Bugatti Veyron

Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 Overview Manufacturer Bugatti Automobiles SAS Production 2005–present (approx. 300 to be produced) Assembly Molsheim, Alsace, France Designer Hartmut Warkuss, and Jozef Kabaň Body and chassis Body style 2-door coupe Layout Mid-engine, all-wheel drive Powertrain Engine 8.0 L quad-turbocharged W16 Transmission 7-speed Direct-Shift Gearbox sequential manual Dimensions Wheelbase Template:Auto mm Length Template:Auto mm Width Template:Auto mm Height Template:Auto mm at normal position Curb weight Template:Auto kg Chronology Predecessor Bugatti EB110

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car produced by Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS introduced in 2005. It is the quickest accelerating and decelerating street-legal production car in the world, and was the world's fastest street-legal production car until the introduction of the SSC Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo produced by Shelby SuperCars.

Powered by a Template:Auto PS W16 engine, it is able to achieve an average top speed of Template:Auto km/h. The car reached full production in September 2005, and is handcrafted in a factory Volkswagen built near the former Bugatti headquarters in Château St Jean in Molsheim (Alsace, France). It is named after French racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti firm.

fucking fast

Performance

The ignition key of Bugatti Veyron 16.4.

Power

According to Volkswagen (and approved by TÜV Süddeutschland) the final production Veyron engine produces 736 kW (987 hp) which is equivalent to 1001 PS (metric horsepower) and 922 ft⋅lbf (1,250 N⋅m) torque. However, the car is advertised as producing "1001 horsepower" in both the US and European markets.

Top Speed

Top speed was initially promised to be Template:Auto km/h but test versions were unstable at that speed, forcing a redesign of the aerodynamics. In May, 2005, a prototype Veyron tested at a Volkswagen track near Wolfsburg, Germany recorded an electronically limited top speed of Template:Auto km/h. In October, 2005, Car and Driver magazine's editor Csaba Csere test drove the final production version of the Veyron for the November 2005 issue. This test, at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track, reached a top speed of Template:Auto km/h. The top speed was verified once again by James May on Top Gear, again at Volkswagen's private test track, when the car hit 407.9 km/h (253 mph), which equated to precisely one-third of supersonic speed at sea level. When getting close to the top speed during the test he said that "the tires will only last for about fifteen minutes, but it's okay because the fuel runs out in twelve minutes." He also gave an indication of the power requirements, at Template:Auto km/h the Veyron was using approximately Template:Auto bhp, but to get to its rated Template:Auto km/h top speed required far more from the engine.

Aerodynamic friction or drag is proportional to the square of the speed; for example doubling speed quadruples drag. Work is a product of force applied over a distance travelled. Comparing a vehicle travelling at 100 mph (160 km/h) with one travelling at 200 mph (320 km/h), over a given period of time (e.g. 1 second), the faster vehicle must overcome 4 times the aerodynamic drag, and travel twice the distance of the slower one. Thus it does 8 times the work of the slower vehicle in that period of time. As power is work done / time taken it follows that the faster vehicle, travelling at twice the speed requires 8 times the power of the slower one. German inspection officials recorded an average top speed of Template:Auto km/h during test sessions on the Ehra Lessien test track on April 19, 2005.

The car's everyday top speed is listed at Template:Auto km/h. When the car reaches Template:Auto km/h, hydraulics lower the car until it has a ground clearance of about 8.9 cm (3½ inches). At the same time, the wing and spoiler deploy. This is the "handling mode", in which the wing helps provide 3425 newtons (770 pounds) of downforce, holding the car to the road. The driver must, using a special key (the "Top Speed Key"), toggle the lock to the left of his seat in order to attain the maximum (average) speed of Template:Auto km/h. The key functions only when the vehicle is at a stop when a checklist then establishes whether the car—and its driver—are ready to enable 'top speed' mode. If all systems are go, the rear spoiler retracts, the front air diffusers close and the ground clearance, normally 12.5 cm (4.9 inches), drops to 6.5 cm (2.6 inches).

Acceleration

The Veyron is one of the quickest production cars to 100km/h (62mph) with a proven time of 2.5 seconds . It reaches 60 mph (97 km/h) in approximately 2.46 seconds. This is an average acceleration of 1.18 g.

The forward acceleration in a Veyron may also be strong enough to cause head-up illusion, which gives passengers the impression of driving up a slope, very much like what is commonly experienced in a jet liner that accelerates for take off. This could arguably lead to false perception of stopping distances.

The Veyron reaches 200 and 300 km/h (124 and 186 mph) in 7.4 and 16.7 seconds respectively. And according to the February 2007 issue of Road & Track Magazine, the Veyron accomplished the quarter mile in 10.2 seconds at a speed of 142.9 mph (230.0 km/h). Other tests, however, have the Veyron hitting 150 mph (240 km/h) in 9.8 seconds (see below), so the quarter mile time is actually faster, making the Veyron the most rapidly accelerating production car in history.

Fuel Consumption

The Veyron consumes more fuel than any other production car, using 40.4 L/100 km (6.99 mpg_‑imp; 5.82 mpg_‑US) in city driving and 24.1 L/100 km (11.7 mpg_‑imp; 9.8 mpg_‑US) in combined cycle. At full throttle, it uses more than 115 L/100 km (2.5 mpg_‑imp; 2.05 mpg_‑US), which would empty its 100 L (26 US gal; 22 imp gal) fuel tank in just 12 minutes 46 seconds.

