A high-performance hypercar at its best. It's a 1,479 horsepower beast that's faster than many racing cars with a 420 km/h limiter. But even more impressive than these huge numbers is the engineering that has allowed this hypercar to handle all the power and speed it is capable of.
Today we'll spend a few hours with Bugatti test driver and Le Mans champion Andy Wallace behind the wheel of an estimated $3 million car and learn 15 new secrets that are rarely talked about and what makes this car a hypercar.
1. They are actually easy to manage
Supercars tend to embody an unbridled beast. While behind the wheel, you come face to face with a loud, rude and demanding car at any speed and in any road condition. These are progressive cars, but it is difficult to call them luxury.
The Bugatti Chiron is completely different. It's not a scary supercar you don't know what to expect. You can ride it on the average road surface, which is full of pits and potholes at an average flow speed and not feel any discomfort, because the soft leather seats will make sure that your spine does not crumble along the road.
And even when all the power and torque goes to the drive wheels, Bugatti can help you drive better. Each system is designed to keep you from making mistakes, keep your car under control and get your adrenaline pumping.
These emotions can give the world's only 1.500-horsepower car for every day.
2. This car is so metal
Modern plastics have come close to making it look like real metal outwardly. But what could be better than the original? Only the original! Of course, the use of light and rare metal alloys is not cheap, but we are talking about Bugatti. Therefore, if you have a material in front of you that looks like metal, most likely this is it. No fakes. It adds richness and authenticity to a multi-million dollar car.
For example, the taillight bezel is made from a single piece of metal machined from a 200kg block of aluminum. The rear lamp cluster is minimalist perfection with a single LED strip that extends the entire width of this wild machine, giving it a touch of sophistication and emphasizing its sophistication.
3. Trigger to the floor, pleasure and pain
Hypercars are insanely fast. This is their great merit, and this they enchant. But it's the physical impact at full throttle that creates that feeling that you rarely get to experience, even in other very expensive, fast cars.
When accelerating hard, the Chiron pushes you into the seat so hard that all the internal organs literally stick to the inside of your back from the incredible torque. The dynamics are dizzying and invigorating, but in people with a weak vestibular apparatus, it can cause bouts of sudden nausea.
Wallace explains that the maximum torque of 1,600 Nm is responsible for this feeling, which starts at 2,000 rpm and continues to push you down until you hit 6,000 rpm. This inexorable aviation acceleration is created by the car without visible effort.
According to Bugatti, the car will reach 200 km / h in less than 6.5 seconds, and the model will accelerate to 321 km / h in just 16 seconds.
4. The heroic work of the Electronic Systems
The Bugatti uses a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and an all-wheel drive system that can handle the incredible power and torque load. However, the Chiron has enough power to spin Michelin tires at speeds well over 100 km/h. Therefore, a variety of electronic systems such as traction control, stabilization and engine control systems constantly monitor the stability of the movement. However, their work is absolutely unobtrusive and hardly noticeable, one gets the feeling that everything is as it should be, as if there is no electronic interference.
They are able to work out and correct the work of the car at the very last moment and completely unnoticed by the pilot. This balance is worth it.
5. The engine soundtrack is the most beautiful thing you've ever heard
The most expensive versions are made, and produce a piercing sound at high engine speeds. They sound like racing cars. But the Bugatti has its own way, its gigantic sixteen-cylinder, four-turbo 8-litre engine producing a guttural, velvety sound. Reliable, expected and non-transferrable.
The operation of the engine at low revs sounds especially beautiful, the juicy fluff-fluff of the mighty motor will tell others.
It is worth reaching a slightly higher speed, as the whistle of four turbines is added to the velvety sound. Chiron is a true symphony orchestra on four wheels.
6. Special Bugatti suspension bushings
Suspension bushings are usually pieces of rubber or polyurethane with a metal clip wrapped around them. Therefore, automakers often have to compromise between comfort and handling.
Bugatti's new patented suspension bushings feature two different rubber compounds in three layers. This design provides different levels of rigidity in the vertical, horizontal and longitudinal directions. This allows you to more accurately handle irregularities and optimize acoustic performance.
7. Special valve for turbochargers
The Bugatti owes its massive power peak and momentum to four turbochargers. All four turbos of that one model (left) are about 68 percent larger than the Veyron (right), Bugatti's previous hypercar.
Action algorithm. Below 3,800 rpm, all of the engine's exhaust gases are used to turn the first pair of turbines. As soon as the engine speed rises to a certain point, a special valve opens and activates two more turbines.
The automaker says the dampers should be made from a special refractory material that can withstand extreme heat, move freely and create a proper seal. Ordinary steel can't do this, so they used a special nickel-chromium alloy called Inconel 713, a metal with a melting point of over 2,300 degrees.
8. The brake system of the Bugatti Chiron is massive and very complex.
To effectively slow a two-ton car from 420 km/h, Bugatti needs brakes that can withstand such titanic loads. The ceramic front brakes on the Chiron are 16.5 inches in diameter and must dissipate an enormous amount of heat. That's why the engineers installed, in addition to one main brake duct, located on the left side of the headlight cluster, two more airflow holes that direct cold air streams to the heated brakes.
