Bugatti: Veyron News
08-23-2005, 10:38 PM
#163
I'm the Firestarter
Originally Posted by Bill Hook
Who's taking bets on which pro athlete or rap star gets killed first behind the wheel?
08-24-2005, 12:28 PM
#164
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Originally Posted by Belzebutt
More like which billionaire CEO... Wasn't the BMW CEO one of the guys who crashed a McLaren?
Ever see the SLR Prince Naseem Hamed wrecked? Stupidity like that must come from taking punches to the head.
08-24-2005, 12:43 PM
#165
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by Belzebutt
More like which billionaire CEO... Wasn't the BMW CEO one of the guys who crashed a McLaren?
I remember that his wife was nearly killed in the crash.
08-24-2005, 02:51 PM
#167
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Minch00
Am I the only one who sees this car as a complete waste of R&D dollars? 
But, in the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson (and special thanks to Stapler123):
"...As you would expect in these times of increased social responsibility, these new supercars are safer for the people inside them and safer too for the people they run over. They are more reliable than the older ones, and are kinder to the enviroment, all that comes out of the exhaust pipes on [the Porsche Carrera GT] are baby foxes. These cars are like one of Mr. Blair's [PM of Brits] speeches or a penchanters commercial.
But that's not the point, supercars are supposed to run over Arthur Scarville and then run over him again for good measure. They are designed to melt ice caps, kill the poor, poison the water table, destroy the o-zone layer, decimate indigenous wildlife, recapture the Fulcan Islands and turn the entire Third World into a huge uninhabitable desert. But only after they have nicked all of the oil..."
So, there you have it. Veyron is pointless...but, dayum, it's impressive for what it can do.
08-25-2005, 12:35 AM
#168
I'm the Firestarter
Originally Posted by Bill Hook
Ever see the SLR Prince Naseem Hamed wrecked? Stupidity like that must come from taking punches to the head.
08-25-2005, 12:47 AM
#169
Pit Stop?
Originally Posted by Yumchah
Well, I don't think there ever really IS a purpose to any supercar, is there? Other than a outright example of excess and wealth to the few and elite, how many out there can truly take advantage of what they are capable anyhow other than to pull up to a red carpet and anticipate the flash and impressed gasps...?
But, in the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson (and special thanks to Stapler123):
"...As you would expect in these times of increased social responsibility, these new supercars are safer for the people inside them and safer too for the people they run over. They are more reliable than the older ones, and are kinder to the enviroment, all that comes out of the exhaust pipes on [the Porsche Carrera GT] are baby foxes. These cars are like one of Mr. Blair's [PM of Brits] speeches or a penchanters commercial.
But that's not the point, supercars are supposed to run over Arthur Scarville and then run over him again for good measure. They are designed to melt ice caps, kill the poor, poison the water table, destroy the o-zone layer, decimate indigenous wildlife, recapture the Fulcan Islands and turn the entire Third World into a huge uninhabitable desert. But only after they have nicked all of the oil..."
So, there you have it. Veyron is pointless...but, dayum, it's impressive for what it can do.
But, in the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson (and special thanks to Stapler123):
"...As you would expect in these times of increased social responsibility, these new supercars are safer for the people inside them and safer too for the people they run over. They are more reliable than the older ones, and are kinder to the enviroment, all that comes out of the exhaust pipes on [the Porsche Carrera GT] are baby foxes. These cars are like one of Mr. Blair's [PM of Brits] speeches or a penchanters commercial.
But that's not the point, supercars are supposed to run over Arthur Scarville and then run over him again for good measure. They are designed to melt ice caps, kill the poor, poison the water table, destroy the o-zone layer, decimate indigenous wildlife, recapture the Fulcan Islands and turn the entire Third World into a huge uninhabitable desert. But only after they have nicked all of the oil..."
So, there you have it. Veyron is pointless...but, dayum, it's impressive for what it can do.
Jeremy IS right, but this car just seems like the ultimate in unnecessary development.
"The engine produces 3000 hp but it takes 1000 hp to cool it, another 1000 hp get lost by heat and gas emissions and the remaining 1001 bhp are available at the wheels."
"The Veyron has 4 water coolers, 2 intercoolers for the turbos and two larger ones for the engine coolant. " Why?
The Carrera GT (as Clarkson stated) is like a supercar unplugged, simply man, gearbox, engine, and tires to connect to the road. The Veyron just seems like a giant videogame, and almost to the point of being stupid. I dunno, a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo just doesn't seem that impressive anymore. There are Skylines that push 1000 horsepower with relative ease, so if the Veyron doesn't have astronomical engine performance, than what does it have?
08-25-2005, 12:43 PM
#171
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Originally Posted by Minch00
The Carrera GT (as Clarkson stated) is like a supercar unplugged, simply man, gearbox, engine, and tires to connect to the road. The Veyron just seems like a giant videogame, and almost to the point of being stupid. I dunno, a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo just doesn't seem that impressive anymore. There are Skylines that push 1000 horsepower with relative ease, so if the Veyron doesn't have astronomical engine performance, than what does it have?
I agree, given $10MM only to spend on cars, this wouldn't make it into my stable. I may test drive it but that's about it. The Carrera GT is about as much of a car as anyone could ever want. And it's pretty comfy, you'd be surprised. The Zonda is like "the unicorn" to me, I still haven't seen one. Want one so bad.
Regardless, this Bugatti shit is horrible. Part of me thinks all of this is bullshit and they're just overhyping it to justify the miserable delays that they've put the automotive world through. Seriously, 1000hp is _not_ that hard to make. Plenty of cars do it, Supras, Skylines, Vipers, Corvettes, Camaros, etc. Had this car weighed in at 3500lbs with its massive engine and AWD and all that, I would've been impressed. But... myeh. I'm sure it'll turn heads, I'm sure people will want it, but it won't do for me what the CGT or Zonda do. Not even close.
EDIT - Just looked it up -- the Veyron had a target weight of 3410 lbs. It actually weighs 4290 lbs. According to http://modernracer.com/features/worldsfastestcars4.html, it weighs 3520 lbs. Looks like Bugatti started out with a good vision for it all and then went overboard. I'm sure they started out thinking "This car has to be faster than the McLaren F1. And with hammers and lead, they made this car. Not carbon fibre and a scalpel like the F1.
08-27-2005, 11:17 PM
#172
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Originally Posted by Yumchah
But that's not the point, supercars are supposed to run over Arthur Scarville and then run over him again for good measure. They are designed to melt ice caps, kill the poor, poison the water table, destroy the o-zone layer, decimate indigenous wildlife, recapture the Fulcan Islands and turn the entire Third World into a huge uninhabitable desert. But only after they have nicked all of the oil..."[/i]
So, there you have it. Veyron is pointless...but, dayum, it's impressive for what it can do.
