Bugatti Veyron Essay

The Bugatti Veyron is a mid-engined car. The Super Sport version is the fastest road-legal production car in the world, with a top speed of 431 km/h. The original version has a top speed of 408.00 km/h. Designed and developed by Volkswagen Group and produced by Bugatti Automobiles SAS at their headquarters in Chà ¢teau Saint Jean in Molsheim (Alsace, France), the Veyron’s chief designer was Hartmut Warkuss, and the exterior was designed by Jozef Kabaň of Volkswagen, And much of the engineering work being conducted under the guidance of Bugatti Engineering chief Wolfgang Schreiber. Though commissioned by Volkswagen, this car is only sold through the Bugatti manufacturers and cannot be found at any Volkswagen dealer. The car is named after French racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti company. The â€Å"16.4† refers to 16 cylinders and 4 turbochargers. The Veyron features an 8.0 litre, quad-turbocharged, W16 cylinder engine, equivalent to two narrow-angle V8 engines . Each cylinder has four valves for a total of sixty four; the engine is fed by four turbochargers. According to Volkswagen Group, the Veyron engine produces 1,001 metric horsepower of motive power, and generates 1,250 N-m of torque while super sport edition produces 1,200 metric horsepower and torque of 1,500 N ·m and has a revised aerodynamic package. The transmission is a dual-clutch direct-shift gearbox ,computer-controlled ,automatic with seven gear ratios and a shift time of less than 150 milliseconds, built by Ricardo of England. The Veyron can be driven in either semi- or fully automatic mode. A replacement transmission for the Veyron costs just over US$120,000. It also has permanent four wheel drive. It uses special Michelin PAX run-flat tyres, designed specifically to accommodate the Veyron’s top speed, which cost US$25,000 per set. The tyres can be removed from the rims only in France, a service which costs US$70,000 The total engine in actual produces 3600 hp of which only 1/3rd is used for running the car and the remaining is in the form of heat. The Bugatti Veyron has a total of ten radiators. Top speed On 4 July 2010, Bugatti’s official test driver Pierre Henri Raphanel piloted the Super Sport edition and was clocked at an average of 431.072 km/h on the Volkswagen Group’s private Ehra-Lessien test track to establish the car’s top speed With representatives of the Guinness Book of Records on hand taking back the title from the SSC Ultimate Aero TT as the fastest production vehicle. All production models will be electronically limited to 415 km/h to protect the tyres. German inspection officials recorded an average top speed of the EB 16.4 version of 408.47 km/h during test sessions on the Ehra-Lessien test track on 19 April 2005. This top speed was verified by James May on Top Gear in November 2006, again at Volkswagen Group’s private Ehra-Lessien test track. When the car reaches 220 km/h, hydraulics lower the car until it has a ground clearance of about 9 cm (3.5 in). At the same time, the wing and spoiler deploy. In this handling mode the wing provides 3,425 Newton’s of down force, holding the car to the road. For top speed mode the driver must, while at rest, toggle a special top speed key to the left of the driver’s seat called as â€Å" second ignition† to unlock limiter of 350km/h.The rear spoiler retracts and angle of rear wing to horizontal is modified into 2 °, the front air diffusers shut, and normal 12.5 cm (4.9 in) ground clearance(i.e. Height from the ground ) drops to 6.5 cm (2.6 in). The Veyron’s brakes use cross drilled, radially vented carbon fibre reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) composite discs, manufactured by SGL Carbon, which have a much greater resistance to brake fade when compared with conventional cast iron discs. Bugatti claims maximum deceleration of 12.747 m/s2 on road tyres. At speeds above 200 km/h , the rear wing also acts as an airbrake, snapping to a 55 ° angle in 0.4 seconds once brakes are applied, providing an additional 6.66 m/s2 of deceleration equivalent to the stopping power of an ordinary hatchback. Bugatti claims the Veyron will brake from 400 km/h to a standstill in less than 10 seconds, though distance covered in this time will be half of a kilometre (third of a mile).