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[Kleegamefan]

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=19&article_id=10108

My experience with the car took place at Ehra-Lessien in Germany, Volkswagen's test track and high-speed theme park not far from VW headquarters in Wolfsburg. At least it will soon become a theme park because Bugatti plans to let Veyron owners bring their cars to this 13.0-mile circuit to explore the top speed of their cars. In addition to finding out how fast the Veyron can go, I was a guinea pig for this ultimate high-speed thrill ride.

We started with two familiarization laps to get a feel for the track and the car. The track is simple, with a pair of high-banked, 150-mph corners connected by two five-mile-long straights—one of which has a slight bend so that it touches a common parking area.

With the Veyron's high beltline, I couldn't see any of the front bodywork from the driver's seat, but the view of the pavement immediately in front of the car is excellent. The driving position is comfortable, with a snug sport seat that provides great lateral support and manual fore-and-aft and seatback-angle adjustments (a plusher power seat will be optional).

Even after it was lowered to my preferred position, the steering wheel did not obstruct my view of the instrument cluster. And despite the Veyron's low, 47.5-inch height, there was plenty of clearance between my helmeted head and the headliner. Schreiber promises the car will accommodate drivers as tall as six foot seven.

Although the Veyron idles with a quiet murmur, as soon as it starts rolling you hear a symphony of mechanical music that gives way to tire thrum when you get above 100 mph, which doesn't take long. We had no opportunity to perform acceleration testing, but the ease with which the Bugatti blows past that speed is astonishing. We predict about six seconds flat from a dead stop.

What's more, the acceleration doesn't slacken when you hit triple-digit speeds. In my first lap, I took the car up to about 185 mph, at which point the tire noise was fairly loud but the Veyron was otherwise calm and relaxed. One reason it felt so secure is that when you hit 137 mph, the Bugatti hunkers down, lowering its normal ride height of 4.9 inches to 3.1 in front and 3.7 in the rear. At the same time a small spoiler deploys from the rear bodywork and a wing extends about a foot, perched at a six-degree angle. Two underbody flaps ahead of the front tires also open up. This configuration produces substantial downforce—about 330 pounds in front and 440 in the rear at 230 mph.

Given that it only takes about 500 horsepower to overcome the prevailing drag at 185 mph, that leaves the 500 horses remaining for acceleration duty. So when you plant your right foot at 185, the Veyron's surge of power shoves you into the driver's seat about as hard as a Corvette's does at 100 mph, or a Ford Five Hundred's does at 40 mph. (EDIT:OMGWTFBBQ???)Accelerating from 185 to 230 on my next lap didn't take very long, and the car remained glued to the pavement, although wind roar overcame tire thrumming to become the predominant sound.

But 230 mph is about as fast as the Veyron will go................(dramatic pause)....... until you put the car into *top speed mode .*jawdrop!) This involves coming to a stop and, while the car is idling, turning a key in a lock on the floor to the left of the driver's seat. When you do that, the car sinks down even lower on its suspension, until ground clearance has been reduced to a mere 2.6 inches in front and 2.8 in the rear. This setup also causes the front underbody flaps to close and the rear spoiler and wing to retract, although the wing remains tilted out of the body at a slight two-degree angle. These changes reduce the car's drag coefficient from 0.41 to 0.36, and they reduce the peak downforce from 770 to 120 pounds.

Before proceeding further, the driver is urged to verify visually that all these aerodynamic changes have taken place, as well as to check the pressure in the special Michelin PAX System Pilot Sport tires and inspect them for any damage. Developing tires that could withstand 250-plus mph while supporting up to 4800 pounds of car, occupants, and downforce was one of the major technical challenges of the Veyron, and judging by the comparative lack of concern about the tires during my run, I'd say this problem has been solved.

Beyond this suggested checklist, there are a few catches in the procedure that will make it hard to perform a top-speed run on public roads. Once the Veyron exceeds 35 mph, if you turn the steering wheel more than 90 degrees, or so much as touch the brakes, the car's configuration reverts to the handling mode.

The reasons for this became clear during my first top-speed lap. With downforce reduced, the Veyron no longer cut through the air like some hyperkinetic fastball. Instead, it meandered slightly, something akin to a swift knuckle ball.

I barely touched the car's top-speed governor that was set at 253 mph (407.5 kilometers per hour) [EDIT: HOLY SHIT, you mean it can go faster than that!?!?!?) on that first lap, but on the second I held the car there for at least three of the back straight's five miles. The combination of driveline noise, tire noise, and hurricane-force winds rushing over the car must have been deafening, but I don't remember it, as I concentrated on keeping the gently meandering car within the center of the track's three lanes.

