Bugatti Veyron 16.4

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{{Infobox Automobile |image=Image:Bugatti veyron in Tokyo.jpg |name=Bugatti Veyron 16.4 |manufacturer=Bugatti Automobiles SAS |class=Supercar
Hypercar/Ubercar |production=2006–
300 cars |predecessor=Bugatti EB110 |body_style=2-door Mid-AWD coupé |engine=8.0 L quad-turbo W16 |transmission=7-speed sequential automated manual |wheelbase=106.3 in (2700 mm) |length=175.8 in (4465 mm) |width=78.7 in (1999 mm) |height=47.5 in (1207 mm) |weight=4300 lb (1950 kg) }} The Veyron 16.4 (known as the EB 16/4 Veyron in concept stages) 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 (407 km/h or 253 mph top speed). It reached full production in September 2005, and was proclaimed by Jeremy Clarkson to be: "The best car ever made." The car is built by Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS, and it is sold under the legendary Bugatti marque. It is named for famed Bugatti racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939.

1 History
2 Specifications
3 Performance
4 Criticism
5 Official unveiling
6 Sales and service
7 Final numbers
8 References
- 8.1 Notes
9 External Pictures Galleries

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History

Development of the Veyron 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 was designed by Hartmut Warkuss of Volkswagen rather than Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign who had handled the three prior Bugatti concepts.

VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch announced the production Veyron at the 2001 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 Hunaudières concept car, the W16 would get four turbochargers, producing an expected 1001 metric hp (736 kW, 987 hp American (SAE)). Top speed was promised at 403km/h (252mph), 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 experienced significant problems, however. High-speed stability was difficult, with one prototype destroyed in a crash and another spun out during a press demonstration at the Monterey Historics event in Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. Production of the Veyron was delayed indefinitely.

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 of 2003, and substantial modifications were made to the Veyron under the guidance of former VW engineer, Bugatti Engineering head Wolfgang Schreiber.

After the release of the car, it has become known that while each Veyron is being sold for £840,000, the production costs of the car are approximately £5 million per vehicle. As Bugatti, and therefore Volkswagen, are making such a huge loss, it has been likened by influential journalist Jeremy Clarkson to Concorde; both are largely impractical experiments in technology and ground-breaking performance created just to prove that it could be done. A car the like of the Bugatti Veyron might not be seen in production again for some time to come, if at all.

The first personally owned Veyron was debuted in front of Hotel De Russie in Monte Carlo during the 2005 Grand Prix. ˑ

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Specifications

Image:Volkswagen W16.jpg 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 in³) with a square 86 by 86 mm bore and stroke. All of this makes the engine the biggest and most powerful ever put into a road car.

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. Or it can be driven by full automatic transmission. The Veyron also features full-time all wheel drive, necessary given the output of the engine. It uses special Michelin PAX System run-flat tires, which had to be designed specifically for the Veyron, and which are capable of running at 407 km/h (253 mph).

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 expected to reach 4300 lb (1950 kg) with a power to weight ratio of 513.3 hp per ton (metric) or 4.36 lb/hp (SAE).

The Bugatti Veyron has a total of 10 radiators. They are:

3 radiators for the engine cooling system.
1 heat exchanger for the air to liquid intercoolers.
2 for the air conditioning system.
1 transmission oil radiator.
1 differential oil radiator.
1 engine oil radiator.
1 hydraulic oil radiator for the spoiler.

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Performance

Image:Schlüssel.jpg The W16 produces 1001 metric hp, equivalent to 987 SAE net hp or 736 kW. This easily makes it the most powerful production road-car engine in history. Torque is 1250 N·m (922 ft·lbf). According to Volkswagen, the final production Veyron engine produces between 1020 and 1040 metric hp (1006 to 1026 SAE net hp), so the car will be advertised as producing "1001 hp" in both the US and European markets.