Braking

The Veyron's brakes use unique cross-drilled and turbine-vented carbon rotors which draw in cooling air to reduce fade. The front calipers have eight titanium pistons and the rear calipers have six pistons. Bugatti claims maximum deceleration of 1.3 G on road tires. Prototypes have been subjected to repeated 1.0 g braking from 194 to 50 mph (312 to 80 km/h) without fade. With the car's acceleration from 50 to 194 mph (80 to 312 km/h), that test can be performed every 22 seconds. At speeds above 124 mph (200 km/h), the rear wing also acts as an airbrake, snapping to a 55-degree angle in 0.4 seconds once brakes are applied, providing 0.68 g (4.9 m/s²) of deceleration (equivalent to the stopping power of an ordinary hatchback). Bugatti claims the Veyron will brake from Template:Auto km/h to a standstill in less than 10 seconds. The Veyron's performance was tested by Top Gear's Richard Hammond in a race against a Eurofighter Typhoon.

Final numbers

Statistics and specifications

Basic stats
Vehicle	Mid-engine, all-wheel drive 2-door coupe	Base price	€1,127,210 (GB£757,359/US$1,440,800)
Engine	Quad-turbocharged DOHC 64-valve W16	Engine displacement	7993 cc (488.8 in³)
Performance
Top speed	Template:Auto km/h (average)	0-Template:Auto mph	2.46 seconds
0-Template:Auto mph	5.5 seconds	0-Template:Auto mph	9.8 seconds
0-Template:Auto mph	24.2 seconds	0-Template:Auto mph	53 seconds
Standing quarter-mile (402 m)		10.2 seconds at Template:Auto mph
Fuel economy
EPA city driving	Template:Mpg	EPA highway driving	Template:Mpg
Top speed fuel economy		Template:Mpg

Production figures

• 2005: 5
• 2006: 44
• 2007: 83

Critics and comments

Previews

Gordon Murray, designer of the McLaren F1 (which for many years was the fastest production car ever built) said the following about the Bugatti Veyron in UK auto magazine evo during its development period:

The most pointless exercise on the planet has got to be this four-wheel-drive 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) Bugatti. I think it’s incredibly childish this thing people have about just one element—top speed, standing kilometre or 0-60. It’s about as narrow minded as you can get as a car designer to pick on one element. It’s like saying we’re going to beat the original Mini because we’re going to make a car 10 mph (16 km/h) faster on its top speed—but it's two feet longer and 200 kilos heavier. That’s not car designing—that just reeks of a company who are paranoid.

Murray was impressed with the Veyron after he test drove one, but still apprehensive about it in an article he wrote for Road and Track magazine.

Reviews

After the car had reached production, Murray went on to write an article for another UK auto magazine, Top Gear, retracting a lot of his past criticism of the car.

One really good thing, and I simply never expected this, is that it does change direction. It hardly feels its weight. Driving it on a circuit I expected a sack of cement, but you can really throw it at the tight chicanes.

He also declared in the article that: "The braking is phenomenal. ... And the primary ride and body control are impressive too" and "It's a huge achievement."

The trend of backtracking on negative comments about the Veyron continued when prominent UK car show host Jeremy Clarkson declared on Top Gear that it was "The best car ever made" after initially saying it was ridiculous and would never exist. He would later extend this by saying he would spend the night with British reality TV star Jade Goody (whom Clarkson vehemently dislikes) to get his hands on one.

The Veyron was proclaimed the Top Gear Magazine Car of the Year for 2005 along with the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroën C1. The Veyron was also declared the Grand Award winner for the Autotech category of 2006 by Popular Science magazine.

In May 2007, one of the two (at least) known Veyrons in Mexico was tested by the Mexican automotive magazine Automóvil Panamericano at the Rodríguez Brothers Racetrack. However, due to Mexico City's elevation the car could only reach 850CV out of 1001CV and a top speed of 300km/h:

(Translated from Spanish) But, the Bugatti Veyron we tested did not reach those figures [1001CV, 1250nm]; with DF's elevation and our gasoline's octane rating, it stucked in about 850 CV that most supersports drivers would wish for their cars.

Popular culture

A number of fictional Transformers characters turn into Bugatti Veyron cars. The first of which was Cybertron Crosswise. His toy was later recolored or remolded into Cybertron Smokescreen, Transformers Movie Jolt, Timelines Jazz and Timelines 2008 Ricochet. All the toys for these characters turn into 1:34 scale cars.

References

• Jeremy Clarkson Review Timesonline.co.uk
• Ray Hutton (2005). "Inside Château Bugatti". Car and Driver. 50 (11): 112–118. {{cite journal}}: External link in |title= (help)
• "Bugatti's Veyron back on test track". Auto Week. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• Csaba Csere (2005). "Bugatti Veyron 16.4". Car and Driver. 51. {{cite journal}}: External link in |title= (help)
• mph Magazine's take on the Veyron
• www.bugattipage.com/ride
• Bugatti Veyron - When pigs fly
• Bugatti Veyron - Technic im Detail (in German)
• Official Specifications by Bugatti
• Bugatti EB Veyron 16.4 on Xelopolis.com
• Bugatti Veyron news
• Castrol sponsored Guinness land speed record attempt
• Speed Record Lost

External links

• Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. Web Site
• Bugatti Veyron Test Video
• Bugatti Veyron Fbg par Hermes