The fight against excessive temperature is also explained by the installation on the Bugatti of a unique thermal insulation (visible behind the brake disc), which removes excess heat through the wheel arches. The 8-piston AP Racing calipers are themselves asymmetrical. During production, unnecessary materials are cut out to make them as light and rigid as possible.
9. Carbon fiber pattern must match
The Chiron uses a carbon fiber chassis designed by Italian manufacturer Dallara, the same company that builds the chassis for the IIndyCar. But like most things on the Chiron, these panels are not typical.
In production, Bugatti uses a special fabric pressed between layers of carbon, thereby providing rigidity and reducing weight.
Since carbon fiber does not paint the surface to maintain the sporty aesthetic of the car, the look of it must be perfect.
This is why, when a body is mounted on a vehicle, the carbon fiber pattern of one panel must be aligned with the adjacent panel. It's like juxtaposing wood panels when producing particularly expensive versions of furniture, so the texture of the different panels mirrors each other.
10. Top speed unlock key
Bugatti Chiron initially accelerates "only" to 381 km / h. In order to unlock the additional km/h, you must use a special key and activate the "Top Speed" mode using a special key that is inserted into the keyhole located above the threshold.
But before the Chiron lets you accelerate to top speed, there will be a comprehensive review of all safety systems. Not a redundant part if we are talking about speeds over 400 km / h.
The system will check the engine trouble codes and if no error is found, the car will lower - it will skid more than in any other driving modes.
The Chiron then trims the angle of the rear wing and also re-adjusts the angle of attack of the diffuser flaps at the front of the car. At this point, you will find the inscription: "Max Speed" on the instrument cluster.
If you exceed a quarter of a turn of the steering wheel, or the ABS system or stability control at maximum speed is activated, the electronics will return the Bugatti to normal speed mode.
Only when it is completely stopped, you can again try to reach maximum speed by performing the entire ritual of actions described above. Wallace says that even at speeds over 400 km / h, the car is stable as a rock. But even the champion of professional racing is extremely careful at such speeds, do not forget that a car flies a distance equal to 1.6 km for every 10 seconds.
11.Digital display on the toolbar
Bugatti can easily boast of a unique approach here. Along the carbon fiber "backbone" (which is part of the car's carbon-fiber chassis) separating driver and passenger, Bugatti has built four high-definition digital gauges into a large but very stylish piece of aluminium. Sensors provide information about turbine pressure, oil, temperature, coolant and how much fuel is left.
However, the data from them can be reset and reconfigured, displaying the maximum power, speed, rpm and vehicle overload.
During the best race, we managed to achieve power figures in excess of 1.300 hp. With. Top speed? Well, let's just say we didn't remove the speed limiter.
12. High resolution display
Which includes Bugatti, most cars, for example, the same VW Passat, today use displays with about 125 dpi. The high-resolution TFT displays in the Chiron boast a 300dpi density, roughly the same resolution as an iPhone 6—and these screens can display a variety of information (about 1,500 pages, according to Bugatti). However, engineers have cleverly set up the screens so that the faster the Chiron drives, the less information will be available to keep the driver focused on the road.
I especially liked the tire information screen. It not only shows the pressure, but also the temperature in the tires, and even the "expected" pressure in the tires, taking into account the current driving style. At 75 degrees on dry pavement, the tires are ready to provide the grip you need and handle full throttle.
13. LED headlights are not as simple as they seem.
When manufacturers test their prototypes, most testing, especially high-speed tests, takes place during the day. But the test session for also took place at night. The Chiron has four 90mm compact LED projectors per headlight, the flattest lighting system ever fitted to a production car.
The lenses are mounted in thin polished aluminum brackets with a dedicated controller for each side. These headlights are so bright that the hypercar test pilots were able to accelerate the Bugatti to 400 km / h in pitch darkness. Impressive and intimidating.
14. Adjustable rear wing with five positions
The Chiron uses active aerodynamic elements to create just the right amount of downforce or no downforce for any speed or condition. The new rear wing is 39 percent larger than the one used on the Veyron and can change its angle of attack using hydraulic jacks.
When the wing is fully retracted, it is at a -10 degree angle. In Top Speed mode, the wing is set at an angle of 3 degrees. In autobahn mode, the angle rises to 10 degrees, while in steerable mode it goes up to 14. In the last mode, called airbrake, the big wing reaches a maximum angle of 49 degrees.
Wallace says the Chiron's braking system, including the rear fender in airbrake mode, produces a maximum braking force of 2g, or twice the force you experience under extreme braking on a conventional car.
15. Can the Bugatti Chiron reach a top speed of 480 km/h?
According to Bugatti, the team will not attempt to set a record until 2018.
Wallace suggests that the Chiron reaches its current 261 mph (420 km/h) limited speed with relative ease. However, to the question: "Can the car overcome the remaining 39 miles per hour (63 km / h)?" The pilot said that this speed was unlikely to be under the control of the car, because the forces at this level are already destructive and overwhelming.
The Bugatti Veyron is no more. You could love it as a technological marvel or hate it as a passionless robot with equally passionless drivers, but you couldn't deny one obvious thing: the Veyron was the most advanced car ever made. Here are 8 facts you probably didn't know about.
