Drive | Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport
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w o l Bly f
T d Spor n a r G ed n-Topp ew SenSory e p o e Th hole n aTTi’S w a S d G m ad n To Bu yron. Gauta o i S n e dim pluS Ve nT haS neVer h / m k 400 Bouffa hinG S ’ a m r aS Sha h akB c u S im r d a e copp Y Bahr al alum RAPH PHOTOg
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Drive | Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport
t was the phone call I had been dreading. On the other end of the line was Bugatti’s head of media relations, Emanuela Wilm. “It looks terrible outside,” she said. “I think it would be best if we call it off for today.” Looking disconsolately out the window at the angry grey clouds and bucketing rain, I could hardly argue with Wilm, but I cursed the weather gods for depriving me of wheel time in a car that was near the top of my lifetime “bucket list”. The Bugatti Veyron has already been the subject of countless column inches in newspapers and magazines, so it’s pointless for me to add to the gushing hype and adulation. However, the fact remains that it’s a remarkable feat of
engineering, and I was keen to see how its mind-boggling on-paper stats (987bhp, 407km/h) translated to the seat-of-thepants experience. For all its physics-defying capabilities, I glean from the car’s pilote officiel (official demonstration driver), Pierre-Henri Raphanel, that the Veyron is not really a wet-weather demon, as the huge 365mmwide rear tyres have a tendency to aquaplane across puddles and standing water. “If it’s raining”, he says, “it’s best to let Volkswagen Golfs overtake at 120km/h and live to fight another day.” This being the case, I’m thankful our rescheduled date with the Veyron Grand Sport is graced by beaming sunshine and a virtually cloudless sky.
Veyron grand Sport’s appetite for devouring distance is insatiable
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This is the view other motorists generally get of the Veyron... for a few seconds, anyway
‘THE quarTET TET of Turbos, EigHT camsHafTs, 16 pisTons and 64 valvEs producE an amazing array of sounds... sounds...’
Distinctive grille recaptures essence of historic Bugatti racers
Arriving at our Park Hyatt rendezvous, I’m greeted by the affable Raphanel, and we immediately make the decision to dispense with the transparent polycarbonate roof. This is easily achieved by pushing a couple of buttons to release the latches, enabling the lid to be lifted off and stowed in the garage. Raphanel takes charge for the first 20km or so as we make our way out of Dubai’s morning traffic and head towards the Kalba Road. On the way, he provides a brief taster of the Veyron’s cheek-deforming acceleration and organsquashing braking before a quick game of musical chairs has a gleeful Sharma behind the three-spoke wheel, embossed with the “EB” (after company founder Ettore Bugatti) logo. Some quick background: the Veyron coupe has been around for four years, but the open-topped Grand Sport was first shown to the public at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and the Tungsten-hued car we’re piloting today is one of the first examples in the Middle East. Pricing starts at $2m-plus, so a lack of exclusivity clearly won’t be a problem. The Grand Sport attracts much rubbernecking from other motorists as I settle in for the first few kilometres, but they (and their conveyances) are quickly reduced to mere dots in the mirror once I
open the taps on the quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16. The engine is a work of art in every sense of the word. Its visual appeal is accessible to all, as its manifold covers and air intakes are gloriously naked, while its aural qualities can be fully appreciated in the roofless Grand Sport (obviously more so than in the enclosed coupe). It’s a veritable symphony, too, as the quartet of turbos, eight camshafts, 16 pistons and 64 valves produce an amazing array of sounds. There’s obviously the muted mechanical clatter of the oily bits going up and down or round and round, but more captivating is the wastegate whoosh on lift-off and induction roar emanating from the air intake tube mere inches from my head. I’m reminded of everything from air-cooled Porsche flat-six to a vacuum cleaner, hot-air balloon, NASCAR V8 and hair drier. It’s an engaging melody, and only adds to the otherworldly feel of the Veyron. As impressive as the 16-pot powerplant is the seven-speed dual-clutch sequential gearbox. Quick, seamless and intuitive, it makes for effortless progress even when left in auto-shifting “D” mode. Choosing “S” makes the transmission hold lower gears longer and downshift more readily, but it’s effectively a race mode – far too ◊ January 2010 WWW.AUTOCARmAg.COm 59
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Drive | Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport
Deployable spoiler also doubles as a vent for the engine
