At the moment, the Bugatti Veyron appears to have it all:

* A W-16 engine that can produce 1,001 horsepower
* A top speed of 250+ mph (400+ kph)
* A zero-to-60 time of three seconds
* A zero-to-180 time of 14 seconds
* A price tag somewhere in the $1.2 million range.

In this article, we will take an in-depth look at this amazing automobile and see how it is possible to fit so much performance into a single machine. It all starts with the engine…

The Bugatti Veyron is a car built around an engine. Essentially, Bugatti made the decision to blow the doors off the supercar world by creating a 1,000-horsepower engine. Everything else follows from that resolution.

So let’s start with the engine. How would you begin the design process for an engine this powerful? If you have read How Car Engines Work, you know that if you want to create a 1,000-horsepower engine, it has to be able to burn enough gasoline to generate 1,000 horsepower. That works out to about 1.33 gallons (5 liters) of gasoline per minute.
We need a 16-liter engine to burn 1.33 gallons of gas per minute. That actually makes sense — the engine in the Dodge Viper is 8.0 liters in displacement and produces 500 hp.

But there’s a problem: A 16-liter V-8 engine would be very large. And the pistons would be massive, so there would be no way it could turn at 6,000 rotations per minute (rpm). It might turn at a maximum of 2,000 rpm, meaning that you would need an immense 48-liter engine to generate 1,000 hp. Clearly an engine that big is impossible in a passenger car.
Bugatti did two things to create a compact engine capable of producing 1,000 hp. The first and most obvious thing is turbocharging.

If you have read How Turbochargers Work, you know that one easy way to make an engine more powerful without making the engine bigger is to stuff more air into the cylinders on each intake stroke. Turbochargers do that. A turbo pressurizes the air coming into the cylinder so the cylinder can hold more air.

If you stuff twice as much air in each cylinder, you can burn twice as much gasoline. In reality, it’s not quite a perfect ratio like that, but you get the idea. The Bugatti uses a maximum turbo boost of 18 PSI to double the output power of its engine.

Therefore, turbocharging allows Bugatti to cut the size of the engine from 16 liters back down to a more manageable 8 liters.

To generate that much air pressure, the Bugatti requires four separate turbochargers arranged around the engine.

The second thing Bugatti engineers did, both to keep the RPM redline high and to lower lag time when you press the accelerator, was to double the number of cylinders. The Bugatti has a very rare 16-cylinder engine.

There are two easy ways to create a 16-cylinder engine.

* One way would be to put two V-8 engines in-line with each other. You connect the output shaft of the two V-8s together.
* Another would be to put two in-line 8-cylinder engines beside one another.

The latter technique is, in fact, the way Bugatti created its first 16-cylinder cars in the early 20th century.

For the Veyron, Bugatti chose a much more challenging path. Essentially, Bugatti merged two V-8 engines onto one another, and then let both of them share the same crankshaft. This configuration creates the W-16 engine found in the Veyron.
The special features of the Bugatti W-16 engine are amazing. For example:

* The engine has four valves per cylinder, for a total of 64 valves.
* It has a dry sump lubrication system borrowed from Formula 1 race cars, along with an intricate internal oil path to ensure proper lubrication and cooling within the 16 cylinders.
* It has electronically controlled, continuously variable cam timing to create optimal performance at different engine rpm settings.
* It has a massive radiator to deal with all of the waste heat that burning 1.33 gallons of gasoline per minute can generate.

Everything about the engine is superlative.

And it is remarkably compact. It measures just 710 mm (27 inches) long, 889 mm (35 inches) wide and 730 mm (28.7 inches) high. This is the beauty of Bugatti’s W-16 approach — the engineers managed to fit 1,000 hp into a reasonably sized package.

The Transmission
The transmission is unique, in particular because it has to harness about twice as much torque as any previous sports-car transmission. It has:

* Seven gears
* A dual clutch system
* Sequential shifting
* A paddle-driven, computer-controlled shifting system

This computer-controlled system is identical to the sort of system found in a Formula 1 car or a Champ car. There is no clutch pedal or shift lever for the driver to operate — the computer controls the clutch disks as well as the actual shifting. The computer is able to shift gears in 0.2 seconds.