1. The grille was originally made of aluminum. However, the first high-speed tests did not turn out very well. It turned out that bird strikes were as much of a problem for Veyrons as they were for airplanes. Therefore, the grille was made of titanium to meet the crash tests with fauna. "Flying enemies and other creatures must turn into French fries." These are Bugatti's cynical words, not ours.
2. Bugatti's "power meter" shows how much horsepower is being used at any given moment. According to him, only 270 hp are needed to reach 250 km/h. With. The remaining 731 liters. With. needed for a maximum of 407 km / h.
3. The Veyron could be ordered with some quirky options, including diamond-studded speedometer needles and other gauges. Each diamond weighing 1 carat was symbolically made sixteen-sided (one facet for each of the 16 cylinders). How popular was this option? We couldn't find a single photo all over the internet...
4. For speeds over 375 km/h, it was necessary to insert a second key ("Top Speed") into the floor hole behind the driver's seat before starting. When this key was turned, the clearance was reduced to 6.35 cm, the angle of attack of the wing was up to two degrees, the front diffuser doors were closed, and the steering wheel was also limited.
5. If the average turbo engine heats up by nature, then an engine built from two twin W8s and four turbochargers heats up like hell. In 2001, the first Veyron engine was tested at full throttle and got so hot that it almost burned down the entire building. Later, at a speed of 320 km / h, the test sample spewed almost two meters of flame from the exhaust pipe. Tuned Lamborghinis can dabble in firing mufflers all they want, but Bugatti upgraded the cooling system, created a titanium exhaust and did away with illegal flames once and for all.
6. Veyron has the highest operating costs of any production car. Some owners have claimed annual costs as high as $300,000. Veyron-specific Michelin Pilot Sport 2S tires cost $42,000 a set. Bugatti recommends that owners change them every 4000 km, and after 16,000 km they need to change the wheels completely ($69,000). An oil change costs $21,000. Monthly insurance costs $2,500. Now we understand why, according to statistics, a Veyron owner can afford 3 planes, 1 yacht and 84 cars. Even the rich and famous try to justify these costs. A musician recently sold his Veyron for a million dollars, not wanting to fix a blown radiator for $90,000. With the proceeds, he bought a Ferrari 458, McLaren MP4-12C and Lamborghini Aventador. Another public figure delivered his Veyron to desired locations on a trailer, while he himself followed it in a private jet. It came out cheaper...
7. To facilitate sales, Bugatti released special editions throughout the life of the model. How many unique cars did you get in total? Thirty four! Seriously! If you start listing them, they will take up more space than our entire article.
8. The former chairman of the board of the VW Group, Ferdinand Piech, to whom we recently dedicated, was in fact the author of the Veyron project. Many years ago, he demanded 1000 hp from his team. With. in a stock car and got the answer that it was impossible. Pich refused to believe. We ended up with 450 Veyrons and a satisfied smirk on Ferdinand's face.
Veyrons love to hate. But this most extraordinary thing is on four wheels. As Jay Leno said, the Veyron is Bugatti's way of going to the moon. Let this car not be the most liquid, not the most driver's, not the most beautiful, but the most revolutionary in the smallest details. I wonder how his successor Chiron will surprise us?!
These "bull-calves" should have been pushed head-on for a long time - after all, it's interesting who is stronger. Ukrainian and Russian journalists cannot even dream about it. But for the editors of the British magazine evo, this is just one of many supercar trips.
On its pages "AutoMania" will publish some test drives of the cult British magazine EVO, which was created for fans of speed, real drive and uncompromising sports cars. Translation of our colleagues from AvtoVesti.
"Even the Archbishop of Canterbury would sin!"Harry said. " It is possible, - I support him, leaning on a low stone along the road to Marseille. - Even if he were on the 364th day of the 9th year of his ten-year vow of silence, he would definitely utter a swear word, or even a phraseological unit".
And there's nothing you can do about it. When for the first time, through your efforts, the scarlet needle of the tachometer crosses the 4000 rpm mark and the four turbines begin to eagerly draw compressed air into 16 cylinders, the moment of truth comes - you experience such longitudinal overloads that you are scared to the core. It's like touching something very hot with your hand - and then pulling it away. In the driver's seat where I was sitting a few minutes ago, that "something hot" is the accelerator pedal. You will immediately release it after the first acceleration - more precisely, the instinct of self-preservation will do it for you. Say what you like, but the Bugatti Veyron, which harbors a wild herd of 1200 horses in its bowels, is fast to disgrace.
But the word "fast" does not always mean "fun" - there is another car on the side of the road that can teach the Veyron a lesson or two. For starters, it's one of the best handling hypercars in the world, putting it on par with Bugatti. Secondly, its acceleration dynamics is comparable to Boeing aircraft. And thirdly, the lap times that he demonstrates make even the McLaren MP4-12C turn green with anger. Yes, the Pagani Huayra has only 730 hp, but it is about 500 kg lighter than its current rival. What's more, the Huyra has become our evo car of the year (more precisely, one of) and a new benchmark for the world of hypercars. Perhaps because she has never faced Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse in a face-to-face match. In general, no hypercar has ever encountered a Vitesse in a comparative test before - we can consider ourselves pioneers to some extent.
