Big numbers from batty Bug

Newswheel staff :: 11 September 2005 :: Filed under Mid / rear engine sportscar, Bugatti, Bugatti Veyron, Europe & UK, US

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Another round of impressive statistics. But still no car

Another month, another paper-launch of Bugatti’s Veyron 16.4 hypercar. Mercifully, however, we have hopes this might be the last. Originally pencilled-in for a 2003 launch, UK magazine Autocar is claiming the car is done, dusted and will finally be unleashed on hordes of salivating motoring journalists next month (oh, and maybe a customer or two, as well).

Bugatti’s is bigger than yours
Without further ado, then, wrap your chops around the following fast-car fellation from Bugatti’s Molsheim, France spin machine:

The Veyron 16.4 nails the 0-62mph (0-100kph) sprint in just 2.5 seconds, breaches 124mph (200kph) in a ridiculous 7.3 seconds and sails on to precisely 252.94mph (407kph). Pause for breath. The quad-turbo, 8-litre W16 engine (a pair of massaged VW Passat W8 mills fused end-on-end, one suspects) kicks out 987bhp at a relatively sedate 6,000rpm and an absolutely mind-boggling 922 lb ft of twisty stuff. Harnessing all that horsepower is a seven-speed, twin-clutch DSG box, with drive going to all four wheels courtesy of a Haldex AWD drivetrain. Phew.

Laying it on thick
So, that’s lashings of silly power outputs and F1-spanking acceleration and top-speed figures all round. But as ever, it’s the fine details, not the showbiz headlines, that are really revealing. Take the fact that the engine and gearbox combo weighs in at 650kg and that the beast itself is claimed to tip the scales at 1,888kg. Given that on close inspection almost all cars turn out to be significantly heavier than the quoted specifications, there’s every chance that the Veyron will have the dubious honour of being the first two ton supercar. And with no less than five radiators (three up front and two behind) cooling that ludicrous lump and some active aero bits battling to keep the whole shebang bolted to the road, not to mention a two year launch delay, it’s all too easy to conclude that this is a car built first and foremost to make to make good on some rather rash early power and performance claims. It really is hard to imagine any project with the goal of turning out a great driver’s car would settle on a two ton, 1,000bhp monstrosity powered by an engine that weighs as much as an entire F1 car.

Sordid matter of money
Such unreasonably rational ramblings aside, those with more money than sense can acquire a Veyron 16.4 for the minor matter of €1 million ($1.25 million / £676,000), safe in the knowledge that this is an extremely exclusive machine. Just 300 will be made over a six-year period. And if previous attempts to build the uber-car to end all uber-cars are anything to go by (think Jaguar XJ220, McLaren F1 and others), the whole project could go tits up well short of that total. In fact, if history serves we should all brace ourselves for a global recession. That’s what happened the last time someone had this idea.

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