It would be almost impossible for all of the torque available from the W-16 engine to flow out to just two wheels without constant wheel-spin. Therefore, the Veyron has full-time all-wheel drive. By applying the engine’s power to all four wheels through a computer-controlled traction-control system, the car is able to harness all of the engine’s horsepower, even at full acceleration.
According to one of the Veyron’s designers, the biggest challenge in creating the Veyron was the aerodynamics. How do you keep a 250-mph passenger car on the road?

An F-1 car or a Champ car can travel at 250 mph or more, but they have a uniquely designed body, a single driver lying in a reclining position, just an inch or so of ground clearance and an aero-package made up of large wings to generate massive downforce. The Bugatti, on the other hand, is trying to look like a normal car and seat two passengers.

The Veyron’s dimensions help to some extent. The car is 79 inches (200 cm) wide, 176 inches (447 cm) long and only 48 inches (122 cm) high. Keep in mind that a Hummer 2 is 81.2 inches wide. The Bugatti is extremely wide for its height.

The underside of the Veyron, like an F-1 car, is streamlined and venturi-shaped to increase downforce. There is also a wing in the back of the Veyron (see below) that extends automatically at high speed to increase downforce and keep the car glued to the road. According to Popular Science: Hypercar, “With the moving tail spoiler we’ve got enough downforce now, about 100 kg (221 pounds) at the rear and 80 kg (177 pounds) at the front at top speed.”

If you look at the above photo, you’ll notice two snorkel-like devices, one on either side of the engine, on the roof of the car. The Veyron uses these to manage airflow. The Veyron has three reasons for managing airflow:

* At maximum power, the engine is consuming 45,000 liters of air per minute.
* At maximum power, the engine is burning 1.33 gallons of gasoline per minute and needs to dissipate all of that heat through its radiators.
* When stopping, the brakes need to dissipate heat ?- especially important when rapidly accelerating and braking on twisty road courses.

You can see how the Veyron handles these requirements in the photo below. The engine of the Veryon sits behind the driver, so roof-mounted snorkels, the rear-deck vents and side-mounted scoops bring air to the engine and rear brakes.

The size of the engine and transmission, along with the four-wheel-drive system and the four drive shafts, along with the opulence of the passenger compartment (discussed in the next section) and the car’s oversized dimensions, all add weight. Even though the body is sculpted in carbon fiber to minimize its mass, the car weighs in at about 4,300 pounds (1,950 kg). For comparison, a Dodge Viper weighs about 1,000 pounds (454 kg) less.

Even the tires for the Veyron are unique. They’re specially designed by Michelin to handle the stress of driving at 250 mph. The tires need to be sticky like a race car’s and able to handle 1.3 G’s on the skidpad. However, they also need to last longer than the 70 or so miles of a typical race tire.

Michelin therefore created completely new tires to handle the Veyron’s unique requirements. In the rear, the tires are 14.4 inches (36.6 cm) wide. Specifically, the tires measure 245/690 R 520 A front and 365/710 R 540 A rear, where 245 and 365 are the width in millimeters (9.5 and 14.4 inches respectively). The rims are 520 mm and 540 mm in diameter (approximately 20 inches). These tires, in other words, are massive — the rears are the widest ever produced for a passenger car.

The tires use the Michelin PAX system. Their pressure is monitored automatically, and they can run flat for approximately 125 miles (201 km) at 50 mph (80 kph). According to Michelin, the run-flat detection system “plays an integral role in active safety in PAX System. Its role is to inform you of a loss of pressure, either gradual or sudden.” Once warned of an air leak by the PAX system, you can reduce your speed and head toward a tire repair center.

One advantage of the PAX system and its run-flat ability is that it eliminates the need for a spare tire.

The Veyron seats two in lavish style. The interior is swathed almost completely in leather — the dash, seats, floor and sides are all leather. Only the instruments and a few metal trim pieces interrupt the leather experience.

The car also surrounds its occupants with every sort of electronic nicety, including a remarkable stereo system, navigation system, etc.

Is all of this worth a million bucks? Who knows. But regardless, the Veyron represents a remarkable technological achievement.

The Veyron is also likely to represent the far end of the automotive performance spectrum for some time to come. To create a car much faster will require adding even more weight, and delivering even more power to the wheels. The added weight means diminishing returns in the power-to-weight domain. Additional power means more wheelspin.

