2006 Bugatti Veyron 16.4

Bugatti was the legendary creator of those awesomely coveted limos and unsurpassed racing cars that were considered unbelievable phenomenon of the later 1920’s and the 1930’s. Bugatti has come a long way since those days, although during their reign they certainly weren’t in apposition of needing to go anywhere. They were already at the top.

Bugatti revived its good name with the introduction of a four year design culmination known as the Bugatti Veyron. Bugatti had introduced many possible design plans for numerous optional vehicles, but the Veyron packed the impressive punch they were searching for. Only 300 of these powerhouses of extremism hit the market, 300 highly coveted stacked and ready to play cars of the future.

The 300 lucky owners find themselves at the original factory, where the Veyron is created alongside the restoration of older Bugatti cars. The French town of Molsheim-Dorlisheim is where the action began about 100 years ago where Ettore Bugatti fulfilled his dream of manufacturing super cars of the time. 70 new Bugattis are built in this original factory every year by hand.

The designers created a super car with extreme power and extreme safety features. The single piece construction of the monocoque has scored above maximum points in crash tests. Dual airbags and specially designed high speed tires add to the safety and performance features of the Veyron. A specially designed PAX system was fitted into the tires to ensure control in the event of sudden tire pressure loss.

The rear spoiler hauls double duty acting as a spoiler and providing down pressure as well as acting as a parachute brake of sorts during emergency braking. The instant specific deceleration forces are registered that coincide with hard braking, the spoiler lifts to apply back pressure force to increase drag while assisting in stability. The factory claims that with the assistance of the rear spoiler and the cross trilled turbine vented specially developed rotors that the car can screech to a stable and grinding halt from 252 miles per hour in less than ten seconds without fade.

The alloy engine was specifically designed for Bugatti, and has hit the mark of revolutionary. The history making, space saving design enhances the VR principle and brings new definition to the meaning of innovative. The two slender blocks are cunningly angled at 90 degrees to each other, and spits out an insane 1001 horse power. It’s only a 3 second heart beat to the 60 mile per hour mark from a standstill, and don’t blink, in 14 seconds she has surpassed 200 miles per hour. This amount of acceleration and power led to some design challenges to keep the car with 4 wheels touching the road for really any period of time. However, leave to a few determined speed freaks to figure it out. At 252.3 miles per hour, you have now maxed out her speed capability. The engine doesn’t max out. Top speed is reached because that’s what the chassis and drive train can handle.

The Bugatti Veyron boasts the innovative design feature of a technologically advanced power transmission that is direct shift capable. There is no interruption to the flow of power, and the permanent all wheel drive system receives the direct power from the seven gear sequential shift gearbox. This provides a jet fighter acceleration that is completely uninterrupted from a standstill all the way through maximum speed.

The interior was dressed with both style and function. Smack dead center the driver can watch the rpms as the tach takes up the largest chunk of the instrument panel, an obvious statement. The four smaller instruments linger around the tachometer as a supporting cast. There isn’t a large dosing of bells and whistles to the car’s interior and operational knobs, gauges, and buttons. Simplicity and operational were the name of the game. This intentional simplification announces the very obvious purpose of the car—speed. The leather interior, which is available as an optional two tone leather interior, is nicely offset by the metallic trim that allows the driver to feel aptly sporty and confident with all that power at their fingertips. The necessary controls are characteristically laid out in a tasteful ergonomically correct design.

Bugatti has set aside a variation of 5 two tone color options. The bonnet, roof, and rear come in the darker hue to offset the rest of the car. Traditional Bugatti design is still reflected 100 years later in this super car just as it was in the beginning.

The Veyron 16.4 is currently the undisputed fastest, most powerful, and undoubtedly the most expensive street legal available super car in the world today. It is only the second super car that was designed with 16 cylinders. By all rights, the 16.4 is the current queen of super cars. She is also the undisputed queen of gas guzzlers, consuming more fuel than any other street legal car in the world today at 5.82 miles per gallon in the city and 10 miles per gallon on the highway. It takes about 12 minutes to drain her 100 liter gas tank dry.

The driver is forced to bring the car to a dead standstill and use a special toggle key to unlock the max speed feature. The car runs through a checklist of requirements before allowing the driver to max out the car’s capabilities. Prior to allowing the driver punch it, the rear spoiler retracts, ground clearance drops from its normal position of 4.9 inches down to 2.6 inches and the front air diffusers close.

Since its introduction at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Veyron 16.4 has caused quite the buzz. While most can’t help but to be impressed with the overall power and handling, others claim it’s simply too much too fast and there have to be design flaws lurking about. Either way, any speed hungry thrill seeker who can get to the company with the initial $1.3 million can own a piece of legendary history with little likelihood of ever taking it at top speed.

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