∆ aggressive for the road. Being a bit of a control freak, I find the best solution is to take charge via the stubby alloy paddles. Response is near-instant; tug the left paddle and the ’box almost imperceptibly slots down a cog, with the engine’s software providing a perfect throttle blip to match revs to road speed. Although remarkably “normal” and civilised when pottering around town – thanks to tactile and wellweighted steering, brakes and throttle – it takes me a while to get used to the all-hell-breaking-loose sensation that accompanies every tromp on the gas pedal. It’s all very smooth and progressive – thanks largely to the ultra-flat torque curve, which liberates a tree-uprooting 1250Nm from 2200 to 5500rpm – but the feeling of being absolutely pancaked into the seat is something that not too many individuals other than F1 drivers and F18 pilots are likely to experience. A lot of speed-up-slow-down-andspeed-up-again antics ensue – purely for scientific purposes, of course – and yet I can’t seem to get my head around the urgency with which the 200-300km/h increment is dispatched. In every other car I’ve driven – Lambos and Ferraris included – the rate of acceleration tails off discernibly above 200 or 220 kays. Not in the Veyron. The urge is simply unrelenting. The fact the Veyron exists at all is due to the fiery zeal of former Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Piech (the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche) and the sheer engineering and financial might of the VW Group (of which the Bugatti brand is a part). A decade ago Piech had set his engineers what seemed like an absurd challenge. “I want a car that has 1001hp (because he liked Scheherazade’s One Thousand And One Nights), and I want it to be faster than Le Mans racers (which maxed out at 405km/h),” he demanded. The engineers and other board members thought Piech was joking (bear in mind the most powerful car
‘in ferraris and lambos,the rate of acceleration tails off above 200 or 220 kays. not in the veyron... veyron...’ on the market at the time had no more than 600 horsepower), but he wasn’t. The sheer difficulty of achieving these numbers in an everyday car resulted in a series of initial failures, and Piech was not averse to making heads roll as he ruthlessly drove the project on. As we briefly slow down to an almostcrawling 120km/h while I absorb the sensory overload, Raphanel explains that in addition to achieving Piech’s lofty numeric targets, the Veyron also had to be capable of effortlessly pootling around in traffic for hours on end, operate without fuss in the Arctic freeze or Middle East furnace… and be backed by a two-year/50,000km warranty. It’s the best-engineered car in the world, says
Raphanel, and after four hours behind the wheel I find it hard to argue. Panelgap tolerances of less the 0.2mm aren’t something you’ll find on too many other cars. But the pilote officiel adds that the full techno wizardry and painstaking attention to detail that went into the Veyron can only be gleaned by visiting the Bugatti factory in Molsheim, France, and seeing the Veyron being put together. Right now, I’ve got other things on mind as the arrow-like straights give way to long, sweeping corners – perfect for the Veyron. Some cars, such as the Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV (see page 50), let you know from the outset that you need to tread carefully and keep your wits about you – or you’ll ◊
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The
HARDENED WARRIOR
The piece de resistance... quad-turbo W16 engine is a visual masterpiece
Removing the Veyron’s roof (an integral part of the structure) to yield the open-topped grand Sport meant mods needed to be made elsewhere to preserve the car’s rigidity and crash safety. Among these are a reinforced transmission tunnel and side sills. In addition, there’s a central carbon plate beneath the transmission tunnel, and
the B-pillars have been cross-stiffened using a carbonfibre support. The doors of the grand Sport are made of carbonfibre, and they house an integrated longitudinal beam for added occupant safety. Your noggin is well protected, too, as the two redesigned air intakes for the W16 engine gain carbonfibre elements for extra rollover protection.
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Drive | Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport
WHO IS PIERRE-HENRI RAPHANEL? Algeria-born Pierre-Henri Raphanel has been Bugatti’s pilote officiel since the Veyron’s launch, and he’s demonstrated the car to more than 2700 potential buyers and journalists. Raphanel says three minutes in the passenger seat is usually enough for him to assess the capabilities of the nut behind the wheel. He then tailors the drive route accordingly, and pulls the reins in when necessary. Passionate, knowledgeable and articulate, the Frenchman is adept at conveying the Veyron’s essence in simple
layman’s terms. Raphanel is backed by an extensive racing career spanning Le mans, F1 and the Japan gT championship.