Look at a Champ car and consider how radical its appearance is compared to a passenger car. Consider also that a Champ car does not go much faster than the Veyron. The Veyron probably approaches the outer limits of the passenger car envelope, and we are unlikely to see much beyond the Veyron in terms of performance.

Part I: Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, Ford GTX1, Lamborghini Gallardo (Spyder, Superleggera), Mercedes-AMG, McLaren Mercedes SLR, Pagani Zonda F

Part II: Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, VW Golf MKV R32, Toyota Supra, Königsegg CCX, Aston Martin V12-Models, Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari Enzo, Nissan Skyline GTR, Porsche 911 (GT3 & Turbo), Ferrari 430, Ford GT & Mustang

Part III: Audi RS4 (V8, MTM), Porsche Carrera GT (& Gemballa Mirage GT), BMW-M (M5, M3 CSL, Hartge H1, Z4M), Nissan 350Z, some others…

Part IV: BMW E92 M3, Cargraphic 911 GT3 RS, Formula 1, Ferrari FXX / F430 Scuderia, some Porsches, a lot of American Muscle, Tubi Style Murcielago & F40/F50/355/360CS, some Imports

Part V: Toyota Supras, Nissan Skylines, Mazda RX7s, SpeedArt Porsches (911, Boxster, Cayenne), Vipers, Carlsson Mercedes (SLK, SL, E), Golf R32 Turbos, M3s, Heffner Gallardo TT, WAIT FOR THE END!!!

Part VI: Caparo T1, Formula 1, Ferrari FXX, Renault Hillclimb, Maserati Tropheo, more American Muscle, loud BMW M5, Nissan 350Z, HKS Skyline, AMS Evo, tuned Carrera GT, Heffner Ford GT, Lexus LF-A, Loaded M3 CSL, LP640, Aston Martin DBS, Ferrari 599, tuned Porsches

Part VII: Audi R8LM, Audi S1 Rally Car, Nissan Skyline, Kreissig 911GT3, Kreissig Lamborghini Countach, Porsche Carrera GT, Zonda, Viper Racingcar, Lamborghini Murcielago..

Part VIII: Several Ferraris, F1, a lot of Racing Cars, Corvette C6R/C5R, Saleen S7R, V8s, Mazda 787LM, McLaren F1, Edo Maserati MC12, BMW M3 GTR, Ascari A10, Cadillac CTS-V Driftcar, RX7, Evo, 350Z, Supra, Lamborghini Gallardo & Diablo GT..

All favorite sport cars on the road.

What, then, will the skeptics make of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the fastest, most powerful and – no surprise – most expensive production car in the world? Bugatti is owned by VW, and the Veyron’s engine is related, if distantly, to the W-8 power plant available in the last-generation Passat.

Not to worry; the Veyron’s credentials speak for themselves. A 1,001-horsepower two-seater that blasts to 60 miles an hour in 2.5 seconds – and continues pulling all the way to 253 m.p.h. – the car is a sheer technological wonder.

Still, nothing prepares the newcomer for the reality behind the bald performance statistics. The Veyron is blisteringly, and effortlessly, fast. Other vehicles on the road appear to stop as the Veyron whooshes past with the ease of a Formula One car. It is a sobering realization that the grand prix racer is not as fast as a Veyron.

Even stationary, the Veyron looks like a car that takes no prisoners. Slightly less than 176 inches long (no longer than a Kia Spectra) and almost 79 inches wide, it is surprisingly compact. Most of the space inside seems to be occupied by an enormous 16-cylinder engine, a seven-speed transaxle and an all-wheel-drive system. Ten radiators are required to disperse all the heat the Veyron’s mechanical systems generate.

The car’s two-tone paint, horseshoe-shape grille and center dashboard panel of engine-turned aluminum reach back to Bugatti’s design heritage. The interior is exquisite; details like vents and door pulls are made of machined and polished aluminum.

Over all, the car represents an extraordinary blend of opulence and power. As luxurious as a Maybach, the Veyron provides a level of comfort far beyond that of quasi racers like the Ferrari Enzo and Porsche Carrera GT, neither of which can match its acceleration, top speed or braking.

