Legendary sports car maker Bugatti is to produce the world's fastest road car after a prototype last week exceeded 400kmh on a German test track, silencing critics who predicted the car would never achieve its ambitious goal.
The multi million-dollar Bugatti Veyron 16.4 - its name refers to the 16-cylinder, quad-turbocharged engine that has more power than a Formula One car - achieved the feat on a Volkswagen test track.
The German car giant bought the famous French Bugatti brand in 1998 and has been working on re-establishing its supercar credentials ever since.
Bugatti says the 750kW test car, one of 11 prototypes developed leading up to the planned launch of the two-seater vehicle, achieved the speed "several times".
From that speed (and assuming its brakes retard the car at a similar level to other supercars), the Veyron would take 750 metres to stop.....see it ppl. it takes distance to stop fast cars.....take heed
As well as the seemingly ludicrous top speed, the all-wheel-drive Veyron can reach 100kmh in just 2.9 seconds.
Such performance raises questions about the safety implications of a car capable of travelling at four times the legal speed limit, although - just as Ferraris almost never reach their potential on public roads - Bugatti says such daring will most likely be left to race tracks or private roads to which well-heeled owners would have access.
Reaching the 400kmh milestone was a relief for Bugatti, which delayed the Veyron project more than two years due to development setbacks.
Customer deliveries of the Veyron were originally slated for 2003 but overheating problems, concerns about high-speed stability and stringent quality standards set by Volkswagen made the project run late. The first cars are now expected to be delivered to customers by the end of this year, according to Bugatti president Dr Thomas Bscher.
Bugatti says it will cost 1 million euros ($1.65 million) to buy a Veyron. Only 300 will be built over six years. Add GST, import duty and luxury car tax and the price of owning a Veyron would be about $3 million, depending on the exchange rate. Which, along with the fact the Veyron will only be built as a left-hand- drive, may explain why no Australians have dipped into their savings just yet.
http://www.strangecosmos.com/content/item/107646.html
Polydor.
......the back