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Transparent polycarbonate roof weighs about 15kg and is a breeze to lift and stow away
provided for unexpected downpours. Considering it’s the top-dog among supercars, the Veyron is remarkably easy to live with. The cabin is far less confined than, say, a Murcielago, and the well-contoured seats should make for relatively fatigue-free continent crossings. You obviously won’t be carting suitcases with you, but there is at least space for some soft luggage in the storage compartment housed within the Veyron’s tapered snout. Trickling back into Dubai’s urban crawl after four hours of ground-level strafing, the Veyron reverts to tame inner-city commuter. No histrionics, jerkiness or farting… it simply blends in with the traffic flow. The seven-speed DSG ’box operates invisibly, so much so that you could be forgiven for thinking it’s a single-speed transmission. The only slight limitation is the Veyron’s lack of rear three-quarter visibility, but it’s easy enough to adapt to this. Trundling up the cobbled driveway at the Park Hyatt some four-and-a-half hours after we set off, the conclusions are
‘ 300 kays you have to resort to ‘at sign language,as the buffeting is immense... immense...’
Well-crafted cabin is a model of minimalistic elegance
inescapable. Is the Veyron Grand Sport the ultimate supercar? Undoubtedly. The fact it can pack such an enormous range of capabilities in a single package borders on incomprehensible – a bit like Usain Bolt also being willing to do the ironing and take out the garbage after peeling off a 9.58sec 100m sprint. A Murcielago or Carrera GT might induce a bigger adrenaline rush than the Veyron, but they’re not true everyday propositions. The Bugatti ostensibly is. A true all-time great. L
factfile Vitals
∆ end up in the scenery – but the Veyron is immensely foolproof and confidence inspiring. The sheer width of the tyres might compromise their wet-weather prowess, but the grip they offer in the dry is leech-like. The all-wheel-drive layout (which constantly adjusts the torque spilt between front and rear axles; up to 100 per cent of drive can be channelled to either end) makes it a no-brainer to rocket-launch out of corners. It’s pure point-and-squirt weapon… turn the wheel, plant the loafer and the car simply spears out of bends. There’s no squirming, twitching or wheelspin. The inherent safety of the car can be gauged from the fact that Raphanel has accompanied more than 2700 Veyron virgins on test drives and he – and the car – have returned intact each time. That said, he admits there has been the odd anxious moment… Although relatively nimble, Raphanel concedes the two-tonne mass of the car means it’s not ideal for racetrack assaults or max-attacks on hairpin-filled tarmac rally stages. The massive carbon-ceramic discs (400mm garbage-can lids at the front and 380mm platters at the rear) haul the Bugatti up forcefully, but two hard laps around a circuit are enough to cook them, says Raphanel – even with the self-deploying air brake providing assistance. Nevertheless, in the real world the Veyron can outpace virtually anything, anywhere… and in almost any conditions. In fact, the bumpier the surface, the more its composure shines through. Yes, the ride is firm (there’s only one suspension setting), but mid-corner bumps don’t upset the balance of the car. The open-topped Grand Sport is ultimately a marginally less sharp driving tool than its coupe sibling (lopping off the roof instantly reduces torsional stiffness by 60 per cent), but much of this has been recouped by strengthening other structural elements (see boxout). The result is a car that doesn’t have any of the scuttle shake or sogginess of many roofless chariots. Refinement levels are generally good, but you need to raise your voice to communicate with your passenger at speeds above 120km/h with the roof off. At 300km/h you’ll need to resort to sign language, as the buffeting is immense… but what else would you expect? In theory, the Grand Sport will do 360km/h with the roof off… or 130km/h with the umbrella-like canvas top that’s
BUgATTi VeyROn gRAnd SpORT
Engine 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 Power 987bhp at 6000rpm Torque 1250Nm from 2200rpm Transmission 7-speed dualclutch sequential Brakes Carbon-ceramic discs (400mm front; 380mm rear) Length 4462mm Width 1998mm Height 1204mm (normal ride height) Wheelbase 2710mm Kerb weight 1968kg 0-100km/h 2.6sec 0-200km/h 7.3sec 0-300km/h 16.7sec Top speed 407km/h (360km/h with roof open; 130km/h with canvas top) On sale Now Price From $2.1 million
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