Thomas Bscher, president of Bugatti Automobiles, is just as proud of the car’s refined manners. “This car can be driven by anyone,” he said, a statement clearly begging to be substantiated.

The mighty motor rumbles to life at the touch of the starter button. Despite its placement just a few inches behind the driver’s shoulders, the engine produces a muted growl that is music to the enthusiast.

Venturing onto the highways here, near Bugatti’s headquarters in the Alsace region of France, the car’s rarity and value generate considerable apprehension. Embarrassment, injury, a big repair bill or worse await a driver who does not show proper respect.

The mighty motor rumbles to life at the touch of the starter button. Despite its placement just a few inches behind the driver’s shoulders, the engine produces a muted growl that is music to the enthusiast.

Venturing onto the highways here, near Bugatti’s headquarters in the Alsace region of France, the car’s rarity and value generate considerable apprehension. Embarrassment, injury, a big repair bill or worse await a driver who does not show proper respect.

The automated seven-speed transmission shifts gears so seamlessly that the only clue is a change in the engine note. The car’s unfamiliarity erodes with the miles; speed simultaneously increases. It seems entirely natural to shift using the gearshift paddles mounted on the steering wheel .The ride over poor surfaces is amazing for such a taut high-performance car. The steering is so precise that the Veyron feels almost as nimble as a Miata.

It would be nice to relate that this reporter’s driving skills are capable of wringing the maximum from the Veyron. They are not, but they were enough to determine that at really high speeds the car is quiet, comfortable, refined – and as easy to drive as Mr. Bscher says. The car’s everyday top speed of 234 m.p.h. is enough to make it a king of the road. To be the performance emperor, though, the driver must resort to a second ignition key to the left of his seat.

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The key functions only when the vehicle is at a stop. A checklist then establishes whether the car – and its driver – are ready to go for the maximum speed beyond 250 m.p.h. If all systems are go, the rear spoiler retracts, the front air diffusers close and the ground clearance, normally 4.9 inches, drops to 2.6 inches.

To appreciate the Veyron’s performance extremes, ride along with Pierre-Henri Raphanel, a former professional racer who demonstrates the car to potential buyers.

Mr. Raphanel looks relaxed as he blasts the Veyron to almost 180 m.p.h. Other traffic and roadside objects appear and vanish in a blurred, real-life re-enactment of a computer game before he eases off.

When the freeway empties, Mr. Raphanel demonstrates the Veyron’s brakes. The car’s speed simply vanishes – braking to a stop from 250 m.p.h. takes less than 10 seconds, he said – but for the passenger, there is an equally astonishing experience: the driver is holding both hands in the air and wearing a big grin. The car has stopped in a straight line with no corrections at the steering wheel. If anything, the giant carbon-ceramic brakes and the rear air brake are more impressive than the acceleration.

Everything about the Veyron is shaped by superlatives, but even Mr. Bscher acknowledges, “Nobody needs a car like this.”

Bugatti’s Veyron will almost certainly become the worlds fastest and most extravagantly engineered production motorcar. Set to weigh in with a £650,000 price tag, the 252mph Veyron will use a W16 8-litre engine with four turbochargers and an unprecedented 987bhp – enough to propel it from 0-186mph in just 14 seconds. The brainchild of Ferdinand Piech, the ex-VW Chairman was instrumental in acquiring Bugatti from Romano Artioli in 1998. But with a final version not set to debut until the Geneva Salon in March 2005, it will have been six years since Piech’s dream began.

The new Bugatti supercar project started with the Ital Design 18.3 Chiron prototype of early 1999, this car debuting at that years Detroit Motor Show. A hugely exotic mid-engined supercar with an awesome W18 engine and exquisite styling – it unsurprisingly stole all the headlines. Finished in ubiquitous French Racing Blue, the Chiron was the third exercise Ital Design undertook for VW since the German firms acquisition of the marque, previous EB118 and 218 prototypes having been lavish super-saloons before Ferdinand Piech commissioned the worlds ultimate supercar. A superbly executed one-off, the Chiron was a stunning creation, a very clean design and Bugatti through and through. However, despite its unquestionable success, the next development and the first Veyron was styled by Piech’s good-friend, Hartmut Warkuss, at Volkswagen’s in-house studio.

Bugatti was founded in Molsheim, France as a manufacturer of high performance automobiles by Ettore Bugatti, an Italian man described as an eccentric genius.

