If Dark Helmet – the character Rick Moranis plays in Space Balls – drove a car, it would probably be the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. It’s big. It’s Ugly. It’s capable of ludicrous speed.
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After stripping Bugatti of the title for the fastest production car in the world, Guinness World Records has flip-flopped and confirmed that the title does rightfully belong to the Veyron Super Sport.
After being stripped of the title of world’s fastest production car, Bugatti didn’t take long to reclaim the record. Only this time, it was set by the brand’s convertible: the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse.
Bugatti teased us yesterday with a picture and a caption that read “It’s almost time for us to share the latest example of exceptional Bugatti performance,” and today information has leaked online that the car will be a special edition of the Veyron Vitesse.
Bugatti, maker of the former world’s fastest production car, is teasing a new model today with a picture and small caption on Facebook.
Guinness World Records has announced that Bugatti has been stripped of the title for fastest production car in the world.
It’s sleek, super-expensive and just set a new speed record in California, sticking it to the porky Bugatti Veyron.
Let’s face it: Bugatti needs no introduction, especially not at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. No grand debuts, no jaw-dropping unveilings; the French automaker simply brought out three Veyrons of all shades to show off to the world.
It might behove Bugatti to re-visit the tale of Icarus if recent reports about the brand’s next car are correct.
Bugatti just unveiled a special edition Veyron supercar at the Sao Paulo Motor Show with a $2.5-million price tag.
Despite reports that Bugatti is working hard on its Galibier model, the flagship sedan has been delayed though Bentley and Bugatti boss Wolfgang Schreiber has confirmed a concept is still on the drawing board.
It’s been quite a while since we last heard anything newsworthy on the upcoming Bugatti Galibier model, but the French exotic automaker wants the world to know it’ll be well worth the wait.
The list of hybrid supercars is growing, and Bugatti might be the next company to jump on the bandwagon with a hybrid variant of the upcoming Veyron successor.
It almost seems like the Bugatti Galibier is going to become a mythical machine, but the French supercar maker wanted to remind everyone that the sedan is coming, and that it’s continuing to work hard in perfecting the production model.
The Bugatti Veyron is seen as the climax of automotive engineering; a quad-turbocharged 16.4-liter W12 engine with 1,001 hp, as well as a sublime all-wheel drive system which helps the car reach 60 mph in less than three seconds, and achieve a top speed of 253 mph.
From Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport L’Or Blanc and Grand Sport Vitesse to everything in between, there is no shortage of special edition Veyrons produced. A natural progression, Bugatti has joined the likes of the Jeep Wrangler Dragon and has unveiled a China-exclusive special edition vehicle for the 2012 Beijing Motor Show – the Veyron Grand Sport Wei Long.
When you create the world’s fastest convertible with 1,200 hp, it’s hard to showcase just how magnificent it is. The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse may require a lot more than just a video to do it justice, but this 2:28 clip does comes close.
The French automaker took its latest and greatest creation out to some of the world’s most scenic locations. Armed with a multitude of cameras and high-flying angles, the promotional video on the Grand Sport Vitesse features an epic soundtrack that embodies what the machine is all about — excess.
The Grand Sport Vitesse has 199-hp more than the previous Grand Sport and the 1,200-hp is backed by 1,106 lb-ft of torque thanks to its 7.9-liter W16 powerplant and four turbochargers.
For many of us that will never have the opportunity to ride in one, nevermind drive it, this video is all we have to enjoy.
Watch the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse video after the break.
Bugatti unveiled its Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse today at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, officially revealing the world’s fastest topless car.
“We were instantly electrified by the idea of transferring the power of the Super Sport to the Grand Sport, which previously delivered a maximum of 1,001 hp, and thus taking the roadster to a new level,” Wolfgang Dürheimer. The President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. said.
The Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse boasts 1200 hp and 1106 fl-lbs of torque, which is 199 more than the pervious Veyron Grand Sport. It achieved this monumental power from its 7.9-liter W16 engine through the use of four larger turbochargers.
The company says it safely reinforced the chassis for the convertible to safely deliver that power at all times. That safety is helped by quick-responding dampers that have been adapted from motor racing.
The Grand Sport Vitesse also gets lighter 20-inch “Vitesse”-type alloy wheels that can be seen in our photo gallery.
A new spoiler also goes into the car that is supposed to reduce wind wind noise and buffeting in the interior, something drivers would probably be grateful for considering there is no convertible experience capable of offering rivaled speed or power with a stated top speed of 255 mph.
The Grand Sport Vitesse also inherits aerodynamic measures at the front and rear that appeared on the Super Sport previously. The front end gets larger air intakes to the left and right. Below those intakes, you can see the new front spoiler. In the rear, the car gets a double diffusor and a centrally positioned twin tailpipe.
GALLERY: Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse
GALLERY: Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse
Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson is paid to piss you off, it’s what he does best. Maybe someone should have forwarded the memo to Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk.
Musk probably should have taken Top Gear’s pot shots with a laugh and kept doing business, but it’s easy to understand why he might be feeling defensive. His company keeps hitting nasty potholes in the road to success, like the “bricking” problem that apparently compromises the battery system in Tesla vehicles, a costly repair.
This Top Gear drama started back to December 2008 when the show gave a mixed review to the Tesla Roadster. Their program said the car failed to meet its advertised 200-mile range, instead only achieving 55 miles. That figure came from running it on a track where any vehicle would have less than optimal range, electric or otherwise. They also bashed the Roadster for having deficient brakes.
Brakes and range aside, it’s essential to remember that Top Gear is first and foremost an entertainment program. The episode depicted crew members pushing a “dead” roadster into a hangar, though the facts emerged during Tesla’s lawsuit. Surprise, surprise, the car wasn’t dead and the shot was used for effect.