Sounds like a bunch of pathetic ass bullshit from a bunch of long in the tooth car companies and car reviewers..
09-06-2005, 02:22 PM
#173
Senior Moderator
Just a small update...
===========
BUGATTI UNVEILS VEYRON
Testing of the Bugatti Veyron is now officially finished and the car is ready, according to Autocar.
The car has been unveiled, and the company has released official photos. The car has also, said the report, "silenced the critics by smashing the top speed record for road cars with a spectacular two-way average speed of 252.95mph at parent company Volkswagen’s Ehra Lessien test track in Germany." That's 12mph faster than the McLaren F1's 240.1mph record, which was set in 1998.
The four-wheel drive Veyron features 922lb-ft of torque channelled through a seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox and propels the 1,888Kg Bugatti from to 62mph from Zero in a gobsmacking 2.5seconds.
PistonHeads's spies have spotted the 1,000bhp Bugatti Veyron testing at high altitudes. At Mount Evans, Colorado, which is 14,000ft up, is the highest paved road in the USA.
We hear that VW's -- sorry, Bugatti's -- engineers were undertaking some road and altitude testing.
Vignettes:
The guy doing the pull from the laptop had plugs up his nose, he seemed to be unused to high altitudes.
The wheelrims said PROTO on them
There was some tape holding some of the skin/body components of the car on too. Three cars were there on a semi-truck
The rear spoiler seems to be adjustable it has pistons under it. It also appears to be retractable. I did not however see it move.
We followed it down the mountain, they did not go down very fast. The driver pulled over at the bottom and again did a check on his laptop. I could smell something hot or overheating, think it was the brakes.
===========
BUGATTI UNVEILS VEYRON
Testing of the Bugatti Veyron is now officially finished and the car is ready, according to Autocar.
The car has been unveiled, and the company has released official photos. The car has also, said the report, "silenced the critics by smashing the top speed record for road cars with a spectacular two-way average speed of 252.95mph at parent company Volkswagen’s Ehra Lessien test track in Germany." That's 12mph faster than the McLaren F1's 240.1mph record, which was set in 1998.
The four-wheel drive Veyron features 922lb-ft of torque channelled through a seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox and propels the 1,888Kg Bugatti from to 62mph from Zero in a gobsmacking 2.5seconds.
PistonHeads's spies have spotted the 1,000bhp Bugatti Veyron testing at high altitudes. At Mount Evans, Colorado, which is 14,000ft up, is the highest paved road in the USA.
We hear that VW's -- sorry, Bugatti's -- engineers were undertaking some road and altitude testing.
Vignettes:
The guy doing the pull from the laptop had plugs up his nose, he seemed to be unused to high altitudes.
The wheelrims said PROTO on them
There was some tape holding some of the skin/body components of the car on too. Three cars were there on a semi-truck
The rear spoiler seems to be adjustable it has pistons under it. It also appears to be retractable. I did not however see it move.
We followed it down the mountain, they did not go down very fast. The driver pulled over at the bottom and again did a check on his laptop. I could smell something hot or overheating, think it was the brakes.
09-06-2005, 05:32 PM
#174
_____ like a rabbit
252.95mph
We hear that VW's -- sorry, Bugatti's -- engineers were undertaking some road and altitude testing
Last edited by stangg172004; 09-06-2005 at 05:34 PM.
09-07-2005, 12:52 AM
#175
Senior Moderator
Oh snap, those pics did not work! Try again:
09-08-2005, 05:46 PM
#177
The sizzle in the Steak
Originally Posted by agui
i'll take two please
09-08-2005, 08:18 PM
#178
Senior Moderator
I guess I'm complacent. I'd be just giddy with a DB9. That's all. 
09-13-2005, 10:50 AM
#179
Senior Moderator
Press release photos I believe...
09-13-2005, 02:29 PM
#180
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im not sure how much i respect an engine that takes 1000hp from the engine to cool itself.
but damn if that doesn't look like its straight from minority report
but damn if that doesn't look like its straight from minority report
11-29-2005, 11:37 AM
#181
Senior Moderator
Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear reviews the Veyron...
=========================
Bugatti Veyron
By Jeremy Clarkson of The Sunday Times
Utterly, stunningly, jaw droppingly brilliant
When you push a car past 180mph, the world starts to get awfully fizzy and a little bit frightening. When you go past 200mph it actually becomes blurred. Almost like you’re trapped in an early Queen pop video. At this sort of speed the tyres and the suspension are reacting to events that happened some time ago, and they have not finished reacting before they’re being asked to do something else. The result is a terrifying vibration that rattles your optical nerves, causing double vision. This is not good when you’re covering 300ft a second.
Happily, stopping distances become irrelevant because you won’t see the obstacle in the first place. By the time you know it was there, you’ll have gone through the windscreen, through the Pearly Gates and be half way across God’s breakfast table.
It has always been thus. When Louis Rigolly broke the 100mph barrier in his Gobron in 1904, the vibration would have been terrifying. And I dare say that driving an E-type at 150mph in 1966 must have been a bit sporty as well.
But once you go past 200mph it isn’t just the suspension and the tyres you have to worry about. The biggest problem is the air. At 100mph it’s relaxed. At 150mph it’s a breeze. But at 200mph it has sufficient power to lift an 800,000lb jumbo jet off the ground. A 200mph gust of wind is strong enough to knock down an entire city. So getting a car to behave itself in conditions like these is tough.
At 200mph you can feel the front of the car getting light as it starts to lift. As a result you start to lose your steering, so you aren’t even able to steer round whatever it is you can’t see because of the vibrations. Make no mistake, 200mph is at the limit of what man can do right now. Which is why the new Bugatti Veyron is worthy of some industrial strength genuflection. Because it can do 252mph. And that’s just mad — 252mph means that in straight and level flight this car is as near as makes no difference as fast as a Hawker Hurricane.
You might point out at this juncture that the McLaren F1 could top 240mph, but at that speed it was pretty much out of control. And anyway it really isn’t in the same league as the Bugatti. In a drag race you could let the McLaren get to 120mph before setting off in the Veyron. And you’d still get to 200mph first. The Bugatti is way, way faster than anything else the roads have seen.
Of course, at £810,000, it is also jolly expensive, but when you look at the history of its development you’ll discover it’s rather more than just a car . . .
It all started when Ferdinand Piëch, the swivel-eyed former boss of Volkswagen, bought Bugatti and had someone design a concept car. “This,” he said, “is what the next Bugatti will look like.” And then, without consulting anyone, he went on. “And it vill have an engine that develops 1000 horsepower and it vill be capable of 400kph.”
His engineers were horrified. But they set to work anyway, mating two Audi V8s to create an 8 litre W16. Which was then garnished with four turbochargers. Needless to say, the end result produced about as much power as the earth’s core, which is fine. But somehow the giant had to be cooled, which is why the Veyron has no engine cover and why it has 10 — count them — 10 radiators. Then things got tricky because the power had to be harnessed.