The original company is legendary for producing some of the most exclusive cars in the world as well as some of the fastest. The original Bugatti brand failed with the coming of World War II, like many high-end marques of the time. The death of Ettore’s son Jean was also a contributory factor. The company struggled financially into the 1960s eventually being purchased for its airplane parts business. Today the name is owned by Volkswagen AG who have revived it as a builder of very limited production sports cars.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is a supercar produced by Volkswagen AG 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.

Powered by a 1,001 PS (987 hp/736 kW) W16 engine, it is able to achieve an average top speed of 408.47 km/h (253.81 mph). 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.

Development of this vehicle began with the 1999 EB 18.4 “Veyron” concept car. Introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show, it was similar in design and appearance to the final Veyron production car. One major difference was the EB 18.4’s use of a W18 engine with three banks of six cylinders. The Veyron’s head designer was Hartmut Warkuss with exterior designed by Jozef Kabaň of Volkswagen rather than Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign who had handled the three prior Bugatti concepts too.

Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch announced the production Veyron at the 2000 Geneva Motor Show. It was promised to be the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car in history. Instead of the W18, the production model would use a VR6/WR8-style W16 engine. First seen in the 1999 Bentley Hunaudieres concept car, the W16 would get four turbochargers, producing a quoted 1001 horsepower (see engine section for details on the power output). Top speed was promised at 407 km/h (253 mph), and pricing was announced at €1 million (US$1.3 million at the time).

Development continued throughout 2001 and the EB 16/4 Veyron was promoted to “advanced concept” status. In late 2001, Bugatti announced that the car, officially called the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, would go into production in 2003. 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.
A silver and black pre-production Veyron on display at the 2004 Paris Motor Show.

Piëch retired that year as chairman of the Volkswagen Group and was replaced by Bernd Pischetsrieder. The new chairman promptly sent the Veyron back to the drawing board for major revisions. Neumann was replaced as Bugatti president by Thomas Bscher in December 2003, and substantial modifications were made to the Veyron under the guidance of former VW engineer, Bugatti Engineering head Wolfgang Schreiber.

Each Veyron is being sold for €1,100,000 (net price without taxes), prices vary by exchange rates and local taxes (like value added taxes). Prices for the UK or the US are about over £800,000, or 1.2 million American dollars (net). The production costs of the car are approximately £5 million per vehicle[citation needed]. As Bugatti and, therefore, Volkswagen are taking such a loss, it has been likened by automotive journalist Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear programme team in their story on it to the Concorde in that both were huge achievements, but the car will probably, like the plane before it, be discontinued after proving to be an economic failure.

It will be several years before Volkswagen will be able to see if their investment in developing ground-breaking technology has paid off. One key measure is how much (if any) of the technology developed for the Veyron finds use in mass-produced cars.

The production Veyron was shown for the first time on October 19, 2005 at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The official United States launch for the production version occurred at the 2006 Los Angeles International Auto Show in January.

Visual differences between the prototype and production Veyrons are slight, but noticeable marks include the addition of marker lights or reflectors on the front fenders and a more pronounced “dorsal spine” on the hood (reminiscent of the Bugatti Atlantic), especially near the windshield.

Six Veyrons were sold at the 2005 Dubai Motor Show in December, reportedly including the demonstration models used on the stands there. These would be the first reported private sales of the car.

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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.

Potential buyers based in and around the London area can expect VIP treatment, one buyer (a freelance writer Arash Farboud) wrote in a column for Lusso Magazine: “Dominic Lancaster, the head of Jack Barclay Bugatti in London, arranged for a private jet to take my wife and I over to the factory at Molsheim, in the top right hand corner of France.”

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.

On 10 September 2007 a special version of the Veyron called the Bugatti EB 16.4 Veyron “Pur Sang” was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The difference from a standard Veyron is the body finishing: the Pur Sang has none. Instead it reveals the Veyrons pure aluminium-carbon fibre body. Pur Sang is French, meaning thoroughbred or pure blood (literally). Production will be limited to 5 cars.

On the October 1999 IAA Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany the latest Bugatti W18/3 Chiron was presented to the public for the first time.

