Bugatti Veyron: Driven!

The lucky guys of British car magazine "Auto Express" had the pleasure to drive the Bugatti Veyron, the fastest car ever! And the good thing for us: they wrote about it and they also have a video. Enjoy!

Free from the scruffy disguise that's been used to deter photographers in the past, the Veyron is an impressive sight. The detailing is sublime, and every part looks massively oversized to cope with the car's performance, giving it phenomenal road presence.

The engine (which weighs 400kg) is wrapped tightly in the Veyron's aerodynamic aluminium bodywork and spins into life with surprising smoothness. At idle, the W16 formation unit sounds subdued, although a delicate stroke of the throttle reveals it is anything but!

Prodding the accelerator unleashes an avalanche of noise. It has neither the shrillness of a Ferrari F50, nor the harsh note of a Porsche Carrera GT - more of an earthshaking rumble, which grows in intensity with engine speed. Impressive - but it's no preparation for the car's shattering pace.

Two wide, black lines are left in the tarmac as the Veyron launches forward. Our first run suggests the benchmark 0-60mph sprint is barely worth discussing at 2.5 seconds; 0-120mph is passed in 7.5 seconds and the car is pulling hard towards 200mph before a lack of space forces us to ease off.

Slowing down, the brakes are not short on power as the engine downshifts smoothly through its six gears. You get the feeling that despite the impressive showing, the Bugatti has only hinted at its true potential.

Our engineer agrees, and finds us more space to test the top speed. Throttle flat to the floor, the car blasts towards the horizon again.

At 220mph, the speedo stops climbing, yet a gauge indicates the unit is delivering only 90 per cent of its full potential. That's because we're at 3,300ft above sea level, where there's simply not enough oxygen to burn all the fuel being gulped by the cylinder heads for the 252mph Bugatti to reach top speed. Yet, travelling nearly as fast as a McLaren F1, the car is stable, due to the adjustable aerodynamics and suspension. Wind and road noise roar through the cabin, but there's still a surreal quality to the serene manner with which the Bugatti covers the ground at such devastating speed.

The steering is extremely direct and the car feels much more forgiving than early rumours of its ferocity suggested.
Clearly, the Veyron is very special. But, at more than £800,000, it's also fantastically expensive, and we had to travel to an American desert to try to exploit its performance to the full! As 70 examples have already been sold, though, there are obviously buyers keen on owning a piece of motoring history.

Here are the videos!

GermanCarBlog, Bugatti Veyron

Source: Autoexpress via Jalopnik

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