For this, VW went to Ricardo, a British company that makes gearboxes for various Formula One teams.
“God, it was hard,” said one of the engineers I know vaguely. “The gearbox in an F1 car only has to last a few hours. Volkswagen wanted the Veyron’s to last 10 or 20 years. And remember, the Bugatti is a damn sight more powerful than any F1 car.”
The result, a seven-speed double-clutch flappy paddle affair, took a team of 50 engineers five years to perfect.
With this done, the Veyron was shipped to Sauber’s F1 wind tunnel where it quickly became apparent that while the magic 1000bhp figure had been achieved, they were miles off the target top speed of 400kph (248mph). The body of the car just wasn’t aerodynamic enough, and Volkswagen wouldn’t let them change the basic shape to get round the problem.
The bods at Sauber threw up their hands, saying they only had experience of aerodynamics up to maybe 360kph, which is the effective top speed in Formula One. Beyond this point Bugatti was on its own.
Somehow they had to find an extra 30kph, and there was no point in looking to the engine for answers because each extra 1kph increase in speed requires an extra 8bhp from the power plant. An extra 30kph then would need an extra 240bhp. That was not possible.
The extra speed had to come from changing small things on the body. They started by fitting smaller door mirrors, which upped the top speed a bit but at too high a price. It turned out that the bigger ones had been keeping the nose of the car on the ground. Without them the stability was gone.
In other words, the door mirrors were generating downforce. That gives you an idea of how much of a bastard the air can be at this speed.
After some public failures, fires and accidents, and one chief being fired, they hit on the idea of a car that automatically changes shape depending on what speed you’re going.
At 137mph, the nose of the car is lowered by 2in and the big rear spoiler slides into the slipstream. The effect is profound. You can feel the back of the car being pressed into the road.
However, with the spoiler in place the drag is so great you’re limited to just 231mph. To go faster than that you have to stop and insert your ignition key in a slot on the floor. This lowers the whole car still further and locks the big back wing down. Now you have reduced downforce, which means you won’t be going round any corners, but you have a clean shape. And that means you can top 400kph.
That’s 370ft a second.
You might want to ponder that for a moment. Covering the length of a football pitch, in a second, in a car. And then you might want to think about the braking system. A VW Polo will generate 0.6g if you stamp on the middle pedal hard. You get that from the air brake alone on a Veyron. Factor in the carbon ceramic discs and you will pull up from 250mph in just 10sec. Sounds good, but in those 10sec you’ll have covered a third of a mile.
That’s five football pitches to stop.
I didn’t care. On a recent drive across Europe I desperately wanted to reach the top speed but I ran out of road when the needle hit 240mph. Where, astonishingly, it felt planted. Totally and utterly rock steady. It felt sublime.
Not quiet, though. The engine sounds like Victorian plumbing — it looks like Victorian plumbing as well, to be honest — and the roar from the tyres was biblical. But it still felt brilliant. Utterly, stunningly, mind blowingly, jaw droppingly brilliant.
And then I reached the Alps where, unbelievably, it got better. I expected this road rocket to be absolutely useless in the bends but it felt like a big Lotus Elise.
Occasionally, if I accelerated hard in a tight corner, it behaved strangely as the four-wheel-drive system decided which axle would be best equipped to deal with the wave of power. I won’t say it’s a nasty feel or dangerous. Just weird, in the same way that the duck-billed platypus is weird.
You learn to raise an eyebrow at what’s only a foible, and then, as the road straightens out, steady yourself for Prince Albert’s boiler to gird its loins and play havoc with the space-time continuum. No, really, you come round a bend, see what appears to be miles and miles of dead straight road, bury your foot in the carpet and with a big asthmatic wheeze, bang, you’re instantly at the next bend, with your eyebrow raised again.
From behind the wheel of a Veyron, France is the size of a small coconut. I cannot tell you how fast I crossed it the other day. Because you simply wouldn’t believe me. I also cannot tell you how good this car is. I just don’t have the vocabulary. I just end up stammering and dribbling and talking wide-eyed nonsense. And everyone thinks I’m on drugs.
This car cannot be judged in the same way that we judge other cars. It meets drive-by noise and emission regulations and it can be driven by someone whose only qualification is an ability to reverse round corners and do an emergency stop. So technically it is a car. And yet it just isn’t.
Other cars are small guesthouses on the front at Brighton and the Bugatti is the Burj Al Arab. It makes even the Enzo and the Porsche Carrera GT feel slow and pointless. It is a triumph for lunacy over common sense, a triumph for man over nature and a triumph for Volkswagen over absolutely every other car maker in the world.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model Bugatti Veyron 16.4
Engine 7993cc, 16 cylinders in a W
Power 1001bhp @ 6000rpm
Torque 922 lb ft @ 2200rpm
Transmission 7-speed DSG, manual and auto
Fuel 11.7mpg (combined)
CO2 574g/km
Acceleration 0-62mph: 2.5sec
Top speed 253mph
Price £810,345
Rating Five stars
Verdict Deserves 12 stars. Simply as good — and as fast — as it gets
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/art...890873,00.html
=========================
Bugatti Veyron
By Jeremy Clarkson of The Sunday Times
Utterly, stunningly, jaw droppingly brilliant
When you push a car past 180mph, the world starts to get awfully fizzy and a little bit frightening. When you go past 200mph it actually becomes blurred. Almost like you’re trapped in an early Queen pop video. At this sort of speed the tyres and the suspension are reacting to events that happened some time ago, and they have not finished reacting before they’re being asked to do something else. The result is a terrifying vibration that rattles your optical nerves, causing double vision. This is not good when you’re covering 300ft a second.
Happily, stopping distances become irrelevant because you won’t see the obstacle in the first place. By the time you know it was there, you’ll have gone through the windscreen, through the Pearly Gates and be half way across God’s breakfast table.
It has always been thus. When Louis Rigolly broke the 100mph barrier in his Gobron in 1904, the vibration would have been terrifying. And I dare say that driving an E-type at 150mph in 1966 must have been a bit sporty as well.
But once you go past 200mph it isn’t just the suspension and the tyres you have to worry about. The biggest problem is the air. At 100mph it’s relaxed. At 150mph it’s a breeze. But at 200mph it has sufficient power to lift an 800,000lb jumbo jet off the ground. A 200mph gust of wind is strong enough to knock down an entire city. So getting a car to behave itself in conditions like these is tough.
At 200mph you can feel the front of the car getting light as it starts to lift. As a result you start to lose your steering, so you aren’t even able to steer round whatever it is you can’t see because of the vibrations. Make no mistake, 200mph is at the limit of what man can do right now. Which is why the new Bugatti Veyron is worthy of some industrial strength genuflection. Because it can do 252mph. And that’s just mad — 252mph means that in straight and level flight this car is as near as makes no difference as fast as a Hawker Hurricane.