Current Bugatti owner VolksWagen, under the direct management of the by now notorious Dr. Ferdinand Piëch already presented two new Bugatti prototypes during 1999, the EB 218 sedan and the EB 118 two-door coupé, but this new 18 cylinder supercar was meant to become the successor to the already legendary EB 110.
A very good looking EB 118 Spider was shown in design only, but production was planned, Dr Piëch was not yet sure which Bugatti would first be produced in the all-new Bugatti factory in Molsheim, the decision was still to be taken in October 1999, either this new 18/3 or the four-door luxury sedan EB 218 will be the first new Bugatti after the factory was finished.

Powered by a 6.3 Litre 18 cylinder engine in the famous ‘W’ configuration borrowed from the EB 218 and EB 118, the new Chiron puts 555 Bhp on all four wheels, with a length of only 4420 mm and a height of 1150 mm the Chiron heads right into the Lamborghini Diablo VT’s competition league.
By the way, the Chiron was built on a Lamborghini Diablo VT platform, using the exact same four-wheel drive Visco-Traction system and thus having a wheelbase of 2650 mm. This prototype used 20 inch wheels in the well known flat spoke design, using eight spokes to set it apart from the VW W12 supercar prototype which used a similar 7-spoke design, these big wheels were shed with 265/30 ZR 20 to the front and massive 335/30 ZR 20 at the rear axle.

The engine was, just like on the Bentley Hunaudières concept and the VW W12 prototype, not completely covered, the massive 18 cylinder was installed in front of the rear axle, making the Chiron a mid-engined supercar. In fact this engine was made from combining three six cylinder engines in a 60 degree setting, using a four-valve per cylinder configuration combined with direct fuel injection and ignition which not only produced 555 Bhp at 6800 rpm, but also 630 Nm (390 Lbs/ft) at 4000 rpm, topped only by the latest Diablo GT which had 575 Bhp on tap but with exactly 630 Nm too. A compression ratio of 11.5:1 was used with a bore and stroke of 76.5 x 75.6 mm, this complete engine amounted to 315 Kg dry weight.
The engine can easily manage a top speed of way over 300 Km/h., an exact top speed wasn’t known yet when Frankfurt opened, but later test drivers will surely show a top speed of about 330 Km/h since the Bugatti had about the same horsepower as the Diablo GT which managed 338 Km/h.

The overall design of this Chiron used several Bugatti features, the well known radiator design and the line in the center of the car, running from the front and only ending at the very rear of the car, a Bugatti trademark from the beginning, also seen on the EB 110, while the circle shape of the rear side windows was a typical Bugatti half circle, the same circular design was seen at the rear of the car, where the engine cover used it too.
It is obvious the VW design center in Wolfsburg had some strong influence in the styling of this intimidating Bugatti, designed by Fabrizio Giugiaro, the son of Giorgetto Giugiaro, and Hartmut Warkuss, a well known VW designer, the stylish bodywork was entirely made from carbon fibre, the stretched turn signal indicators at the front are accompanied by triple headlight units using the modern Xenon (r) technology. At the rear two small, stretched out tail lights were installed on top of the wheel arches, two big double exhaust pipes were visible through a large air extractor at the rear of the car which was also used as a downforce spoiler similar to the Lamborghini Diablo’s rear bumper concept.
A large, single air intake was present at the front coupled to two air extractors just ahead of the front wheels, smaller intakes were present in front of the rear wheels to cool the massive disk brakes covered by them, behind the rear side window an intake was mounted at both sides to allow a continuing airflow through the engine compartment. The exterior rear view mirrors were mounted on two small bars putting them higher up in the air, just like on the current Le Mans race cars. A speed related rear wing was installed too, raising in three stages depending on the speed of the car.