The straightaway was only 32 feet wide, with a low highway-type guardrail at each edge and dense forest beyond. One stretch of the straightaway didn't even have a guardrail on the outside of the track, just a grassy embankment that sloped up at about 20 degrees for about 30 feet toward the trees. Leaving the pavement and ending up in the trees was only a twitch of the steering wheel away.

Fortunately, the Veyron's steering is ideally set up for such fast running. There's absolutely no slack on-center, and the steering responds with a gentleness that makes it easy to feed in the delicate corrections needed to keep the Veyron between the center lane's dotted lines without overcorrecting. Still, I can see why Bugatti engineers don't want their customers to be passing semis on the autobahn at 200-plus mph in this low-downforce mode.

When you lift off the throttle at 253 mph, the aerodynamic drag alone slows the Veyron at 0.3 g. After running that fast, dropping below 200 suddenly seems utterly effortless. You could not only hold a cell-phone conversation at 185 but also dial a cell phone at that pace. Allocate some money to keep an attorney on retainer if you get one of these cars, because double and triple the speed limit will quickly feel comfortable and normal.

ou will likely only experience this speed in short bursts, which is why the Veyron's powerful brakes will come in handy. The car is equipped with huge carbon-ceramic brakes: 15.7 inches in front with eight-piston, four-pad calipers, and 15.0 inches in back with six-piston, two-pad calipers. When you step on the brakes at high speed, the rear wing tilts up to a 55-degree angle. At 230 mph, this increases rear downforce to 1100 pounds and adds as much as 2500 pounds of drag. A panic stop at that speed produces nearly 2.00 g of initial deceleration—at least 50 percent more retardation than a Porsche 911 can generate at any speed.


With the top speed verified, Schreiber jumped into the car to demonstrate the Veyron's "launch mode," which allows the engine to light up all four tires in a full-bore accel run. He promises the Veyron will sprint from rest to 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than three seconds. From this, we would conclude that the car will likely run the quarter-mile in the high 10s at about 140 mph for another production-car record.

10 Fastest Production Cars Ever
Model Year Vehicle Top Speed
(mph) Source
2005 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 253 Car and Driver
2005 Koenigsegg CCR 241 independent observer
1998 McLaren F1 240 independent observer
2003 Saleen S7 223 at 6500-rpm redline
2004 Ferrari Enzo 220 Auto Motor und Sport
1993 Jaguar XJ220 212 independent observer
1992 Bugatti EB110 GT 212 Autocar
2002 Pagani Zonda S 208 Sport Auto
2004 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 207 Auto Motor und Sport
2004 Porsche Carrera GT 207 Auto Motor und Sport


BUGATTI VEYRON 16.4
Vehicle type: mid-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
Base price: $1,250,000 (EDIT: No typo, that is one point two-five million bucks)
Engine type: quad-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 64-valve W-16, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 488 cu in, 7998cc
Power (SAE net): 1001 bhp @ 6000 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 922 lb-ft @ 2200 rpm
Transmission: 7-speed manual with
automated shifting and clutch
Wheelbase: 106.3 in
Length/width/height: 175.8/78.7/47.5 in
Curb weight: 4300 lb
Performance ratings (C/D est):
Zero to 60 mph: 2.9 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 6.0 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 11.0 sec
Zero to 200 mph: 22.0 sec
Standing 1/4-mile: 10.8 sec @ 140 mph
Top speed (observed at governor): 253 mph
Projected fuel economy (C/D est):
EPA city driving: 7 mpg
EPA highway driving: 10 mpg
Steady 253 mph: 3 mpg :lol

Supossedly, the first two years production of Bugatti Veyrons are already sold out.....Bill Gates has one and the Sultan of Brunei is getting THREE!!!

 

[Drensch]

Too bad the car is ugly. Needs some Lambo influence.

 

[Raistlin]

Sick ... but I'm not surprised.

VW said they wanted to create the fastest car ever to revive the Bugatti name - and would do it in the 'money-is-no-object' fashion.

Their engineering plus a basically unlimited R&D and production budget is going to yield nothing but the best.

 

[Raistlin]

Too bad the car is ugly. Needs some Lambo influence.

You sir, are NUTS!

 

[AB 101]

When you picking it up KLee?

 

[duderon]

Mindblowingly awesome. Definately ugly, though :lol

 

[Kleegamefan]

When you picking it up KLee?