You might point out at this juncture that the McLaren F1 could top 240mph, but at that speed it was pretty much out of control. And anyway it really isn’t in the same league as the Bugatti. In a drag race you could let the McLaren get to 120mph before setting off in the Veyron. And you’d still get to 200mph first. The Bugatti is way, way faster than anything else the roads have seen.
Of course, at £810,000, it is also jolly expensive, but when you look at the history of its development you’ll discover it’s rather more than just a car . . .
It all started when Ferdinand Piëch, the swivel-eyed former boss of Volkswagen, bought Bugatti and had someone design a concept car. “This,” he said, “is what the next Bugatti will look like.” And then, without consulting anyone, he went on. “And it vill have an engine that develops 1000 horsepower and it vill be capable of 400kph.”
His engineers were horrified. But they set to work anyway, mating two Audi V8s to create an 8 litre W16. Which was then garnished with four turbochargers. Needless to say, the end result produced about as much power as the earth’s core, which is fine. But somehow the giant had to be cooled, which is why the Veyron has no engine cover and why it has 10 — count them — 10 radiators. Then things got tricky because the power had to be harnessed.
For this, VW went to Ricardo, a British company that makes gearboxes for various Formula One teams.
“God, it was hard,” said one of the engineers I know vaguely. “The gearbox in an F1 car only has to last a few hours. Volkswagen wanted the Veyron’s to last 10 or 20 years. And remember, the Bugatti is a damn sight more powerful than any F1 car.”
The result, a seven-speed double-clutch flappy paddle affair, took a team of 50 engineers five years to perfect.
With this done, the Veyron was shipped to Sauber’s F1 wind tunnel where it quickly became apparent that while the magic 1000bhp figure had been achieved, they were miles off the target top speed of 400kph (248mph). The body of the car just wasn’t aerodynamic enough, and Volkswagen wouldn’t let them change the basic shape to get round the problem.
The bods at Sauber threw up their hands, saying they only had experience of aerodynamics up to maybe 360kph, which is the effective top speed in Formula One. Beyond this point Bugatti was on its own.
Somehow they had to find an extra 30kph, and there was no point in looking to the engine for answers because each extra 1kph increase in speed requires an extra 8bhp from the power plant. An extra 30kph then would need an extra 240bhp. That was not possible.
The extra speed had to come from changing small things on the body. They started by fitting smaller door mirrors, which upped the top speed a bit but at too high a price. It turned out that the bigger ones had been keeping the nose of the car on the ground. Without them the stability was gone.
In other words, the door mirrors were generating downforce. That gives you an idea of how much of a bastard the air can be at this speed.
After some public failures, fires and accidents, and one chief being fired, they hit on the idea of a car that automatically changes shape depending on what speed you’re going.
At 137mph, the nose of the car is lowered by 2in and the big rear spoiler slides into the slipstream. The effect is profound. You can feel the back of the car being pressed into the road.
However, with the spoiler in place the drag is so great you’re limited to just 231mph. To go faster than that you have to stop and insert your ignition key in a slot on the floor. This lowers the whole car still further and locks the big back wing down. Now you have reduced downforce, which means you won’t be going round any corners, but you have a clean shape. And that means you can top 400kph.
That’s 370ft a second.
You might want to ponder that for a moment. Covering the length of a football pitch, in a second, in a car. And then you might want to think about the braking system. A VW Polo will generate 0.6g if you stamp on the middle pedal hard. You get that from the air brake alone on a Veyron. Factor in the carbon ceramic discs and you will pull up from 250mph in just 10sec. Sounds good, but in those 10sec you’ll have covered a third of a mile.
That’s five football pitches to stop.
I didn’t care. On a recent drive across Europe I desperately wanted to reach the top speed but I ran out of road when the needle hit 240mph. Where, astonishingly, it felt planted. Totally and utterly rock steady. It felt sublime.
Not quiet, though. The engine sounds like Victorian plumbing — it looks like Victorian plumbing as well, to be honest — and the roar from the tyres was biblical. But it still felt brilliant. Utterly, stunningly, mind blowingly, jaw droppingly brilliant.
And then I reached the Alps where, unbelievably, it got better. I expected this road rocket to be absolutely useless in the bends but it felt like a big Lotus Elise.
Occasionally, if I accelerated hard in a tight corner, it behaved strangely as the four-wheel-drive system decided which axle would be best equipped to deal with the wave of power. I won’t say it’s a nasty feel or dangerous. Just weird, in the same way that the duck-billed platypus is weird.
You learn to raise an eyebrow at what’s only a foible, and then, as the road straightens out, steady yourself for Prince Albert’s boiler to gird its loins and play havoc with the space-time continuum. No, really, you come round a bend, see what appears to be miles and miles of dead straight road, bury your foot in the carpet and with a big asthmatic wheeze, bang, you’re instantly at the next bend, with your eyebrow raised again.
From behind the wheel of a Veyron, France is the size of a small coconut. I cannot tell you how fast I crossed it the other day. Because you simply wouldn’t believe me. I also cannot tell you how good this car is. I just don’t have the vocabulary. I just end up stammering and dribbling and talking wide-eyed nonsense. And everyone thinks I’m on drugs.
This car cannot be judged in the same way that we judge other cars. It meets drive-by noise and emission regulations and it can be driven by someone whose only qualification is an ability to reverse round corners and do an emergency stop. So technically it is a car. And yet it just isn’t.
Other cars are small guesthouses on the front at Brighton and the Bugatti is the Burj Al Arab. It makes even the Enzo and the Porsche Carrera GT feel slow and pointless. It is a triumph for lunacy over common sense, a triumph for man over nature and a triumph for Volkswagen over absolutely every other car maker in the world.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model Bugatti Veyron 16.4
Engine 7993cc, 16 cylinders in a W
Power 1001bhp @ 6000rpm
Torque 922 lb ft @ 2200rpm
Transmission 7-speed DSG, manual and auto
Fuel 11.7mpg (combined)
CO2 574g/km
Acceleration 0-62mph: 2.5sec
Top speed 253mph
Price £810,345
Rating Five stars
Verdict Deserves 12 stars. Simply as good — and as fast — as it gets
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/art...890873,00.html
11-29-2005, 11:39 AM
#182
Senior Moderator
Holy mother of...
That’s five football pitches to stop.
11-29-2005, 12:53 PM
#184
Senior Moderator
Even more jaw-dropping is how the car travels 370ft/s...