Top speed was initially promised to be 252 mph (406 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, and recorded a top speed of 248.5 mph (400 km/h) (electronically limited). 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 253 mph (407 km/h). Image:Bugatti eb 16.4 veyron interior.jpg The Veyron is the quickest production car to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) with an estimated time of 2.5 seconds. It also reaches 200 and 300 km/h (124 and 186 mph) in 7.3 and 16.7 seconds respectively. It should also be noted that the Veyron's 0-200mph time is quicker than the McLaren F1's 120-200mph time. This makes the Veyron the quickest-accelerating production vehicle in history. 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 180 L/100 km (2.1 mpg)—at full throttle, the Veyron would empty its 100 L fuel tank in just 12.5 minutes. The car's everyday top speed is listed at 234 m.p.h. When the car reaches 137 mph, hydraulics lower the car until it has a ground clearance of about 3 1/2 inches. At the same time, the wing and spoiler deploy. This is the "handling" mode, in which the wing helps provide 770 pounds of downforce, holding the car to the road. The driver must, using the key, toggle the lock to the left of his seat in order to use the maximum speed of 253 miles per hour. 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 4.9 inches, drops to 2.6 inches.

The Veyron uses unique cross-drilled and turbine vented carbon rotors for braking that draw in cooling air. 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 without fade. With the car's fearsome acceleration from 50 to 194 mph, that test can be performed every 22 seconds. At speeds above 124 mph, the rear wing also acts as an airbrake, snapping to a 70-degree angle in 0.4 seconds once brakes are applied, providing up to 0.6 g (6 m/s²) of deceleration. Bugatti claims the Veyron will brake from 252 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. [1]

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Criticism

Gordon Murray, designer of the McLaren F1 said the following about the Bugatti Veyron after it broke his car's records: "The most pointless exercise on the planet has got to be this four-wheel-drive 1000 horsepower Bugatti. I think it’s incredibly childish this thing people have about just one element – top speed or 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 10mph faster on its top speed – but its two foot longer and 200 kilos heavier. That’s not car designing – that just reeks of a company who are paranoid."

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Official unveiling

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.

According to the UK magazine Autocar, Volkswagen has officially unveiled the production version of the car (though the first units have yet to be offered for sale to the public) and published the final results of its in-house testing. Complete performance figures have not yet been independently verified, though the top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h) was experienced by Car and Driver.

The 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) time has been announced as 2.5 seconds and the car has been measured at a two-way average top speed of 407.08 km/h (252.95 mph) at the Volkswagen Ehra Lessien test track in Germany.

The final curb-weight of the car is said to be 4,162 lb (1,888 kg) with the power output rumoured to be still at the 1,001 PS (736 kW) level originally promised; it has been said that to ensure the desired top speed, the engine generates around 5-7% more power than this figure. The somewhat better than expected power-to-weight ratio may account for the increased performance figures over early prototype versions.

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.[2] Reports also indicate that deposits have been taken on 45 Veyrons as of December.

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Sales and service

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. In response, the company claims to be speeding up production, with all 70 cars expected to be built in 2006. Bscher also reported that 14 cars have been completed and most will be shipped to the United States. It is not clear how many are in the hands of customers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The cars will be sold directly from the factory to customers or at 20 Bentley dealers worldwide. These include dealerships in London, Miami, Florida; Troy, Michigan; Beverly Hills, San Diego, Pasadena, California; and Greenwich, Connecticut.

Maintenance will be possible at Bentley dealerships, but repair service will require a flown-in mechanic, whom the company promises will be available 24 hours a day.

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Final numbers

[3]

Vehicle type: mid-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
Base Price: 1,000,000 euros (£810,000, 1,300,000 USD)
Engine type: quad-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 64-valve W-16, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 488 cu in, 7998 cc
Power (SAE net): 987 hp (736 kW) @ 6000 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 922 ft·lbf (1,250 N·m) @ 2200 rpm
Performance ratings (C/D est):