Stepping over the threshold of the Vitesse, the driver finds himself in the arms of an orange seat and sees the interior in front of him, which in the photo gives the impression of a rather ordinary and even boring one. But then you quickly understand why this car is asking for more than two million dollars. Against the backdrop of Veyron, the latest A8 looks like a uniform consumer goods! There are no touch screens, no gadgets and gadgets - only the perfection of lines and forms, mired in luxury and impeccable quality. And what is this interior to the touch ... Run your fingers along the spokes of the steering wheel, along the smooth, like silk, aluminum - you will understand what I mean. And when the hands touch the rim of the steering wheel ... I don’t know what kind of material it is (it seems to be something between suede and neoprene), but you can’t think of anything more tender.
Up to the mark of 3500 rpm, Vitesse is calm and affectionate, like a house cat. Even in this mode, Veyron delivers a lot of fun, without straining either excessive acoustic pressure or grumpy character. The chassis is set up perfectly, and the steering here is perhaps even more precise than that of the base version of the Grand Sport. It is precisely because of this friendliness and calmness that the turbo boost that follows, at higher than average speeds, causes an outright shock. It is worth drowning the gas pedal to the floor in second gear (even if a little above idle), as the Veyron begins to rapidly pick up speed, and a menacing hiss unambiguously hints that incredible fun is about to come. Holding the right pedal to the floor while passing the 3500 rpm mark causes a furious whistle of the turbines, and at 3750 rpm under the crushing "BAAAM!" an incredible hurricane hits you. The world begins to sink into a veil, and the head is spinning from a lack of oxygen. A huge overload affects the chest - although at 1500 Nm of torque you can’t expect anything else. This pressure, causing the outflow of blood from the limbs, will be interrupted only when switching to the next gear.
On roads like this one, with lots of curves, there isn't much room for a gallop, but that doesn't matter, because getting out of every corner is genuine fun. This rhythm of powerful overclocking never gets boring. Those few seconds before the next corner you really realize what speed is. Then comes the turn - and everything starts all over again. I don’t remember any other car in which the very process of acceleration already becomes a certain buzz, a source of inspiration.
If the Veyron has absolutely no problems with gaining speed, then everything is not so simple with braking - extra pounds of weight are still felt. When you apply the brakes by lightly depressing the left pedal, you are sure to get as scared as when accelerating. For most people on this planet - people who are not Formula 1 drivers - such a powerful deceleration may seem like something completely new, unearthly. ABS works, but unobtrusively: there is almost no "garbage" on the pedal. All of the above is not at all a stone in the Bugatti garden - it's just a reminder that stopping two tons of weight is not so easy.
Jumping from Veyron to Huayra feels strange. Although there is only one open-top car here - and this is the Bugatti - the interior of the Italian hypercar looks airy and lighter. The body position is closer to racing (in the Veyron, the driver's seat is almost vertical), and sunlight streams through the transparent roof panels, making the carbon fiber dashboard shimmer with shades of gray.
The first thing you notice right away is the rather heavy Huayra steering wheel. In addition, the car is prone to self-levelling, so the passage of tight turns becomes a kind of struggle with this fashionable carbon sculpture, which is called the steering wheel. Suddenly!
Cause questions and pedals, which at the very beginning of the course are not particularly rich in feedback - it seems that between pressing them and the reaction of the brakes or the motor, there is a small pause. For a more accurate dosage of effort, it is better to slow down with your left foot. Fortunately, the pedal assembly itself is much more ergonomic than the Veyron (where it is offset to the center due to the wide front arch). Once you figure out the free play of the pedals, you can taste all their advantages: progressiveness and sensitivity. How the brakes react to pedal movements is a fairy tale in general: as if you are using your foot as a block. Incredible responsiveness!
But the biggest surprise is that the Huayra doesn't seem particularly fast. I guess what you are thinking about me now, but after a massage by 1200 Bugatti horses, you will be of the same opinion. It is linear in habits, does not have such a pronounced turbo lag ... But this is the rub. Huayra is like a dimmer that allows you to smoothly break the darkness of the room with the right amount of light. And Veyron is the most common switch: tick - and you are blinded.
I'm driving a Veyron again. After the Huayra, its interior feels balanced, ergonomic and elegant as ever. The gearbox with two clutches is beyond praise. At the lowest speeds, the engine begins to mutter with displeasure, but as soon as the limit of cruising speeds is reached, you realize that there can be no complaints about the car. Even the studs run so smoothly and cleanly that the car seems to have no excess weight at all.
In the cabin - complete harmony, but only if the roof is in place. Otherwise, the pressure on the eardrums may be unbearable. At first, the guttural rumbling of the 8-liter engine caresses the ears, but then, when the turbines go into operating range, the two carbon air intakes begin to eagerly swallow air, so in addition to “woooooshshshsh!” you can't hear anything anymore. As if a huge wave is breaking on a pebble beach. That's right - as strange as it may sound.
Honestly, the more I drove a Pagani, the more I realized that if you start approaching the limit of its capabilities and releasing all the power to freedom, then for your own well-being you need to have one more set of rubber - the car is merciless to tires even on a straight line . The reason is simple - the torque cannot be dosed as precisely as on the Zonda with its naturally aspirated engine. Therefore, the calculation is approximate - as is the result. Luckily, the Huayra has a long enough wheelbase for you to react to sudden wheel spin. You can get used to walking on the edge of a breakdown, and in the future - and get high.
