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We’ve brought together the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport and Rimac Nevera on the stunning sun-kissed roads of Croatia, two hypercars that represent the present and future of automotive engineering and design. Steve Sutcliffe is on hand to find out whether our new era of electric hypercars can really thrill like the best combustion engine-powered that came before, and whether it’s a case of pointless speed over substance…
Read our review of the Rimac Nevera and Bugatti Chiron here, and grab our latest issue to read our full in-depth story.
Rimac Nevera: https://www.evo.co.uk/rimac/nevera/205534/rimac-nevera-2023-review
Bugatti Chiron: https://www.evo.co.uk/bugatti/chiron
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0:00
Welcome to the Colosseum of Speed, otherwise known as Croatia nowadays
0:06
home of a quite incredible car known simply as the Rimac Nevere
0:19
Between them, these two monsters of excess generate 3,500 horsepower and their combined top speeds are over 550 miles an hour
0:31
The Rimac is propelled purely by electricity and is by some margin the more potent of the pair
0:37
as well as the heaviest. The Bugatti uses a more conventional powertrain
0:42
that consists of an 8-litre quad-turbo W16 engine and 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox
0:49
that provides drive to all four of its enormous 20 and 21 inch tyres
0:57
The Rimac is the quicker and by a fair old margin where it counts
1:01
which is a pretty nuts realisation if you stop and really think about it
1:06
But then the Chiron Supersport has a charm and an almighty turn of speed all of its own
1:13
one that makes it no less incredible compared with the world's fastest EV
1:18
Which one do we prefer and why? We'll stick with it and we'll try to answer those questions in a bit
1:25
In the meantime, what does 1900 BHP actually feel like? And can you use it on the public road
1:33
Albeit one that's been closed for the purposes of this test. Everything is now different after this car
1:44
it is extraordinary this car feels to me like the product of a manufacturer that has been
1:56
doing this thing for decades not just one decade but maybe 50 60 70 god knows how long
2:05
that is how polished and how well developed and how flipping brilliant this car is
2:13
it's also unflaming believably fast check this out but let's talk a little bit about the history of rimac because they haven't just come out of the
2:32
blue and produced a one-off freak show of a brilliant car their client list is well it's
2:37
basically a roll call of the great and the good in the car industry right now we're talking porsche
2:43
we're talking Bugatti, we're talking AMG, we're talking Hyundai, who are taking EVs and quick EVs very, very seriously nowadays
2:51
You name it, and the world's best car makers are going to Rimac
2:57
for their technology, for their know-how, for their brain power about how to make EVs exciting, good, brilliant, efficient
3:07
And this thing is the pinnacle of the thinking at Rimac at the moment
3:13
The Navara is powered by a 120 kWh battery that deploys its energy via four individual electric motors, one at each wheel
3:24
Those at the front produce a combined 590 bhp and 412 lb-ft of torque
3:31
Those at the back, 1,288 bhp and 1,326 lb-ft of torque. To give overall totals of deep breath, 1,888 bhp and 1,739 lb-ft of torque
3:51
That's enough to fire the Navara to 60 mph in 1.85 seconds
3:57
and to 186 miles an hour, or 300 kilometres an hour, in just over nine seconds, which is, of course, ridiculous
4:07
The Chiron, by comparison, needs another four seconds to hit 300 kmh
4:16
You've got five drive modes. I've got a range mode, which is obviously as efficient as possible
4:22
a fair bit of regen in the braking, and it gives you up to 500 kilometres, about 300 miles
4:27
That's awesome in itself. So second mode is cruise mode. You get a bit more juice from the batteries
4:34
from the electric motors, but by no means full beans. And the regen just disappears a bit
4:39
So it feels a bit more fluid and lucid down the road Then you got sport mode which is basically the same again Dampers get a bit stiffer steering gets a little bit heavier you get a bit more juice a bit more poke
4:52
And when you've got 2,000 horsepower on tap, sorry, I think it's 1914 BHP, something like that
4:58
So let's just say stacks. You just get a bit more of the stack when you select sport
5:03
And everything does get a little bit sportier still, including the aero, including the ESC
5:08
Now I've gone to track, the wing has just... gone a bit crazy out the back
5:14
so I've got a lot more aero now. And it happens at the front, too. There's all sorts of wizardry that occurs at the front
5:20
The dampers get a bit stiffer. Steering, again, gets a fair bit heavier now it's in track
5:26
And now, and only now, have I got full beans. I'm going to put my foot down now and try and remain normal
5:38
Geeks! It is savagely fast, but it's the traction it's got as well
5:49
They are so clever in the way that they've developed the traction control system
5:53
and the ESC system in this car to allow you to deploy all this energy, like..