11-29-2005, 01:02 PM
#185
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Originally Posted by CanadianDriver
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/mlf/07veyron.htm
Tuesday, November 29th, 2005
First Drive:
2007 Bugatti Veyron
Review and photos by Michael La Fave
Discuss this story in the forum at CarTalkCanada
For 47 years, Bugatti built race, touring and luxury cars that were, and still are, thought by many to be the finest automobiles of their time. Ettore Bugatti's company went bankrupt in 1956 less than a decade after his death, but not before producing almost 8000 automobiles – some with impressive race provenance. Almost 35 years later, the company re-surfaced under Romano Artioli, a wealthy Italian car distributor who had acquired the rights to Bugatti's famous name, and the hallowed marque set out once again to build the most amazing cars in the world.
Artioli introduced the EB110, named for the 110th anniversary of Ettore's birth. It was the fastest and one of the most expensive production cars the world has ever seen.
In 1995, after building 126 of the ultra-exotic 550-horsepower EBs, the company once again closed its doors leaving a dozen or so cars in various stages of assembly entombed until creditors decided what to do with them.
In 1998, Volkswagen bought the Bugatti name and a new era began amidst speculation that the cursed brand and VW's incredible dream of rebuilding it would again end in tears. In 2001, Bugatti showed the Veyron 16.4 concept car and announced that it would bring it to the market as the fastest and most powerful car in the world. Years passed and the Veyron finally seemed to be ready to enter the public stage as the world's ultimate road car. An embarrassing spin on a demonstration lap at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance confirmed rumours that the 1001-hp car was un-driveable and that it would require massive re-engineering.
Bugatti's new president, Dr. Bscher, was determined to see the Veyron come to market and led the company with the help of head of engineering, Dr. Schreiber, in a massive re-design of over 85 per cent of the Veyron's parts.
The result, named after Pierre Veyron who drove a Bugatti Type 57 to victory in the 1939 LeMans, is just as promised: the most powerful, fastest and most expensive production car ever built. Period.
It is difficult to describe the experience of driving this car because it is simply without comparison, rival or peer. How is one to convey the experience of piloting a 1001-hp, 407 km/h, 1 Million Euro supercar?
For example, the price is a staggering sum of money (about 1.5 million Canadian when this was written) for what is by all accounts a car. The best selling car sold in Canada, which happens to be a Honda Civic, costs almost one one-hundredth what the Veyron does. Even in Vancouver or Toronto, $1.5 million buys a very nice house, boat or retirement in Boca Raton. But to those who can spend $100-million plus on a house, $200-million on a yacht, or $20-million to take what, by all accounts, might be a one way trip to the moon on a Russian space ship - the cost of the Veyron falls well in line with the best of what the world has to offer. Which is, after all, exactly what it is.
Many will openly question the necessity for this car's power and astonishing maximum velocity but perhaps they don't understand or appreciate what a technological achievement the Veyron actually is. Humankind has always pushed to travel faster, fly higher, design better, etc, etc. The Veyron takes automobiles to the next level. Even for a company with seemingly limitless resources, the Veyron wasn't easy to develop. Dr. Karl-Heinz Neumann, former president of Bugatti, stated in 2001 that the Veyron, which was but a concept car at the time, would make 1001 horsepower and would top 400 km/h. He really had no basis on which to make this claim especially considering that it wasn't he, as he was replaced not two years ago, who would spend 70 hours a week for the next five years figuring out how to make such an audacious machine comply with environmental, safety and internal VW requirements.
Dr. Neumann's comments set wheels in motion and the result is a car that topped the un-toppable. In March 2005, the Veyron set the production-car top speed record at 407 km/h, besting the 1998 McLaren F1 supercar (itself $1M at the time) by 17 km/h. The biggest difference between the McLaren and the Veyron (or any other supercar and the Veyron) is that the Bugatti is a real car that you can drive every day.
Our driving impressions were in some ways confirmation of what we expected, and in others a true revelation. Obviously the Veyron was going to be fast – 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, 200 km/h in 7.3, 300 km/h in 16.7 and on to its top speed of 407 km in just under a minute! We also knew, however, that it was heavy and wondered, "Would it be ponderous?".
Our drive route was a combination of winding countryside and long stretches of Italian autostrade. On the tight, undulating, poorly paved roads that crisscross the Sicilian countryside, the Veyron could not be used to 100 per cent of its capability or at least not by us. We find it rather appealing in fact that the car has more power than can be used in 99 per cent of situations. Driven as fast as some of the most capable cars in the world it is barely stressed. Completely uncork it and it will blow every other road car away.
There's even a power gauge on the instrument panel that shows how much of the 1001 horsepower you are actually using. It's particularly amusing that although the gauge tracks power usage in 100 horsepower increments it ends at 1001. We were often only tapping 300 to 400 hp and still passing everything in sight, but dropping the car into second gear via the steering-wheel mounted paddles or shifter and flattening the accelerator causes the power meter to flip to 700-800 hp or so producing a rush of speed unlike anything we have experienced before. The shove in your back, which incidentally is but inches from the massive 8-litre, 16-cylinder, four-turbo engine, is akin to the sensation of being in a jumbo jet at take off. The scenery literally blurs past and the next corner approaches like a cinematic car chase on fast-forward.
Such manoeuvres are often met with a blinking ESP light, letting you know that at least one, if not all of the massive tires are spinning. If you want to impress the crowd from a standing start there is a launch control feature that executes perfect acceleration runs with smoke pouring from all four tires. The engineers are so certain of the powertrain's durability that they unreservedly stated that the clutches (of which there are two wet-clutch-packs in the seven-speed DSG transmission, each with 7 friction plates) would last the life of the vehicle. It helps that the oil in their housings is cooled and that the 150-millisecond gear changes are smooth and seamless.
As expressed earlier, we had some reservations about the Veyron's massive 1950-kilogram weight. You could imagine how pleased we were to discover that the Veyron steers like a go-kart.
Light and direct with a similar feel to a Porsche 911, the steering points the car's nose in quickly and accurately and, though the car will understeer, if you barrel into a corner too fast and are smooth enough to transfer the weight correctly, there is massive grip. Be careful, however: this car needs to be respected and carrying too much brake or getting into the power too soon will snap the rear end loose as we discovered – not entirely on purpose. Driven smoothly with metered inputs rewards the driver with an effortless, secure and nimble companion for country roads. When driven sedately the Veyron is placid and comfortable – your mother could take it to fetch a bag of milk.
Next up was a blast down the Italian autostrade, and on the gently curving elevated motorways that arc through the Sicilian countryside, we quickly exceeded 250 km/h. These less than perfect roads often caused the carbon fibre undertray to scrape the ground but the chief electrical engineer (Wolfgang Bäker) in the seat beside me seemed completely unconcerned. For anyone from North America, cornering at 220 km/h should seem daunting – even frightening - but the car's multiple automatic aerodynamic devices (the suspension lowers and the rear wing deploys with switch-blade speed at 220 km/h creating real front and rear downforce) make the car more secure at 300 km/h than most are at 140! This posture – with the car slightly lower, the rear wing fully deployed and a secondary wing elevated as well – is called the ‘handling setting'. It can also be set manually should the driver wish.