In the case of the Veyron, cornering is much easier. Not to say that the whole process is boring - just the steering is so precise that you can put the Frenchman on the intended trajectory without a grain of salt. Even when you feel that the Bugatti is already on the verge of composure, its behavior is easily corrected by playing with power - the all-wheel drive transmission will do the rest of the work. As a result, the turns performed by Bugatti look like nothing more than a “smoke break” before the madness that is happening on the straights.
By and large, it is the difference in how tightly the cars cling to the asphalt that determines their characters: if Pagani may lack grip in some situations, then Veyron has it always and everywhere. While the driver of a Huayra (or any other heavy-duty rear-wheel-drive supercar - the Koenigsegg Agera or the Hennessey Venom GT) is forced to play the accelerator pedal in anticipation of a full "hook", the Veyron, in a fraction of a second after the apex, unleashes its full power through the four driven wheels - very efficiently and without unnecessary tinsel. It is possible that the yellow ESP light will come on during the maneuver, but the intervention of the system will not affect the behavior of the Bugatti in the least.
On the straight, we do an unscientific but very interesting drag race. We start off on the move in second gear - and even with the rear tires warmed up, the Pagani fidgets a little before leveling off under the gas and fighting back. But when the tires cooled down a bit and the Italian car hesitated at the start of the second race, Bugatti immediately disappeared, leaving Pagani no chance.
conclusions
So we come to the most difficult question of our test: what to choose? The magnificent Huayra is very alluring and attractive. On a wide road, with the right level of courage, you will have a lot of fun in the confrontation with all its 730 forces, pushing off the road with the help of the rear tires. The only problem is that this power is generated by the pressurization system, and therefore the language does not dare to call its behavior predictable. Even part of the power is sometimes scary to use - what can we say about the whole ...People love the Bugatti Veyron just because of its top speed. During our "date" with the Vitesse, the maximum to which I overclocked it was about 240 km / h - and I did not feel infringed on the pleasure due to the fact that I was "missed" about 170 km / h. But you can feel all the advantages of Vitesse at speeds below 100 km / h. This feature makes the car a unique car, and not just another roadster for Saturday panache. The ability to get the most out of it anytime and anywhere, here and now, makes Veyron a real one-of-a-kind, a thing in itself. Which car would I use for overnight trips on the Côte d'Azur? Let it be a surprise for you, but I would choose Vitesse. And only him.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis is said to have been very hard on the Bugatti Veyron when he found out that in a drag test at TopGear, the Volkswagen Thousand was able to overtake the McLaren F1 only after a certain number of times. The Mercedes bosses, in turn, were offended by Dennis for the fact that his team developed a new MP4 without their participation, as was the case with the previous Mercedes McLaren SLR model, and in retaliation they made their own supercar - the Mercedes SLS. And only the head of Volkswagen, Ferdinand Piech, did not say anything, but simply silently got cars for every taste and color in his concern: from cheap Skoda and Seat to exclusive Bentley and Lamborghini, providing all this with a weighty boxing glove in the form of a Bugatti Veyron, ready for a test drives to knock out anyone who encroaches on the leading positions of the German concern. In the meantime, these serious uncles are fighting in the ring of the cruel world of business, we hastily leave this "love triangle" in order to arrange a test drive of the Bugatti Veyron, McLaren MP4-12C and Mercedes SLS with our own eyes.
Since all three supercars are very different, the physics that we know are all around us tells us that in this comparison of cars on the race track, the fastest will be McLaren, after 200 and maximum speed - Bugatti, and Mercedes ... he is in Africa Mercedes. We wanted to start with him, but the colleague had already managed to fit a very nice-looking pig (to some extent Dennis was right), the classic for Bugatti, the blue color of Bleu de France, which, at the same time, grunted quite naturally with its only eight-liter engine about 16 cylinders...
Here and below (with rare exceptions) we will not attach measuring equipment to cars during a test drive to obtain longitudinal dynamics data - all this has already been done in one way or another by other authoritative publications from around the world. Our task is to evaluate the sensations and measure the lap time, or rather its difference. Moreover, we believe that a dozen other accelerations or decelerations do not matter if the car is poorly controlled, does not provide the driver with proper feedback, and, in addition, constantly strives to get off the track.
In Veyron, given the extreme power, first of all, I was surprised by the limousine interior - even Mercedes is lighter and simpler in this respect. Such a finish could easily have, for example, some transcendent coupe from Bentley. It’s just more difficult to sit down here: the front pillar is littered, the overall height is small, and it’s not easy to buckle up - the upper attachment point of the seat belt is far away, and there is no supporting clamp. However, this state of affairs in the world of supercars is the rule rather than the exception. But in the conditions of a test drive on a public road and a race track, everything is more than clear and even, to some extent, everyday. Clear, correct, but rather calm reactions to steering wheel turns - if it were not for the uterine growl behind your back, you might get bored. Now we understand colleagues from other publications (Misha Petrovsky from Drive magazine lamented more than others), who found the Audi R8 with a 420-horsepower engine a little bland. Bugatti has similar suspension settings.