6:02
Like that. It's pretty cool climbing out of a Rimac into a Chiron Supersport. The difference is absolutely
6:27
night and day between these two. The Veyron 2, originally, has always felt like a super
6:35
rapid gentleman's club on wheels and this shoe on Supersport is exactly the same but
6:41
it just happens to have 1600 horsepower. One of the big differences that you notice straight away
6:49
apart from the fact that there's this beautiful thunderous sort of sub-bass noise going on from
6:57
behind you, well not just behind your ears, it even comes through the seats at you. It's just, I mean
7:05
That's deeply magnificent. And what happens, the thrust this car has is not as big, actually anywhere near as the Rimax, but in isolation, it is still crazily fast
7:23
The torque this thing has got is insane. It's so hard to describe how much torque this car has got
7:31
and it is related to how heavy it is because I don't think this car would feel
7:38
anywhere near as magnificently, ridiculously fast as it does if it didn't weigh as much as it does
7:50
But... It's just... It's just rude. It's just rude how fast this thing feels in isolation
7:59
It's also really nice to be able to change gear. OK, there's the kind of tactile delight of being able to flick the paddle and upshift
8:07
That in itself is a really kind of big subjective advantage, I think, for the Chiron
8:15
But under brakes, even more so, because I like to be able to downshift on the way into a corner
8:22
a corner. It makes, I don't know, it makes some kind of thing inside my brain feel as
8:30
if the car is stopping more stably and better. It doesn't, however. I've done a few big stops
8:35
in the Chiron Supersport now on a few different surfaces, and it does not stop as well as
8:42
the Rimac. But I still love this thing. I really do. There's nothing else like this
8:48
car on planet Earth. It'll be such a shame when they stop making these things. It's the
8:54
original, crazy, old-fashioned, totally excessive, totally absurd, really, dinosaur of a supercar
9:04
And I love it. I always have done. If you've got petrol in your veins, rather than electricity
9:10
you're always going to completely fall for a car like this with a W16 8-litre quad-turbo engine
9:19
and a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox that weighs two tonnes and does 300 miles an hour The scenery in this part of Croatia looks quite a lot like the setting for a spaghetti western It utterly incredible
9:40
And just for good measure, Rimac had sections of it closed for us for this test
9:45
Oh yes, and in case you're thinking it takes days to charge the Rimac back up
9:50
once it's burned through its 300-mile range, then think again. Because if you find a fast charger like this one
9:56
The Nevera can be refilled in about 15 minutes, and it costs about 30 quid to fill
10:04
The Chiron, on the other hand, costs over four times as much to refill with Super Unleaded
10:09
and has a slightly shorter real-world range once refuelled. So you've basically got three different drive modes in the Chiron Supersport
10:22
which is EB mode, which is the most chilled, the most comfortable
10:26
the most GT-like mode for the dampers, for the steering. The gearbox map stays exactly the same
10:34
The throttle map stays exactly the same, no matter what you select
10:38
But the chassis changes, the airbrake changes, the ESC settings change when you scroll up
10:46
So the second mode, which is called Autobahn mode, which just changes all the aero balance to make it more stable in a straight line
10:54
quite a lot more stable in a straight line. and the steering becomes almost kind of stiction in the way it wants to just go straight
11:03
It's not the nicest mode to drive on roads like this, to be honest, but then you've got handling mode as well, where you get this little flag come up
11:14
It's kind of like a race mode, slightly. The steering. I really quite like the steering on this car
11:20
It's quite cuddly after the Rimac. the wheel itself is kind of bigger
11:25
and you kind of sit here and guide it a bit with your shoulders
11:29
but you can tell where the front end is at all times in the Sheeran Supersport
11:36
you ultimately have to just let the thing kind of go where it wants to
11:43
slightly to get the best out of this car it does just
11:47
just wander around a little bit but you just go with the flow
11:52
you don't want to fight it. The last thing you want to do is fight this car if it starts to move
11:56
around a bit. But once you get used to it, it's a bit like a 911 slightly, in that you just go
12:01
okay, it's going to move around a bit beneath me, but okay, it's not going to do anything stupid
12:06
It's not going to do anything you suddenly don't want it to do. It feels quite big and heavy
12:12
especially after the Rimac. They're a similar weight. I mean, the Rimac's actually a bit heavier
12:17
than this, but the Chiron 8 light. But it does have this massive amount of energy to
12:24
propel it towards the horizon. In a way that I think a lot of people would feel physically
12:36
really uncomfortable about, it's that fast. Just the explosion of torque. But the Rimac
12:46
has changed everything, I have to say. Apart from the noise, it just..
