The King of Road Cars: The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport (Part 2)
So you’ve just had your first ride in the legendary Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 Super Sport (Veyron SS) but now it’s time to see what powers the sleek supercar to become the fastest road-legal car in the world. As you open the trunk to see the engine, you see
a strangely shaped engine, different from any that you have seen in other cars.
The Veyron SS features an 8.0 L W16 engine. The engine was originally a combination of two V8 Audi engines put together, but the engine is now specially built for the Veyron SS. The engine uses a special “W” shape, meaning two “V” shape engines put together.
The “W” refers to the positioning of the cylinders. A “W” engine has two “V” engines put together. In a W16 engine, each side is composed of eight cylinders and the angle of the cylinders is 90 degrees. The engine is supplied with air by four turbochargers
for a total displacement of 7,993 cubic centimetres (8,000 cc). Compared to the original Veyron with 1,020 to 1,040 HP, the Veyron SS has an increased engine capacity of 1,200 HP.
The transmission of the car is a dual-clutch DSG computer controlled automatic transmission with seven forward gears. The magnesium paddles behind the steering wheel allow the Veyron SS to shift gears in less than 150 milliseconds. The transmission was designed
by Ricardo of England and a replacement for the Veyron costs just over $120,000 US.
The tires of the car are special run flat tires, known as Michelin PAX, which are specially designed to handle the Veyron’s top speed. A set of tires cost just over $25,000 US per set, but even more expensive is the service to remove the tires from the rims.
This service can only be done in France and reportedly costs $70,000 US. The curb weight of the car is 2,034.8 kg (4,486 lbs) giving it a power to weight ratio of 440 bhp per ton.
The top speed of the original Veyron was verified on Top Gear of BBC in November 2006, by James May, on Volkswagen’s private Ehra-Lessian test track. While driving from Italy to London, Jeremy Clarkson, another host of Top Gear, noted that the Veyron consumes
10,000 gallons, or 45,000 L, of air per minute at top speed. That’s as much as a normal human breathes in four days! When asked what it felt like to drive the Veyron at top speed, May replied that it was “totally undramatic”, since it was very quite inside
the cockpit and it was very stable at high speeds.
The original Veyron’s top speed was passed by the SSC Ultimate Aero TT, after which Bugatti introduced the Veyron SS. On July 4, 2010, German inspection officials and Guinness Book of World Records representatives came to the same track to witness the Veyron
SS achieving a top speed of 431 km/h (267 mph).
The normal everyday top speed for the Veyron is 350 km/h (220 mph). When the car passes 219 km/h, the car’s wing and spoiler deploys and the car lowers to 3.5 inches off of the ground. Lowering the car and extending the spoiler gives the car better grip
on the road and allows it to handle better.
If the driver wishes to go faster than 350 km/h, then they must enter "top speed mode". This is done by inserting a special key into a slot on the floor, which can only be done while standing still. The vehicle’s computer then performs a series of tests
to see if the driver and car are ready to attain top speed. If the driver and car are ready, then the rear spoiler retracts and the car lowers to just 2.6 inches off of the ground. In top speed mode, the car is aerodynamic and can go past 407 km/h, but it
does not allow the driver to make any abrupt turns, since the car will not be able to turn properly at such speeds.
In the next article, we will look at more facts about, and the technology behind, the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 Super Sport.
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