Even with such prodigious power, the Veyron needs a fair amount of space to reach 407 km/h, and on these public roads we couldn't safely reach the top speed. We did hit 307.8 km/h, which is by far the fastest this journalist has ever driven, and we cruised at speeds between 220 km/h and 280 km/h for a while and the car was barely budged by pavement irregularities or expansion joints. The engine is relatively quiet except for its deep baritone under hard acceleration. Often the whirring of the transmissions gears is louder than the intake or exhaust.
If we had really wanted to try for V-max, we would have had to come to a complete stop and use the ignition key to set the car into top-speed mode. In this setting, the Veyron drops its body snugly over the wheels (only 65 mm front and 70 mm rear of ground clearance remain), the wing retracts to a low-profile setting just above the rear fenders and various vents are closed to smooth airflow around and under the car. Without these aerodynamic adjustments the car's 1001 hp will push it to only 375 km/h. If at any time the driver jumps out of the throttle, makes a significant steering input or touches the brakes, the car defaults to the handling mode.
One of Dr. Shreiber's requirements for the Veyron was that it's capable of stopping faster than it accelerates. Deceleration from 100 km/h takes but 2.3 seconds and from 407 km/h it takes only 13 seconds! The force of the brakes has to be experienced to be believed and at elevated speeds the large rear spoiler tips forward to act as an air brake – thereby doubling the cars aerodynamic drag. The ceramic-reinforced carbon brakes measure 40 mm in diameter up front and are gripped by eight, piston calipers with four pads each. At any speed their awesome bite required mental re-adjustment and you have to hold yourself back in your seat by bracing against the steering wheel if you don't want to be bruised by the seatbelt.
After a few corners of the Pergusa racetrack, I decided to amp up the speed a bit and found out just how incredibly fast this car is. In even the fastest car, we would have been travelling at 75 per cent of the speed we were travelling in the Veyron as we approached a right-hander. Under heavy braking and simultaneous turning, the Veyron stepped out to the left approaching the corner, but the lightning-fast steering required but a simple flick of opposite lock, and a bit of ESP intervention had us safely on our way again.
On the track's smooth surface, the Veyron felt even more secure than on the road, which is saying a lot. Comparably, it was similar to the cornering forces we experienced at Mosport with Hurley Haywood at the wheel of a Porsche Carrera GT, but with far more urge coming out of corners and blasting down the straights.
A big part of what makes a car with 925 lb.-ft. of torque even remotely driveable is the AWD system and that the tires measure a rather large 265 mm in front and a truly massive 365 mm in the rear on wheels that are roughly 20 inches in diameter. We say roughly because the tires are from Michelin's PAX run-flat system and the actual wheel measurements are not comparable to conventional wheels. It's also worth noting that it costs about $8,000 to replace one rear tire.
If you study the images, you will notice that the Veyron is essentially a massive engine with four-giant wheels pushing a passenger compartment. And what a passenger compartment it is. Every surface is either leather or metal and the machine-turned centre stack is simply stunning. The driver and passenger sit almost entirely in the front half of the car giving it its plump sensual form. There is in fact a remarkable amount of room inside – the cabin was designed to accommodate six-foot seven-inch drivers. Hey, if you want to sell 300 cars for almost $2M apiece after taxes, you better not alienate anyone. The view straight out the back is okay, but out the sides are massive blind spots. Good thing you don't have to worry about anyone passing you.
It seems almost pointless to mention, but as you can imagine fuel consumption is significant. On our drive, the car averaged a staggering 44 L/100 km, which is truly impressive. Admittedly, we were travelling rather, um, briskly, but sedate driving will only return 30-ish anyway. While on the subject of fuel economy, it's amusing to note that at V-max the Veyron's 100 litres of premium fuel will be consumed in about 12 minutes – or 81.4 kilometres. If you don't have a calculator handy that's 125 L/100km!
Unlike many AWD systems, the Veyron's is capable of directing up to 100 per cent of the engine's power to either the front or back wheels. Imagine – in some circumstances the Veyron is a 1001-hp front-driver! According to Dr. Schreiber the split varies depending on how hard the car is accelerating and/or cornering with the system constantly working to maximize stability. You can't actually feel the power shift, but if it wasn't working there's no way the Veyron would be as effortless to drive as it is.
The saddest thing about driving the Veyron is the fact that it is unlikely we, or any of our colleagues gathered in Sicily, will ever get to do so again.
Author, Michael La Fave at the wheel of the 2007 Bugatti Veyron. Click image to enlarge
It's almost certain that it will be quite some time before five examples of this impeccable automobile are gathered in one place again. At the end of our test day, the hard-working Veyron team took the five cars around the Pergusa circuit for several parade laps and had them filmed from a helicopter.
Though the Veyron is an incredible machine, it begs the question of what will be next for Bugatti. Rumours of VW-based, V6-powered cars are inaccurate. We suspect that the next Bug will be a car that brings back the grand style of the Royale – a luxury limousine to end all luxury limos. It would have to retain the same 1001 hp engine and transmission, but the rest would be entirely new and bespoke. Beyond that, a smaller sedan that you would actually drive every day and a sports car that leverages the Veyron's engineering advancements. We see a market for a three or four model line-up all priced over the $300,000 mark.
In all, only 300 Veyrons will be made even if demand is greater. If demand is lower, the final number (of units produced) will be lower as well, but that would be a shame. What will also be a shame is if too many of these cars end up sitting in garages or bolted to den ceilings. The Veyron is an automobile that must be driven. It brings joy to those that see it even if they just got their doors blown off and their front grill sucked out.
Tuesday, November 29th, 2005
First Drive:
2007 Bugatti Veyron
Review and photos by Michael La Fave
Discuss this story in the forum at CarTalkCanada
For 47 years, Bugatti built race, touring and luxury cars that were, and still are, thought by many to be the finest automobiles of their time. Ettore Bugatti's company went bankrupt in 1956 less than a decade after his death, but not before producing almost 8000 automobiles – some with impressive race provenance. Almost 35 years later, the company re-surfaced under Romano Artioli, a wealthy Italian car distributor who had acquired the rights to Bugatti's famous name, and the hallowed marque set out once again to build the most amazing cars in the world.
Artioli introduced the EB110, named for the 110th anniversary of Ettore's birth. It was the fastest and one of the most expensive production cars the world has ever seen.
In 1995, after building 126 of the ultra-exotic 550-horsepower EBs, the company once again closed its doors leaving a dozen or so cars in various stages of assembly entombed until creditors decided what to do with them.
In 1998, Volkswagen bought the Bugatti name and a new era began amidst speculation that the cursed brand and VW's incredible dream of rebuilding it would again end in tears. In 2001, Bugatti showed the Veyron 16.4 concept car and announced that it would bring it to the market as the fastest and most powerful car in the world. Years passed and the Veyron finally seemed to be ready to enter the public stage as the world's ultimate road car. An embarrassing spin on a demonstration lap at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance confirmed rumours that the 1001-hp car was un-driveable and that it would require massive re-engineering.