This isn’t terribly dissimilar to the infamous Bugatti Veyron versus McLaren F1 drag race episode, where the show managed to eek out a Veyron victory, only after several F1 first-place finishes. Again, Top Gear is for show first, reporting second.
British Justice Tugendhat threw Tesla’s claims out in October, 2011, saying the company’s lawyers needed to amend their malicious falsehood claims.
The final chapter, (one would assume), in this one-way pissing match closed today. Justice Tugendhat dismissed Tesla’s revised claim which said there were “reasonable grounds to suspect that each of the Claimants [Top Gear] had intentionally and significantly misrepresented the range of the Roadster by claiming that it had a range of about 200 miles in that its true range on the Top Gear track was only 55 miles”.
Hopefully Tesla can move past this cat fight and focus more on the bricking issue at hand. Small car startups have enough problems without taking British TV bullies to court.
Check out Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussing the Top Gear episode in the video after the jump.
[Source: The Truth About Cars]
Last month we reported rumors of an open-top Bugatti Super Sport headed for Geneva, and as it turns out, the rumors prove to be true.
Introducing the Grand Sport Vitesse, the latest and arguably greatest Bugatti Veyron roadster. The Grand Sport Vitesse will receive the same 8-liter W16 engine as the Veyron Super Sport. Its top-of-the-line power plant produces 1,200 horsepower and 1,106 lb.-ft. of torque, thanks to greater force-induction from enlarged quad-turbos. To allow the Vitesse to manage the extra punch, Bugatti has further stiffened its chassis.
Regarding the new Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, Bugatti CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer said, “The rapid success of the Super Sport convinced us to increase the performance of there Bugatti roadster. Once again our engineers worked hard to demonstrate the Bugatti is able to constantly redefine the boundaries of what is technically feasible.”
While the world’s fastest targa-top may not have the required aero to match the 268 mph top speed of the $2.4 million Veyron Super Sport, the infinite headroom provided in the Vitesse will definitely cost a significant premium. Look for more details as we get closer to the new Bugatti’s official debut at the upcoming 2012 Geneva Motor Show.
GALLERY: Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse
Arizona police can do little more than throw a hissy fit over a video garnering YouTube fame where someone pilots a Bugatti Veyron to 225 mph on a public road over the course of seven runs.
Although we have to believe the video’s uploader because the speedometer isn’t shown during the runs, it’s evident from how quickly objects whip by that they’re probably hitting their stated speed.
Mind you, the Veyron’s 8.0-liter W16 engine – in all of its quad-turbo glory, is capable of higher speeds, though probably not on unmanicured pavement. Were that the case, the driver might have touched the 253-mph top speed it’s capable of in Top Speed mode.
Regardless, we’re treated to seeing one of the world’s most notorious bad boy cars shooting past the camera several times, as well as a cabin shot during their max-speed run. The video caps off on a cheeky note, with the car pulled over by a member of the Arizona highway patrol, though not during any of their eyelid-peeling runs.
Watch the video after the jump.
Somebody ought to call Scooby Doo and the Gang because there’s something fishy going on at Bugatti.
We’re not making any accusations, but put your thinking cap on and mull this one over. Midway through last year the automotive media started reporting that Bugatti officially decided to discontinue the Veyron. Sad as we all were to see the god-among-men go, we had come to terms with the idea.
That is until this morning when Ricardo, the company contracted to make the Veyron’s seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT), announced that they had another two year contract with the company to continue production.
Riddle us this, where would you be hiding if you were a Veyron transmission? Probably a Veyron, right? Well, not necessarily. Bugatti will be releasing a new luxury sedan called the Galibier, though the date is still a little murky. The last time we reported something on the car, it had been pushed to 2015, which makes us wonder what’s going on. A two-year contract means significant production, yet we’re three years away from the Galibier based on what CEO Wolfgang Durheimer said.
There are only a few conclusions we can see: more Veyrons, the Galibier getting a surprise debut, or Bugatti just really liking surplus transmissions. The idea of a contract that would expire before the Galibier’s supposed release date seems nebulous at best and let’s be honest and transmissions are as boring as plain milk. We’re going all-in on the world getting more Veyrons after all.
GALLERY: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport
Bugatti is paying homage to its founder, Ettore Bugatti, by bringing a custom yellow and black Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport to the 2012 Qatar Motor Show. The horizontally-split yellow body with black carbon represents Ettore Bugatti’s favorite colors and shows of Bugatti’s continued tradition off different color schemes and materials to create unique cars.
The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport is the world’s fastest, most powerful and most luxurious open-top car and this yellow and black creation surely gives it a race-inspired look. On the inside, the seats are finished in a yellow-colored leather with black stitching while the center console is in black carbon and the dashboard, steering wheel and gearshift are made of black leather with yellow stitching.
Bugatti also confirmed that the Veyron Coupe’s production has ended, with the final order placed in June 2011. The Grand Sport however is limited to 150 units with 105 still available at around $1.8-million.
GALLERY: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport
If you thought the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport was the last and most impressive iteration of the world’s fastest car, think again. The exotic automaker is reportedly planning one more final edition model, a convertible.
The newest drop-top Veyron will combine the best of the Grand Sport convertible with the more powerful 1,200 hp Super Sport’s W16 engine – Grand Super Sport anyone? While it’s unlikely the car will be able to achieve the same 268 mph world record top speed of the coupe, it’s almost certain to be the world’s fastest convertible.
According to some reports, Bugatti has already taken orders for the car, which is expected to be officially unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in early March.
GALLERY: Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
[Source: MotorAuthority]