My Z arrives next week

 

[Kleegamefan]

Autoweek impressions of the Veyron:

http://autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=103261

Simply No Comparison: The Bugatti Veyron is in a class by itself

BERND OSTMANN
Published Date: 10/3/05

Despite taking a couple of years longer than first thought, Bugatti finally appears to have delivered on then-Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech’s promise of making the EB16.4 Veyron the world’s fastest road car. It cranks out 987 hp. Blasts to 62 mph in 2.5 seconds. Hits 250 mph flat-out. Hold on as we take it for an exclusive first drive.

This car can’t be measured by traditional road-car standards. It’s just too powerful, too extreme, too darn fast. Nothing, and we mean nothing, can prepare you for the feeling you experience deep within the pit of your stomach the first time you drive it with real purpose. Comparisons with other road cars do not apply, for there simply is no parallel. Not a fair one at least.

For a while we had felt comfortable, if not exactly at home, behind the beautifully crafted aluminum and leather steering wheel of the $1.2 million EB16.4 Veyron. Confident its limits were not beyond our control as we came to grips with it along Bugatti-parent VW’s Ehra-Lessien test track, 30 minutes up the road from the German carmaker’s vast Wolfsburg headquarters. Not even a rain shower that drenched the long oval track earlier in the day had given too much cause for concern. In fact, the cool temperatures had proven a boon for the Bugatti engineers who feared it may get too hot to take a stab at its 250-mph top speed.

However, that was before we pulled into the makeshift service facility erected on the track’s perimeter and watched as Bugatti’s technical director, Wolfgang Schreiber, inserted a second key into a slot to the left of the driver’s seat. Talk about transformation. In this configuration—just one of three in which the Veyron can be programmed—the chassis squats 2.5 inches at the front and 2.75 at the rear. The diffuser flaps in the front close, and the rear spoiler sits at a slight 2-degree angle. The idea is to provide the car with minimal drag as the electronic speed restrictor limiting the low-slung Bugatti’s top speed to 233 mph is sidestepped to release its full potential. It is described as the “top-speed” setting, though on second thought, it ought to be labeled hyperspace.

Every time we pull back on the gear lever to slot home another ratio in the closely stacked seven-speed double-clutch (DSG) transmission, all hell breaks loose. The 8.0-liter W16 engine mounted behind us bellows in anger as we hold the throttle down hard, the needle on its horsepower dial arching its way past the traditional four o’clock position to indicate maximum power has been released as the all-wheel-drive Veyron slams violently forward as though it is mounted on a rocket sled. The sound the car makes, even from within the full-face helmet, makes us wonder how on earth it could ever be street legal.

If it all sounds like an exaggeration, consider the acceleration figures and you might, just might, begin to appreciate the brutality of it all from the thigh-hugging confines of the deeply padded driver’s seat. Although the times are yet to be independently verified, Bugatti claims its new two-seater will hit 62 mph from a standstill in 2.5 seconds, 125 mph in 7.3 seconds, and amazingly, given it tips the scales at a rather portly 4300 pounds, 186 mph in just 16.8 seconds. The words “battering ram” come to mind.

For comparison, a Porsche Carrera GT needs 34 seconds to reach that last mark(EDIT So you're telling me the Veyron can reach 185 mph in HALF the time of a Porsche Carrera GT??? WTF??), and we don’t recall anyone describing it as slow. No less than 987 hp delivered at 6000 rpm—more than any other road car on the planet, and by some margin—dishing out a time-warping turn of speed. That the EB16.4 Veyron requires less than half the time it takes the Porsche is a good indication of the sort of force placed on your body as you nail it hard and keep your right foot planted. In the first few degrees of throttle travel, things are quite unremarkable. But as the engine’s four turbo-chargers spool up, there is a violent surge of acceleration as the revs rocket up to the engine’s 6300-rpm cut-out point. When you’re engaging in such action, the air is literally forced from your lungs as the forces build… and build… and build. This is road-car performance at its most potent. It’s backed up by a thumping great 921 lb-ft of torque that’s fed to all four wheels via a Haldex multi-plate clutch and DSG that’s positioned ahead of the engine in a bid to provide the best possible weight distribution. Developed and built by British transmission specialist Ricardo, which claims the magnesium-housed unit takes just 150 milliseconds to shift and can be operated manually or left in automatic mode. The engine and gearbox weigh 1400 pounds, close to one-third of the Veyron’s weight.