12:52
It destroys the Chiron Supersport in every way. The really weird thing is that I think, subjectively
13:02
it's right up there, if not well beyond it as well. Crazy cars
13:10
Crazy cars. Where it all gets a bit weird within this test
13:15
is when you realise that Rimac now owns the controlling share in Bugatti
13:20
So it's Rimac who will be building the next Chiron. And rumour has it that they will not be holding back
13:28
Think high-revving W16 engine plus some hybrid power from the Navarra, all wrapped up in a car that weighs massively less than the Chiron as it stands
13:39
But look, that's a long time in the future. in the here and now that Rimac Nevera is very much the star of this show
13:48
It's crackers. It is 100% crackers, this car. And it basically means that a car like the Chiron Supersport with 1,600 PS
14:06
which once felt like the fastest car in the universe, was just relegated to second place
14:15
and not just by a small margin. This thing absolutely destroys the Chiron Supersport in a straight line And around corners And under traction And under brakes
14:31
Everywhere. Anything the Chiron tries to do, this thing can do it
14:38
Three times better. You'd think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. Bloody hell
14:53
The absence of noise has always been one of the things with EVs
14:56
that sort of leaves you a bit cold, but the more miles I do in this car
15:02
the more I really like the way it sounds. They could have taken all this road noise away
15:08
by developing an anti-noise system. They did develop an anti-noise system so that basically you went all but silently towards the horizon
15:16
And then they thought, no, no, no. This car no longer feels natural now that we've taken all the sound away
15:23
So they've actually left sound rather than noise in, is the way they put it
15:28
Noise is just irritating. Sound, on the other hand... Linking out. So sound like that..
15:39
I'm trying to be objective with this car, but I can't. It's frying my brains
15:46
Bloody hell. It just feels like your face is going to fall off
15:56
Honestly, it makes the Chiron just feel like a transit van. Right
16:05
OK, into a corner like this. You brush the brakes. They feel beautifully natural
16:11
You give it a couple of extra millimetres of throttle and the thing just pounces forwards
16:21
So now I'm in a steady state corner and there is so much grip
16:26
It's mad. It's insane, this car. Lovely steering as well. The steering is quite heavy, quite beefy
16:34
It actually feels quite a bit more physical to drive than the Chiron
16:42
Quite a bit more engaging, though, and it feels smaller and more nimble
16:48
Just sharper. They call it like a hyper GT car. I totally know what they mean
16:57
but it feels a lot more like a super sports car to me than the Chiron
17:04
I'm really struggling to find anything that I don't absolutely adore about this car
17:22
I love the cabin of this thing as well. It's not flash, it's not over the top
17:28
There aren't buttons everywhere. where it just contains what you want it to contain and not a lot more
17:35
The way you change the modes, really simple, really intuitive. There's lovely bits of Alcantara here
17:41
rather than sort of flash leather and anything like that. It's nowhere near as luxuriant as the Bugatti inside
17:49
So it's kind of horses for courses on that front. What you cannot doubt this thing for inside is the quality
17:57
It feels beautifully made, this car. Really expensive, really high quality. It feels like the most top-end Porsche that you could possibly buy
18:11
and I mean that as a massive compliment. What a strange world it has become
18:17
when a relatively unknown car company from Croatia can put one right over the established elite from Bugatti
18:24
and then be responsible for the creation of whatever comes next from both companies
18:31
One thing's for sure, I guess. If you've got money, a lot of money
18:36
you are seriously spoiled for choice nowadays amongst hypercars. And it looks very much like that choice will get better and not worse in years to come
18:47
with or without the petrol engine. Blimey
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