieved 254 mph at Ehra-Lessien. Guinness was not involved in the record attempt.

Both the Super Sport and Vitesse use a reinforced version of Bugatti’s quad-turbocharged W16 engine, producing 1,200 hp and 1,106 pound-feet of torque. They also feature aerodynamic modifications over their “base” siblings that allow them to reach record-setting speeds.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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