Bugatti's new president, Dr. Bscher, was determined to see the Veyron come to market and led the company with the help of head of engineering, Dr. Schreiber, in a massive re-design of over 85 per cent of the Veyron's parts.
The result, named after Pierre Veyron who drove a Bugatti Type 57 to victory in the 1939 LeMans, is just as promised: the most powerful, fastest and most expensive production car ever built. Period.
It is difficult to describe the experience of driving this car because it is simply without comparison, rival or peer. How is one to convey the experience of piloting a 1001-hp, 407 km/h, 1 Million Euro supercar?
For example, the price is a staggering sum of money (about 1.5 million Canadian when this was written) for what is by all accounts a car. The best selling car sold in Canada, which happens to be a Honda Civic, costs almost one one-hundredth what the Veyron does. Even in Vancouver or Toronto, $1.5 million buys a very nice house, boat or retirement in Boca Raton. But to those who can spend $100-million plus on a house, $200-million on a yacht, or $20-million to take what, by all accounts, might be a one way trip to the moon on a Russian space ship - the cost of the Veyron falls well in line with the best of what the world has to offer. Which is, after all, exactly what it is.
Many will openly question the necessity for this car's power and astonishing maximum velocity but perhaps they don't understand or appreciate what a technological achievement the Veyron actually is. Humankind has always pushed to travel faster, fly higher, design better, etc, etc. The Veyron takes automobiles to the next level. Even for a company with seemingly limitless resources, the Veyron wasn't easy to develop. Dr. Karl-Heinz Neumann, former president of Bugatti, stated in 2001 that the Veyron, which was but a concept car at the time, would make 1001 horsepower and would top 400 km/h. He really had no basis on which to make this claim especially considering that it wasn't he, as he was replaced not two years ago, who would spend 70 hours a week for the next five years figuring out how to make such an audacious machine comply with environmental, safety and internal VW requirements.
Dr. Neumann's comments set wheels in motion and the result is a car that topped the un-toppable. In March 2005, the Veyron set the production-car top speed record at 407 km/h, besting the 1998 McLaren F1 supercar (itself $1M at the time) by 17 km/h. The biggest difference between the McLaren and the Veyron (or any other supercar and the Veyron) is that the Bugatti is a real car that you can drive every day.
Our driving impressions were in some ways confirmation of what we expected, and in others a true revelation. Obviously the Veyron was going to be fast – 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, 200 km/h in 7.3, 300 km/h in 16.7 and on to its top speed of 407 km in just under a minute! We also knew, however, that it was heavy and wondered, "Would it be ponderous?".
Our drive route was a combination of winding countryside and long stretches of Italian autostrade. On the tight, undulating, poorly paved roads that crisscross the Sicilian countryside, the Veyron could not be used to 100 per cent of its capability or at least not by us. We find it rather appealing in fact that the car has more power than can be used in 99 per cent of situations. Driven as fast as some of the most capable cars in the world it is barely stressed. Completely uncork it and it will blow every other road car away.
There's even a power gauge on the instrument panel that shows how much of the 1001 horsepower you are actually using. It's particularly amusing that although the gauge tracks power usage in 100 horsepower increments it ends at 1001. We were often only tapping 300 to 400 hp and still passing everything in sight, but dropping the car into second gear via the steering-wheel mounted paddles or shifter and flattening the accelerator causes the power meter to flip to 700-800 hp or so producing a rush of speed unlike anything we have experienced before. The shove in your back, which incidentally is but inches from the massive 8-litre, 16-cylinder, four-turbo engine, is akin to the sensation of being in a jumbo jet at take off. The scenery literally blurs past and the next corner approaches like a cinematic car chase on fast-forward.
Such manoeuvres are often met with a blinking ESP light, letting you know that at least one, if not all of the massive tires are spinning. If you want to impress the crowd from a standing start there is a launch control feature that executes perfect acceleration runs with smoke pouring from all four tires. The engineers are so certain of the powertrain's durability that they unreservedly stated that the clutches (of which there are two wet-clutch-packs in the seven-speed DSG transmission, each with 7 friction plates) would last the life of the vehicle. It helps that the oil in their housings is cooled and that the 150-millisecond gear changes are smooth and seamless.
As expressed earlier, we had some reservations about the Veyron's massive 1950-kilogram weight. You could imagine how pleased we were to discover that the Veyron steers like a go-kart.
Light and direct with a similar feel to a Porsche 911, the steering points the car's nose in quickly and accurately and, though the car will understeer, if you barrel into a corner too fast and are smooth enough to transfer the weight correctly, there is massive grip. Be careful, however: this car needs to be respected and carrying too much brake or getting into the power too soon will snap the rear end loose as we discovered – not entirely on purpose. Driven smoothly with metered inputs rewards the driver with an effortless, secure and nimble companion for country roads. When driven sedately the Veyron is placid and comfortable – your mother could take it to fetch a bag of milk.
Next up was a blast down the Italian autostrade, and on the gently curving elevated motorways that arc through the Sicilian countryside, we quickly exceeded 250 km/h. These less than perfect roads often caused the carbon fibre undertray to scrape the ground but the chief electrical engineer (Wolfgang Bäker) in the seat beside me seemed completely unconcerned. For anyone from North America, cornering at 220 km/h should seem daunting – even frightening - but the car's multiple automatic aerodynamic devices (the suspension lowers and the rear wing deploys with switch-blade speed at 220 km/h creating real front and rear downforce) make the car more secure at 300 km/h than most are at 140! This posture – with the car slightly lower, the rear wing fully deployed and a secondary wing elevated as well – is called the ‘handling setting'. It can also be set manually should the driver wish.
Even with such prodigious power, the Veyron needs a fair amount of space to reach 407 km/h, and on these public roads we couldn't safely reach the top speed. We did hit 307.8 km/h, which is by far the fastest this journalist has ever driven, and we cruised at speeds between 220 km/h and 280 km/h for a while and the car was barely budged by pavement irregularities or expansion joints. The engine is relatively quiet except for its deep baritone under hard acceleration. Often the whirring of the transmissions gears is louder than the intake or exhaust.
If we had really wanted to try for V-max, we would have had to come to a complete stop and use the ignition key to set the car into top-speed mode. In this setting, the Veyron drops its body snugly over the wheels (only 65 mm front and 70 mm rear of ground clearance remain), the wing retracts to a low-profile setting just above the rear fenders and various vents are closed to smooth airflow around and under the car. Without these aerodynamic adjustments the car's 1001 hp will push it to only 375 km/h. If at any time the driver jumps out of the throttle, makes a significant steering input or touches the brakes, the car defaults to the handling mode.