But the R8 with a 525 hp Lamborghini engine. went much more fun, but here, in general, 1000 and one horse! With such power, such reactions are an unconditional blessing: if the creators of the Veyron were given the habits of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, the right to make a mistake would be reduced significantly. In general, there is a feeling that the Audi R8 concept, with which Bugatti has a lot in common, was nurtured by Volkswagen with the expectation of the future. "Eight" served them as a kind of testing ground - a laboratory on wheels.
But now, enjoying during the test drive excellent smoothness and excellent sound insulation, you experience an unreal feeling. Accelerations during acceleration and, which is nice, during braking, given the mass of about 2 tons, such that it’s time to say: “Pinch me, everything should be much louder and tougher.”
It is clear that such softness reduces lap times, for example: on the Nordschleife, almost twice the powerful Veyron has the same 7:40 as the Mercedes SLS. If the Bugatti were sharper, then in the hands of an experienced racer, he would certainly win back ten seconds, but safety is paramount, especially with such power.
By and large, there is only one claim - the notorious key, turning which you transfer the car from the "transport" mode to the "high-speed" one and increase the maximum speed from 375 km / h to the maximum 407. The question, of course, is not in the key, but in approach. At one time, developing a racing Porsche 917, Ferdinand Piech ordered his engineers to minimize the weight of the tubular frame as much as possible. The result is a non-rigid structure and injured riders. Now the situation is similar. The pre-production prototype showed 395 km / h on test drives, Piech needed 400 km / h - it was an aerodynamic impasse. To further increase the speed, new power was needed: a stronger engine requires better cooling, and larger radiators worsen the streamlining, which means that the “maximum speed” drops, then everything is a vicious circle. Volkswagen did not come up with anything better than to reduce downforce, which is vital at ultra-high speeds. Turning the key, you give the command to reduce the angle of attack of all the aerodynamic elements of the supercar and thereby reduce drag. True, if, accelerating to the cherished four hundred, you, quite likely, want to correct the trajectory, release the gas a little or touch the brake pedal, Bugatti will instantly switch to “transport” mode. Thank you, of course, but on such a move, everything can happen - we do not recommend it. Moreover, according to Volkswagen engineers, this requires 13 km of a perfectly flat, and, most importantly, straight section of the road, which is an absolute rarity in nature.
Test drive Mercedes SLS struck us no less than the Bugatti Veyron. But if Bugatti made us fall in love with a combination of unsurpassed power and comfort, then Mercedes offered us crystal honesty, and this quality will be appreciated at all times. At first, everyone wanted to experience the ritual of landing in the “gull wing” for themselves: you approach the car from behind, along the side, on the move you take hold of the inner handle with your left hand and, sinking into a chair, pull the door down. The classic Mercedes 300 SL of the mid-50s, with its space-frame frame, simply could not have ordinary doors, and in the new one all these inconveniences are artificial. After this, we expected to see something fake in this car - a farce, a stylization. However, from the first meters of the way you understand that this is a 100% sports car with a capital letter. Mercedes SLS turned out to be noticeably tougher than Bugatti. With the “fifth point” you thoroughly monitor the microprofile and the adhesion coefficient of the coating, and with your fingertips, by the force on the steering wheel, you can monitor the nuances of the car’s behavior. Now it's clear why in experienced hands the SLS is no slower on the race track than the Veyron. Stability of movement, especially on uneven sections of public roads, of course, suffers, but with less power, compared to Bugatti, such a chassis setup has the right to exist. We are especially pleased that Daimler dared to release such an uncompromising supercar, albeit under the guise of an AMG division. Now, however, Mercedes has realized that it would be nice to make money, because the bulk of consumers of such equipment are pampered moneybags, for whom SLS is nothing more than a status of superiority. Therefore, since recently, all Mercedes SLS AMG are equipped with a softer electronically controlled suspension, providing a greater level of comfort, and SLS with a passive analog suspension is offered as an option.
Of the shortcomings seen on the test drive, in addition to the stylish but cramped interior (forgivable in this genre), we note only the edge of the right mirror covered by the counter. However, in the cockpit, filled with a juicy metallic roar of the engine, this is somehow not remembered. By the way, we liked the motor not only with its power, but also with the character of a linearly increasing atmospheric draft.
McLaren MP4-12C was expected to be faster than its competitors. On a relatively compact track of about three kilometers long, it was 2 seconds faster than the Veyron and SLS. By racing standards, this is a whole abyss. But the same gap in driving pleasure, unfortunately, did not happen.
Let's start with smoothness. Praised in the pages of most automotive publications, McLaren's electronic suspension with active stabilizers, of course, raises the level of comfort for such cars to new heights, but the smoothness of the Bugatti Veyron is still higher. It is physically easier to adjust a heavier car for comfort, and the direct competitor in the Porsche Turbo class retains its leadership. In relation to Porsche, our team, in general, more and more clearly develops the opinion that the engine hanging “in the ass” initially contributes to increased comfort. In Zuffenhausen, they struggled all their lives, first of all, with the controllability of such a layout scheme, rather than with an increase in comfort. Their latest achievement is active engine mounts.