The suspension itself is fairly conventional, relying on a combination of double wishbones all around with conventional springs, dampers and antiroll bars. To ensure stability remains constant across the Veyron’s wide speed range, it also incorporates a specially developed hydraulic system that varies the ground clearance in three distinct stages. In the standard setting, the car’s carbon fiber body sits five inches off the ground, the front diffuser flaps allowing air to travel underneath the car remain open, and the rear spoiler sits flush with the rear bodywork. At speeds greater than 135 mph—or when the driver chooses to engage it via a button on the center console—the body adopts what is called the handling setting, automatically lowering to 3.14 inches of clearance at the front and 3.7 at the rear, the diffuser flaps stay open, and the spoiler motors out and is deployed at an angle that varies between 6 degrees and 26 degrees to provide up to 771 pounds of downforce.

Beyond this is the so-called top-speed setting dialed up by Schreiber during our run and allowing the new Bugatti to run all the way to 250 mph. Besides twisting the second key, you are also required to run through a safety list, which includes such things as a tire-pressure check. Overall, the Veyron’s drag co-efficient varies dramatically—from a low of 0.39 in the standard setting to a downforce-induced 0.42 in handling, and a slipperier 0.36 in top speed.

Although the $1.2 million price is breathtaking, Bugatti is supremely confident it can find 50 customers per year for the EB16.4 Veyron. Employees at the company’s showcase factory on the outskirts of Molsheim in France are expected to produce no more than 300 cars in total during the next six years. North America is already proving a lucrative market, with the majority of the 16 confirmed orders to date.

BY THE NUMBERS

173 mph:Takeoff speed for a Boeing 737

229.9 mph: F1 speed record by Antonio Pizzonia in a Williams-BMW at the ’04 Italian GP

240 mph: Top speed of an Andretti Green Indy Racing League car

241.428 mph: Closed-course speed record set by Gil de Ferran in his Honda-powered Penske Racing Reynard at California Speedway in 2000

250 mph:Top speed of the Bugatti Veyron. It goes from standstill to 250 mph in 55 seconds (OMFG!!!)

11 hours, 9 minutes: Time it would take to get from Los Angeles to New York City @ 250 mph

To prove that there’s always a bigger dog on the block... a nitro-burning Funny Car accelerates to 100 mph in 0.9 second, hitting 230 mph in 2.03 seconds and topping 260 mph in 3.25 seconds. But you can’t do that and drive it to the grocery store, too.

 

[AlphaSnake]

Reading that makes laugh out loud.

L
O
fucking
L

That kind of speed boggles. By the way, what's with the Ford Five Hundred comparison? That is not a very fast car. :\

 

[Raistlin]

I think it's just for sake of comparison. Most people are used to the feeling of an average-powered 6 cylinder engine.

 

[Drensch]

http://www.motorimania.net/manifestazioni/supercar/images/Bugatti.Veyron.2.jpg

That looks quite different than the car and driver article pics. This pic is merely lacking. CnD looks ugly.

 

[Pimpwerx]

:lol
:lol
:lol
:lol
:lol :lol :lol
Sorry...this car is a shit-eating grin incarnate.

I am so giddy with powerlust over this car. Why? Because there is no fucking reason every supercar built hasn't encompassed Bugatti's ridiculous lust for power and speed. I will give it to them. Their cars are just bananas. Flat out fucking bananas. This car takes the McLaren and drops a phat deuce on it. Not b/c it will outhandle it on a course. There's no guarantee of that. But it doesn't pretend to. This ia a powerhound's dream come true. Push the gas, and it's a street-legal dragster. This stat line tells the story:

Standing 1/4-mile: 10.8 sec @ 140 mph

Gimme a fucking break. A 11s car out the gate? An 11s car that still has enough gear to hit 250mph and more? Gimme a fucking break. An 11s car hits that in 3rd or 4th gear. This car is probably just touching 3rd when when you blow through that speed. Sweet jesus, that's just sick....SICK!!! I love everything this car encompasses. It will not replace my new favorite, the Enzo (which replaced the F550 as my favorite car), but it doesn't pretend to be a handling monster. This is a power broker, and the god of all power cars. Goddamn, I am in love. Still, given the money, I'd buy a Catterham or a Superstalker V6. Both will give you more bankg for your buck IMO. But damn, that reveiw was thrilling. I can't wait to see a video review of this car. Now...time for bed. PEACE.

 

[op_ivy]

wow.

i believe this is in pgr3 too :O

 

[StoOgE]

When I was a kid I was in love with the EB110 SS. Bugatti has class about it, and the Veyron was no exception... while Ferrari and Lambo make cars that look like speed demons, Bugatti comes along with a car that looks like a jacked up Rolls and puts the other speed demons to shame.

 

[Tarazet]

When I was a kid I was in love with the EB110 SS. Bugatti has class about it, and the Veyron was no exception... while Ferrari and Lambo make cars that look like speed demons, Bugatti comes along with a car that looks like a jacked up Rolls and puts the other speed demons to shame.

