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posted on March 10th, 2006 at 06:51 PM
Bugatti Veyron
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.
View a photo gallery of the Bugatti Veyron
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
[ Edited on 10-3-2006 by vwtyp2 ]
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Most people seem normal, till you get to know them.
baybuscamperkid
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prince of insufficient light, ruler of heck
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posted on March 10th, 2006 at 07:40 PM
thats one hell of a review, love the rear view, never seen it before
Reimagined/Recycled/Upcycled Cool
koolkarmakombi
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posted on March 10th, 2006 at 08:50 PM
check out top gear, available on a torrent site near you, the episode rocks, its a life fulfilling experience.....
This disclaimer does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of either myself, my company, my friends, or my dog: don't quote me on that; don't
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living or dead, is unintentional and coincidental; dry clean only; do not bend, fold, or mutilate; anchovies or jalapenos added to this disclaimer
upon request; your mileage may vary; no substitutions are allowed; for a limited time only while supplies last; offer void where prohibited; this
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helterskelter400
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posted on March 10th, 2006 at 09:37 PM
now, THAT is a modern water cooled volkswagen we can all be proud of.
[ Edited on 10-3-2006 by helterskelter400 ]
:thumb
bond
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posted on March 11th, 2006 at 07:57 PM
another much enjoyed review by jeremy clarkson....
nice
matttyler
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posted on March 11th, 2006 at 09:47 PM
YEAH !!!!!!!! Go the VW.....like to see the poofy HSV boys top that !!!!!
No chance
53racer
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posted on March 12th, 2006 at 12:04 PM
ive seen an rx7 at 270mph? lift off the ground spin backwards in the air and land on its roof, coming to a stop some several 100 feet further down the
road.
so making that buggati heavy enough to stay on the ground defies the power due to hp per tonne.
i like to bag turbos, i have 4 times as much reason to bag that thing, despite its badged heritage.
[ Edited on 12-3-2006 by 53racer ]
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posted on March 14th, 2006 at 03:46 PM
Quote:
Originally
posted by 53racer
so making that buggati heavy enough to stay on the ground defies the power due to hp per tonne.
i like to bag turbos, i have 4 times as much reason to bag that thing, despite its badged heritage.
[ Edited on 12-3-2006 by 53racer ]
So how did you find your test drive? What NA cars would you compare it to?
All the figures arent that impressive on the Veyron until you sit back and think 'sh!*... This is a production car, on production tyres, that passes
all the emmision laws, comes with a warranty and was built to drive like any other car.' No other car with this much power or speed can claim to do
that, none! And the freakiest thing about it... The top speed is limited electronically because the tyre manufacturer wouldnt guarantee the tyres
above that speed. :o