So, all this electronic equipment of the McLaren MP4 12C, including the stabilizers mentioned above, works as a united front and allows even an unprepared driver to pass the track quickly. However, to an experienced pilot, this unnaturalness immediately catches the eye. You get a similar feeling driving a half the price of a Nissan GTR, which, thanks to its furiousness, is no slower. And what is the conclusion after that? If you want comfort on the road - buy MP4-12C?
Test drive McLaren MP4-12C struck another. First, the clean, high-revving motor song. Typically supercharged engines, where the intake and exhaust are blocked off by turbocharger elements, don't sound as "tasty". And, secondly, the interior decoration and architecture. Alcantaro-carbon mood in the literal and figurative sense - the highest quality, plus laconism and simplicity of lines - the best offer in the class.
We didn't say anything about gearboxes. This is because, by and large, there are no complaints identified on a test drive. Modern dual clutch robots are a big step forward. After all, as it was before: robotic boxes were ordinary mechanics with an automated function of a single clutch and gear shift mechanism. They put them mainly either on minicars or on supercars (of course, with constructive adjustments for power). Jerks and delays in the first case were explained by budget, and in the second - by extreme settings. Now a robotic preselective box can increasingly be called a worthy alternative to a manual transmission. At least that's how it is in our comparative test drive.
What is the result. McLaren - evolution. Perhaps this is the best sports car, even better than the Ferrari 458, but modern trends are expected, which is why it's a little sad. Bugatti is a revolution, there has never been anything like it and is unlikely to happen again soon. And Mercedes is a protest against the craze for electronic systems and proof that pure sport in a modern car is possible, at least in the form of custom execution.
Photos of manufacturers
This is how it always happens: you worry, you worry, you rush almost all over Europe in search of a surviving Lancia Delta or Mercedes 190 Evo for the next test drive, you can’t sleep at night ... And then bam, and the rarest supercars for test drives in our hands.
This is because there was no interest in such a comparison of cars at first. The owner (and this, by the way, one of the 40 lucky owners) called Lamborghini Reventon once called and offered, as they say, to go for a drive. We politely and tactfully refused him. Firstly, a pair in a comparative test drive to compare such an exclusive, to put it mildly, was not expected, and secondly, I didn’t really want to. At a price similar to the Bugatti Veyron, Reventon is a well-known Lamborghini Murcielago supercar, which differs from the latter only in its external and internal design. That is, on the one hand, painstaking engineering fine-tuning to overcome the 400-kilometer limit of maximum speed in the face of Bugatti, on the other hand, an artificially created exclusive and nothing more.
However, in Bugatti, or rather in the same great and powerful Volkswagen concern, which owns both brands, they decided that it would also be nice to add, say, half a million euros to the price of Veyron, and carried out factory tuning of a thousand-strong monster. The sample obtained during the modifications with a cropped roof, 1200 forces and a price of 1.7 million euros happily ended up in our hands. That really helped the collective unconscious.
We call the owner of a rare Lambo in anticipation of a refusal, because the 670-horsepower Reventon Roadster, of course, is not a Bugatti match, and, imagine, we get a joyful consent to such a test drive. The wealthy owner of Reventon turned out to be a real enthusiast and connoisseur of sports cars. When asked about not the most rational purchase, he calmly replied that the angularly chopped Revento more than other Lambo models reminds him of his childhood dream Lamborghini Countach. The only thing that confuses him, as a person with an engineering education, is a matte color, which in theory worsens aerodynamics, so there are thoughts of repainting a sports car white, especially since in this form it will look a lot like the latest Lamborghini Aventador ...
We did not dispute the effect of matte paint on subsonic speeds, but noted in passing that the manifestations of manic-depressive psychosis are characteristic in one form or another of all members of the TOPRUSCAR team. There has never been such a friendly atmosphere on our comparative test drives. The fanatical Lambo owner, who has had contact with a large number of modern supercars, personally told us about the pros and cons of his roadster in comparison with other cars, including Bugatti. Moreover, the level of his professional training turned out to be so high that all comments, including driving ones, were certainly confirmed. “Here, for example, chairs...” – says a freshly baked colleague, – “... Veyron seats, of course, are more comfortable, you can easily rewind more than one hundred while driving, but in a really intense turn, lateral support may not be enough. Reventon, on the contrary, binds its driver with a stranglehold, offering almost racing hugs of seats and a sea of “hemorrhoids” for fat people. Apparently, out of 40 owners, there were none.”
The further story of the Reventon driver was replete with ironic references to various human types driving a particular car, so in order not to offend anyone from among the possible readers of TRC, we will continue the further narration in the test drive solely on behalf of the Topruscar team.
Before conducting a synchronized start from a place, we are interested in how things are with Lamborghini reliability, because in the 90s the models of this eminent Italian company were often plagued by certain mechanical problems. Now everything is in the past, the owner stated, in this regard, the current Lamborghini is no different from the Bugatti and are full members of the VW concern. Conducted drag racing showed that even Veyron's four low-inertia turbines need some time to spin up - at first, the atmospheric Lambo was ahead of the mighty Bugatti. And at a speed of 100 km / h, the advantage of the 1200-horsepower monster was not so overwhelming, obviously not by the difference of 530 horses. Only after two hundred, when his majesty the air wall finally came into its own, Veyron turned into a point on the horizon. How can one not recall the famous duel in Top Gear, where Bugatti overtook the McLaren F1 only at a speed well over two hundred.