One of Dr. Shreiber's requirements for the Veyron was that it's capable of stopping faster than it accelerates. Deceleration from 100 km/h takes but 2.3 seconds and from 407 km/h it takes only 13 seconds! The force of the brakes has to be experienced to be believed and at elevated speeds the large rear spoiler tips forward to act as an air brake – thereby doubling the cars aerodynamic drag. The ceramic-reinforced carbon brakes measure 40 mm in diameter up front and are gripped by eight, piston calipers with four pads each. At any speed their awesome bite required mental re-adjustment and you have to hold yourself back in your seat by bracing against the steering wheel if you don't want to be bruised by the seatbelt.
After a few corners of the Pergusa racetrack, I decided to amp up the speed a bit and found out just how incredibly fast this car is. In even the fastest car, we would have been travelling at 75 per cent of the speed we were travelling in the Veyron as we approached a right-hander. Under heavy braking and simultaneous turning, the Veyron stepped out to the left approaching the corner, but the lightning-fast steering required but a simple flick of opposite lock, and a bit of ESP intervention had us safely on our way again.
On the track's smooth surface, the Veyron felt even more secure than on the road, which is saying a lot. Comparably, it was similar to the cornering forces we experienced at Mosport with Hurley Haywood at the wheel of a Porsche Carrera GT, but with far more urge coming out of corners and blasting down the straights.
A big part of what makes a car with 925 lb.-ft. of torque even remotely driveable is the AWD system and that the tires measure a rather large 265 mm in front and a truly massive 365 mm in the rear on wheels that are roughly 20 inches in diameter. We say roughly because the tires are from Michelin's PAX run-flat system and the actual wheel measurements are not comparable to conventional wheels. It's also worth noting that it costs about $8,000 to replace one rear tire.
If you study the images, you will notice that the Veyron is essentially a massive engine with four-giant wheels pushing a passenger compartment. And what a passenger compartment it is. Every surface is either leather or metal and the machine-turned centre stack is simply stunning. The driver and passenger sit almost entirely in the front half of the car giving it its plump sensual form. There is in fact a remarkable amount of room inside – the cabin was designed to accommodate six-foot seven-inch drivers. Hey, if you want to sell 300 cars for almost $2M apiece after taxes, you better not alienate anyone. The view straight out the back is okay, but out the sides are massive blind spots. Good thing you don't have to worry about anyone passing you.
It seems almost pointless to mention, but as you can imagine fuel consumption is significant. On our drive, the car averaged a staggering 44 L/100 km, which is truly impressive. Admittedly, we were travelling rather, um, briskly, but sedate driving will only return 30-ish anyway. While on the subject of fuel economy, it's amusing to note that at V-max the Veyron's 100 litres of premium fuel will be consumed in about 12 minutes – or 81.4 kilometres. If you don't have a calculator handy that's 125 L/100km!
Unlike many AWD systems, the Veyron's is capable of directing up to 100 per cent of the engine's power to either the front or back wheels. Imagine – in some circumstances the Veyron is a 1001-hp front-driver! According to Dr. Schreiber the split varies depending on how hard the car is accelerating and/or cornering with the system constantly working to maximize stability. You can't actually feel the power shift, but if it wasn't working there's no way the Veyron would be as effortless to drive as it is.
The saddest thing about driving the Veyron is the fact that it is unlikely we, or any of our colleagues gathered in Sicily, will ever get to do so again.
Author, Michael La Fave at the wheel of the 2007 Bugatti Veyron. Click image to enlarge
It's almost certain that it will be quite some time before five examples of this impeccable automobile are gathered in one place again. At the end of our test day, the hard-working Veyron team took the five cars around the Pergusa circuit for several parade laps and had them filmed from a helicopter.
Though the Veyron is an incredible machine, it begs the question of what will be next for Bugatti. Rumours of VW-based, V6-powered cars are inaccurate. We suspect that the next Bug will be a car that brings back the grand style of the Royale – a luxury limousine to end all luxury limos. It would have to retain the same 1001 hp engine and transmission, but the rest would be entirely new and bespoke. Beyond that, a smaller sedan that you would actually drive every day and a sports car that leverages the Veyron's engineering advancements. We see a market for a three or four model line-up all priced over the $300,000 mark.
In all, only 300 Veyrons will be made even if demand is greater. If demand is lower, the final number (of units produced) will be lower as well, but that would be a shame. What will also be a shame is if too many of these cars end up sitting in garages or bolted to den ceilings. The Veyron is an automobile that must be driven. It brings joy to those that see it even if they just got their doors blown off and their front grill sucked out.
11-29-2005, 01:29 PM
#186
Senior Moderator
awesome post, Yumchah 
11-29-2005, 04:53 PM
#188
_____ like a rabbit
Originally Posted by chungkopi
he kinda looks like george costanza+ king of queens guy
11-29-2005, 09:21 PM
#190
Senior Moderator
Awsome post!
11-29-2005, 10:03 PM
#191
One of the best interiors EVAH
11-30-2005, 11:36 AM
#193
I'm the Firestarter
Amazing how fast this car went from laughing stock to awesomeness.
11-30-2005, 12:59 PM
#194
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Belzebutt
Amazing how fast this car went from laughing stock to awesomeness.
It's laughable.
11-30-2005, 01:49 PM
#195
Frozen Wannabe Oracle
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Saskatoon
Age: 42
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Yes, you can build a Skyline, Camaro, Corvette, etc that will make 1000hp, but do they comply with emissions, and drive by noise regulations? Are they reliable? Would they start at -30°C (let alone +30°C)? Are they as easy and comfortable to drive as a Bentley Continental GT? Keep in mind, this car is showroom stock: A factory offered, 1000hp car that can out accelerate an F1 car.
11-30-2005, 04:13 PM
#197
Burning Brakes
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: USA
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Originally Posted by Professor Gascan
Yes, you can build a Skyline, Camaro, Corvette, etc that will make 1000hp, but do they comply with emissions, and drive by noise regulations? Are they reliable? Would they start at -30°C (let alone +30°C)? Are they as easy and comfortable to drive as a Bentley Continental GT? Keep in mind, this car is showroom stock: A factory offered, 1000hp car that can out accelerate an F1 car.
-Justin
11-30-2005, 09:18 PM
#199
I'm the Firestarter
Originally Posted by jiggaman
does it have a 100,000 mile drivetrain warranty? if so I'm buying one, do you think they'd throw in mud flaps? 
12-06-2005, 12:16 PM
#200
Senior Moderator
Another nifty read courtesy of James May (co-host of Top Gear)...
http://www.topgear.com/content/featu...ries/03/1.html
The more I read about the Veyron, the closer it gets to replacing my #1 dream car...
http://www.topgear.com/content/featu...ries/03/1.html
The more I read about the Veyron, the closer it gets to replacing my #1 dream car...