Dudes!
I just got the new issue of CAR magazine. It has
the Bugatti Veyron on the cover. It comes with a
quad turbo charged W16 motor and all wheel drive.
It is conservatively rated at 1001hp at the crank
because that is all they could measure. They
estimate it at closer to 1100 hp. The tires are
hand made in Michelin's F1 tire making facility.
I just got the new issue of CAR magazine. It has
the Bugatti Veyron on the cover. It comes with a
quad turbo charged W16 motor and all wheel drive.
It is conservatively rated at 1001hp at the crank
because that is all they could measure. They
estimate it at closer to 1100 hp. The tires are
hand made in Michelin's F1 tire making facility.
The article was written by a guy who got to ride
shotgun during the road testing. They were in
Germany driving on the autobahn. They never got it
into 7th gear because every time they got it up to
215mph (just below the shift point), they had to
slow down for some dumbass in an AMG c55 or M5 who
was putting along at 155mph.
shotgun during the road testing. They were in
Germany driving on the autobahn. They never got it
into 7th gear because every time they got it up to
215mph (just below the shift point), they had to
slow down for some dumbass in an AMG c55 or M5 who
was putting along at 155mph.
They've got it up to
254mph on the track.... and there's still more speed
there. When you hit the brakes at those speeds, it
deploys the air brake (a spoiler that increases wind
resistance) before clamping the brake calipers. The
air brake is capable of .6g of braking force on its
own. It takes 4 radiators to cool the
motor.
254mph on the track.... and there's still more speed
there. When you hit the brakes at those speeds, it
deploys the air brake (a spoiler that increases wind
resistance) before clamping the brake calipers. The
air brake is capable of .6g of braking force on its
own. It takes 4 radiators to cool the
motor.
When you put it into "Speed" mode
(suggested for speeds over 215mph), it closes most
of the front vents and openings, lowers and flattens
the rear wing (to provide zero lift up front and
40kg downforce in back) and lowers the suspension by
25mm.
(suggested for speeds over 215mph), it closes most
of the front vents and openings, lowers and flattens
the rear wing (to provide zero lift up front and
40kg downforce in back) and lowers the suspension by
25mm.
When in "Handling" mode (recommended for
courses that involve turns where you won't be
exceeding 220mph) the wings adjust to add 150kg
downforce in the front and 200kg in the back.
courses that involve turns where you won't be
exceeding 220mph) the wings adjust to add 150kg
downforce in the front and 200kg in the back.
0-62mph takes 2.5 seconds.
0-125mph takes 7.3 seconds.
0-188mph takes 16 seconds.
0-250mph takes 55 seconds.
I'm not exactly sure what the exchange rate is, but
off the top of my head, the price tag is about
$1.4million.
The car should be released by the end of October.
I wonder if you can get snow tires for it?
I'm not exactly sure what the exchange rate is, but
off the top of my head, the price tag is about
$1.4million.
The car should be released by the end of October.
I wonder if you can get snow tires for it?
Bugatti Veyron part 2...
Problems that they had with the design....
Initially they couldn't get fuel pumps to supply enough fuel at the right pressure to run the motor at more than 650 horsepower. They had to completely design the fuel pumps from the ground up. At regular cruising speeds (under 125mph) it gets as much as 16mpg. At full throttle doing performance runs, the mileage drops down to less than 2.5mpg. When you consider that it can easily go 4 miles per minute, that means you're draining a 20 gallon tank would completely drain in 12 1/2 minutes. They had to put big gas tanks on it too.
The driveshafts created problems for them. Traditional drive shafts use rubber CV boots. Under the severe stresses that this car puts out, the boots would expand, rub on some suspension part, rupture and the drive shaft would run dry and wear out almost instantly. They don't discuss how that problem was solved.
Brembo brakes were incapable of stopping it. They went to 400mm front brake rotors, 380mm rear rotors (all ceramic) and used AP 8-piston front and 6-piston rear calipers.
The tires are another amazing story. Tires soft enough to be drivable around town and on lower speed (under 125mph) road courses would build too much heat and delaminate at the kinds of speed this car can attain. Tires strong enough to handle 254mph and more would be undrivable at lower speeds. They compromised. They have a system where the tires run at 3bar (43.5psi) of air pressure in the city, and when they get up to speed, they automatically increase air pressure to 3.7bar (53.65psi).
The successors to the Veyron is already in the works. After all the work on the engine and drivetrain, they want to be able to use it in other applications. They're working on a lighter weight version that isn't wed to a design that was initally done for aesthetics instead of aerodynamics. They'd also like to do a front engine/AWD sedan or saloon car with that drivetrain.
Is there any wonder why I love this thing so much? I'm such a geek and so is the car.
Pete
4 comments:
First, whats a "W" engine? Second what displacement is the enigne. Just curious. Made me think about a buddy of mine who built up an old chevy, chevelle I beleive and took it to the track. He was a good mechanic but a shitty driver.
After he had fishtailed it off the line 3 times at the start (almost taking out fellow racers) they kicked him off.
Tommy
Tomas,
Check it:
http://marshallbrain.blogspot.com/2004/02/great-web-video-by-bugatti.html
rickyd
Hey Tommy.
Ricky had a good site for the "W" engine. I'll add a little history to it because I'm a freaking geek.
In the early 1990s, VW came out with a rather interesting V6 motor. They call it the VR6. I don't know where the letter R comes in, but the VR6 is a transverse-mounted (crank shaft parallel to the drive axles), 15 degree V6 motor. The interesting thing is the 15 degree part.
It is designed with such a shallow angle for the "V" so that all 6 cylanders can be covered by a single head. It is kind of like a straight 6 that gets squished so the pistons overlap.
It has been a popular design and has worked well for VW. The motor layout continues to exist today, though it has evolved into a direct-port injected, 3.2 liter, 24-valve motor that puts out close to 250hp.
What does this have to do with a W motor? Why am I talking about VW motors when this is post is about a Bugatti car? Bugatti is owned by VW these days and a lot of the technology from one company goes into others.
If you can imagine a V8 in a similar layout to the VR6 motor, then you understand half of the W16 motor. The W16 has two bays of 8 cylanders at roughly a 40 degree angle to each other. Each of those bays of 8 cylanders is made up of 2 bays of 4 cyclanders at 15 a degree angle to each other. So each bay of 8 cyl. has one head over it.
Each of those bays of 8 cyl, has two turbos that provide intake charge.
VW has been using "W" motors in some of its cars for at least 2 years now. There is a W8 Passat that has been very successful. The Phaeton luxury sedan has a W12 motor.
I know I just repeated what the video said in part, but I thought I'd add a little history that the video doesn't cover.
I'll catch up with you soon.
Pete
Bugatti Veyron part 2... bugattipumps.blogspot.de
Post a Comment