The most annoying thing is that we did not feel the 200-horsepower increase in any way - the same “magic pendel” in the ass, starting from medium speeds. And is it even possible to feel it against the background of the original thousandth livestock, especially since the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse roadster has become 100 kg heavier than the base coupe. However, then, having traveled for a sufficient time at city speeds, we came to the conclusion that there is still a difference, but, alas, it is not in favor of Vitesse. A test drive of the Bugatti Veyron showed that at low engine speeds, which are most often used in normal driving conditions, the roadster is less frisky than the Veyron coupe. Later, after looking at the proprietary graph of the external speed characteristics of the motors for the Veyron, we finally confirmed that we were right. The comparison chart clearly indicates that the base thousand-horsepower motor is noticeably more traction in the range up to 2800 rpm than its counterpart with 1200 horses.
All these metamorphoses have a well-defined name - tuning. A gain of seven tenths in acceleration to 300 km / h and an extra three kilometers of maximum speed, the result of an increase in the size of the power of a business class sedan. An ordinary car, of course, does not need such an improvement, but for the fastest roadster in the world, every tenth, every kilometer is important, if only for a longer retention of its record title. Moreover, in life, the loss, unlike the above-mentioned graph, is not so significant, and sharp in its reactions to Reventon gas, it is still slower.
Another fashion difference between Vitesse and just Veyron is the chassis settings. According to the company's engineers, the rigidity of the roadster body has decreased by about half, and although we did not feel any laxity associated with this fact during the test drive, the roadster differs from the coupe quite noticeably. This is due to the stiffer suspension. The retuned springs and dampers not only made the chassis more sporty, but also made it more precise about the quality of the surface. Because of this, the steering even had to be equipped with a torsional vibration damper. An elegant, by the way, constructive solution, where the role of a spring-loaded mass is performed by the driver's airbag module.
Veyron Vitesse really flies into corners more willingly, but the two-ton curb weight still does not allow it to be classified as a sports car in the full sense of the word. Bugatti is the only one offering the highest level of comfort combined with unsurpassed dynamics, and this balance in the basic coupe seemed to us more optimal. The roadster, on the other hand, has lost a bit of comfort, acquiring not always appropriate shaking and twitching on bumps - fortunately, the driving stability is still high. And again, as in the case of accelerating dynamics, only one word comes to mind - tuning, where the drive is often, first of all, in sharpness and rigidity, and not in a real increase in speed and an increase in mutual understanding with the car. Yes, and something is not heard about the real times of the passage of the same Nordschleife.
And how is old Lambo doing against the backdrop of the outrageous Bugatti? Imagine, very good. Reventon, of course, is slower than Veyron, but it has a curb weight of 300 kg less, which is not an empty phrase for a sports car. In addition, the classic spatial frame of the twelve-cylinder Lamborghini allows you to practically not think about the roof demolished in the roadster, body modifications are only 25 kg of live weight.
The feeling of a test drive of an Italian is completely different. Yes, it is tougher and louder in Reventon, but there is a heated argument with the car here not only between acceleration and braking, but also in corners, where it is already tempting to experiment, to find the right algorithm. Even though the chassis is more demanding on the skill of the driver, I want to slip, throw the stern at the entrance and lick the turn in the sliding of all four wheels. The intensity of passions is clearly higher here. And the Lamborghini Reventon is longer and wider than the Bugatti Veyron, which, coupled with a more recumbent and lower seating position, provides a very cosmic feeling. In the city, of course, it is inconvenient, but at least maneuverability with a smaller wheelbase than in Bugatti remained at a similar level.
The only thing Lambo emotionally loses to Veyron is the sound of the engine. Strange, isn't it? In the furious high-speed song of the Reventon motor, which you hear not only with your ears, but also feel with your back, there is not one component for which, as they say, it is not structurally designed. The Bugatti turbo sigh that occurs when the throttle is released, when the turbocharger's bypass valve bleeds off excess forced air, the unprepared driver of the Veyron Vitesse will invariably make him wince. Everything seems to be like in a coupe, but only more promising and solid, plus the lack of a roof. There is something raw, uncouth and primal about this sound effect. One of my colleagues even joked, saying that in this Bugatti, in order to feel the extra 200 forces, you don’t need to add gas, but dump it. In any case, there were no indifferent people, all participants of the test drive were satisfied, even the owner of Reventon regretted for a moment that Lamborghini does not produce turbo engines.
This time we did not tempt fate by accelerating above 300 km / h, preferring high-speed shooting along winding paths to this, and that's what we thought. With a not always positive attitude towards tuning, especially when resource, handling, and sometimes just safety suffer with a meager increase, such supercars have a right to exist. Moreover, garage tuning and factory tuning are two, as they say in Odessa, big differences, and the joy of the owner is immeasurable. A bright gleam in the eyes was present not only in the fanatical owner of the Lamborghini Reventon, but also in an order of magnitude more restrained owner of the Bugatti Veyron. We even had time to regret that the rarest Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss was not in our hands for a test drive, however, this is nothing more than a wish ...
Photos of Bugatti and Lamborghini companies
