Bugatti Veyron
January 8th, 2008
The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is a supercar produced by Volkswagen subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS. It is the most expensive and fastest accelerating street-legal production car in the world and it was also the fastest and most powerful one, until it was surpassed by the SSC Ultimate Aero TT on September 13, 2007. But still there is nothing, that can even compare to this monster! Just think about it - 736kW! And most cars dont even have more than 100 kW under their engine. 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.
The concept of Bugatti Veyron was first introduced in 1999 and was planned to have 18.4 engine. But the production only began in 2003, with a 16.4 engine and with the price of more than 1 million euro. The car, however, experienced significant problems during development. Achieving the required high-speed stability was difficult - one prototype was destroyed in a crash and another spun out during a public demonstration at the Monterey Historics event in Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. Production of the Veyron was delayed pending resolution of these and other issues.
Bugatti originally planned to build 300 Veyrons over five years. In March 2006, Bugatti president Bscher claimed to have 70 firm orders, selling out 14 months of production. The company is reportedly speeding up production in response, with all 70 cars expected to be built in 2006. The December, 2007 issue of Road & Track magazine reports that over 165 of the 300 cars to be produced have been sold and 90 have been delivered to customers. Maintenance will be possible at Bugatti dealerships but repair service will require a flown-in mechanic, who the company promises will be available 24 hours a day.
The Veyron is the quickest production car to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) with a proven time of 2.5 seconds. It reaches 60 mph in approximately 2.46 seconds. It also 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 km/h). Other tests, however, have the Veyron hitting 150 mph (241 km/h) in 9.8 seconds (see below), so the quarter mile time is actually faster, making the Veyron the the most rapidly accelerating production car in history. It accelerates so quickly that you could let a McLaren F1 (one of the best known fastest production car record holders) reach 120 mph (193 km/h), and then start the Bugatti, and the Veyron would beat the McLaren to 200 mph (322 km/h). The car's everyday top speed is listed at 375 km/h (233 mph). When the car reaches 220 km/h (137 mph), hydraulics lower the car until it has a ground clearance of about 8.9 cm (3? 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 408 km/h (254 mph). 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).
The Veyron was proclaimed the Top Gear Magazine Car of the Year for 2005 along with the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1.
The Veyron was also declared the Grand Award winner for the Autotech category of 2006 by Popular Science magazine.