But the EB110 is a far prettier car. Given a choice, I would definitely get that one instead.

 

[Tenacious-V]

What??? How can anyone say that it's ugly. This thing is pure sex on the road.

And the power it encompasses just screams intimidation. Built for no other reason than to put the rest to shame, and doing it with class.

 

[Shinobi]

Reading that makes laugh out loud.

L
O
fucking
L

:lol No kidding...this thing is a fucking wrecking ball on wheels. After 15+ years the McLaren F1 has finally been dethroned as the most bad ass car on the planet, and it isn't even close.

And I used to hate the way this car looked at first, but I'm coming to appreciate it now. There's an elegance and class, even a snobby ass presence about it that makes it's ridiculous power all the more hilarious.

Duane called it in his post...this car is just fucking bananas. I would pay to take a ride in this thing at it's top speed (I wouldn't be worthy of driving it). I bow to the masters who created this beast.

 

[capslock]

Holy crap, 250 mph top speed sustained? I didn't even think that was possible on production car.

 

[Kangu]

It's strange that such a ridiculous car is wrapped in such a docile looking shell. Considering nothing's ever been THIS purpose built for speed, it sure looks less like it than an ENZO or a McLaren F1.

Old man recently got a BMW K1200S, does 0-60 in 2.9s. I'll have to ask him to let me try it out to get a little test of that kind of acceleration (although after 60 the Bugatti's obviously in another league).

 

[pj]

I felt like a 15 year old again after reading all that

ME WANT

 

[Hyoushi]

10 Fastest Production Cars Ever
Model Year Vehicle Top Speed
(mph) Source
2005 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 253 Car and Driver
2005 Koenigsegg CCR 241 independent observer
1998 McLaren F1 240 independent observer
2003 Saleen S7 223 at 6500-rpm redline
2004 Ferrari Enzo 220 Auto Motor und Sport
1993 Jaguar XJ220 212 independent observer
1992 Bugatti EB110 GT 212 Autocar
2002 Pagani Zonda S 208 Sport Auto
2004 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 207 Auto Motor und Sport
2004 Porsche Carrera GT 207 Auto Motor und Sport

Just a note to this, the Veyron and the McLaren records are from the Wolfsburg straight, but the Koenigsegg one was made at the Prototipo Nardo circular track, which means that there was about a 30 degree steering input at all times. Koenigsegg reckons that they should make 245ish at Wolfsburg, which is still pwned by the Veyron though of course

 

[Inumaru]

I felt like a 15 year old again after reading all that

ME WANT

Well said. What an amazing, gorgeous car.

 

[DarienA]

My only hope is that Top Gear gets ahold of this puppy....

 

[RonaldoSan]

Too heavy.

oh yeah and the design sucks.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

wow.

i believe this is in pgr3 too :O

thats all I needed to know... 360 GET!

 

[Shinobi]

WB and Nolan should seriously look into using this car for a potential Batmobile.

 

[ourumov]

I don't like how it looks...but well...it's enough fast...

 

[Deleted member 1235]

saw this car in berlin, heres my shitty snaps of it.

 

[Kleegamefan]

How about 0-250MPH in 55 seconds!!!(WTF???)

And how about the fact it has a 253MPH (407Kph) *speed limiter*!!

I wonder how fast the car could go with it disabled??

260MPH?

270MPH?

More?

Veyron=Mindbending....

 

[TheOMan]

Okay, that is just *insane*. If I had the dollars to spend, I would be buying the beast on wheels in a heartbeat. I seriously doubt I'd actually have the courage to go into TOP SPEED MODE. I mean...seriously! It puts all other cars to shame. ALL OF THEM.

 

[Wellington]

:lol @ the Knight Rider-esque transformation.

 

[empanada]

Wow! I have a feeling that this car will remain the fastest for a very long time, if something even beats it.

Chrysler ME Four-Twelve am cry.

 

[Lo-Volt]

Wow! I have a feeling that this car will remain the fastest for a very long time, if something even beats it.

Chrysler ME Four-Twelve am cry.

Are they even building the Chrysler Messerschmitt- err, ME Four Twelve?

 

[empanada]

Are they even building the Chrysler Messerschmitt- err, ME Four Twelve?

Apparently the Mercedes AMG division didn't like Chrysler making something that will destroy the SLR. :lol Before, production was almost guaranteed, and now it's “under active consideration” so they're still working on it but who knows if it'll ever make it into production. I'm guessing that it'll never leave prototype stage...

 

[Kleegamefan]

ME-412 is dead....the same group is currently working on the Chrysler Firepower....