The interior finish on this Bugatti prototype was nothing like the previous Bentley prototype or the Bugatti EB 218 / 118 cars, no luxury for the Chiron but only a real sports like feeling with light alloy materials in plain sight. A small diameter four-spoke steering wheel was placed in front of two large dials together with two smaller dials, on the central tunnel an open-gate gear lever was installed coupled to a six speed manual gearbox. The only storage space in this Bugatti Chiron could be found behind the two leather bucket seats with integrated headrests, but more than a small briefcase or a set of golf clubs was not possible without using the passenger seat. The interior used both blue (called Blu Pacifico) leather and reversed yellow (Sabbia) leather, aluminium was present on the doors, the steering wheel and on the central tunnel, a very special feature was the installation of a removable Chronograph mounted at the passenger side.
Starting the Bugatti Chiron was a kind of ritual, first you turn the ignition key, after which you pressed a big red start-button to fire up the 18 cylinder behind you.
The Bugatti Chiron was actually named after the famous French race driver Louis Chiron, who was a factory race driver for Bugatti during the Twenties and Thirties, the car could be ready for deliveries during 2002, after the EB218 and EB 118 Coupé are released, but at a reported price of about DM 500,000 (US $ 270,000) the production will be very limited for this lightweight CarbonFibre bodied exotic reaching a top speed of nearly 350 Km/h.

Bugatti Veyron.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is the most powerful, most expensive, and fastest street-legal production car in the world, with a proven top speed of over 400 km/h (408 km/h or 254 mph).

It reached full production in September 2005. The car is built by Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS and is sold under the legendary Bugatti marque. It is named after racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti firm.

Putting this power to the ground is a dual-clutch DSG computer-controlled manual transmission with 7 gear ratios via shifter paddles behind the steering wheel boasting an 8 ms shift time. The Veyron can be driven by full automatic transmission. The Veyron also features full-time all-wheel drive developed by Haldex helping to transfer power to the road. It uses special Michelin run-flat tires designed specifically for the Veyron to accommodate the vehicle’s top speed.

The Veyron features a W16 engine 16 cylinders in 4 banks of 4 cylinders, or the equivalent of two narrow-angle V8 engines mated in a vee configuration. Each cylinder has 4 valves, for a total of 64, but the narrow V8 configuration allows two camshafts to drive two banks of cylinders so only 4 camshafts are needed. The engine is fed by four turbochargers, and it displaces 8.0 L (7,993 cc/488 in) with a square 86 by 86 mm bore and stroke.

The car’s wheelbase is 2700 mm (106.3 in). Overall length is 4466 mm (175.8 in). It measures 1998 mm (78.7 in) wide and 1206 mm (47.5 in) tall.

Curb weight is estimated at 4,160 lb (1890 kg). This gives the car a power to weight ratio of 529 bhp/tonne.

According to Volkswagen (and approved by TÜV Süddeutschland) the final production Veyron engine produces 736 kW (987 hp) which is equivalent to 1001 PS (german horsepower). However, the car is advertised as producing “1001 horsepower” in both the US and European markets.

Top speed was initially promised to be 406 km/h (252 mph) 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 400 km/h (249 mph). 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 407.5 km/h (253.2 mph). 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. 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 OK because the fuel runs out in twelve minutes.” He also gave an indication of the power requirements, at 249 km/h (155 mph) the Veyron was using approximately 270 BHP (201 kW), but to get to its rated 407 km/h (253 mph) top speed required far more from the engine. Aerodynamic friction or drag is proportional to the square of the speed. That means going any given distance the engine must do 4 times as much work. But, going twice as fast, the engine must do that work in half the time. To go twice the speed, therefore, you need eight times the power. German inspection officials recorded an average top speed of 408.47 km/h (253.8 mph) during test sessions on the Ehra Lessien test track on April 17, 2007.

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 , so the quarter mile time is actually faster, making the Veyron the quickest and fastest production car in history. It is so fast, that you could let a McLaren F1 (the predecessor of fastest road car) accelerate to 120 mph (193 km/h), and then start the Bugatti, and the Veyron would beat the McLaren to 200 mph (322 km/h). It also consumes more fuel than any other production car, using 40.4 L/100 km (5.82 mpg) in city driving and 24.1 L/100 km (10 mpg) in combined cycle.

At full throttle, it uses more than 125 L/100 km (2.1 mpg), which would empty its 100 L (26.4 gallon) fuel tank in just 12.5 minutes. 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 (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 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’s brakes use unique cross-drilled and turbine-vented carbon rotors which draw in cooling air to reduce fade. Each caliper has eight titanium 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 fearsome 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 400 km/h (249 mph) to a standstill in less than 10 seconds. The braking is also so evenly applied that the car will not deviate from a straight path if the driver lets go of the steering wheel, even with the brakes fully applied starting from close to top speed.