Chiron with Sky View roof option.

PARIS: Despite a price ticket of close to three million dollars, there's a feature that until now you could have on a Ford Fiesta but you couldn't have on a Bugatti Chiron.

And that feature is a sunroof. That's right, there was no option on the Chiron order sheet for a sunroof until now, but Bugatti has seen the error of its ways, and this relatively humble feature is now an available option for its mighty hypercar.

Chiron customers can now have their car with what Bugatti is calling "Sky View," which is basically a pair of glass panels located above the car's two seats. The panels have been laminated for a total of four layers to provide UV protection for occupants, to be stiff and strong to keep the car rigid, and to provide the necessary protection in the event of a crash.

A further advantage for buyers choosing the Sky View option is the additional 2.7cm of headroom the 65cm-long and 44cm-wide panels provide for those sitting inside.



Not everything about Sky View is entirely positive though. For a start, although Bugatti has tinted the glass panels to reduce the amount of incoming light and stop it being too overpowering, there's no mention of any sort of sunshade.

So, if the tinting isn't as dark as the buyer would like there will be no way of reducing the amount of light coming in without some aftermarket tinting. And although there are probably good performance-related reasons for it, the panels are fixed so they can't be removed or opened for a more open-air type of feel.

Bugatti claims that the new glass panels fitted into the car's carbon fiber monocoque chassis have actually improved the overall stiffness of the already sturdy roof of the Chiron. That means overall chassis stiffness and the crash safety of the car are maintained. The manufacturer hasn't said anything about whether the new option increases the car's weight, or, considering its positioning, whether it's shifted the car's centre of gravity in any way.

The first chance to see the Chiron with its Sky View roof will be during Monterey Car Week in Pebble Beach, California, at the end of next month.

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