Ride the Lightning

[bluegargantua]

Hey,

So, the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4. The world's fastest street legal car with a top speed in excess of 250mph. At speed, the car's configuration changes to increase downward air pressure to hold the car on the road. There's an air brake that kicks in when you slow down from high speed. It goes from 0 to 60mph in under 3 seconds. It also starts at just under $2 million and quickly goes past 2.5 once you throw in the cup holders.

This is a car that, even if I could afford it, I'd be completely unqualified to drive at regular speeds let alone the thrilling velocities that you bought it for in the first place. But in a video game? Ah...video games.

I just took the Veyron out for a 43 mile race. I did it in under 15 minutes. Sure, it's a video game (Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit -- it's fun!) so there has to be some allowance for "game" physics, but still. Thing is a god damned rocket.

And it comes in a lovely shade of blue...
Tom

Comments

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

I have it on pretty good authority (James May) that the Veyron is entirely undramatic in its demeanor, despite its phenomenal power, and that as a result pretty much anybody could drive one in the manner of a normal car. And the thing that I really like about the Veyron is that it's built for that kind of thing; it was engineered specifically not to be pathetically fragile in the tradition of the "regular" supercar, but instead to stand up to being used in the manner of a standard automobile.

(VW use a smaller variant of that same engine concept in the Phaeton, a car which is built to be driven all day at ca. 180 mph with the air conditioning on, if its German plutocrat owner so desires. I have a strange love for the Phaeton too, despite the fact that it sold so poorly here that they don't offer it in North America any more.)

[bluegargantua]

Yeah, but where am I going to find a closed track for me to really open it up on? Plus, I get the feeling that I'll be cruising along the Pike and I'll look down and "oh, 180mph, thought I was doing 70" and then a pothole or my poor reaction time will do me in and save the cop the trouble of writing the speeding ticket.

later
Tom

[bluegargantua]

But yeah, I'd totally tool around in one given the chance. :)

later
Tom

[harrison-ripps.livejournal.com]

I watched the Top gear episode where they took this out for a drive on VW's special straight 5-mile track (http://googlesightseeing.com/2007/03/super-secret-volkswagen-test-track/). I rarely break into a cold sweat while watching television, but this was one of those times :-)

[dr-memory.livejournal.com]

The only problem with the Veyron... well, it's not really a problem with the Veyron per se, it's a problem with the laws of physics. Anyway, the problem is: it can go at 254mph... for somewhere between five and twelve minutes. There's only so much energy in an octane molecule, internal combustion engines are only so efficient, and the inertial overhead of fighting against air resistance at jet-airplane speeds is massive.

It's a jawdropping piece of engineering, but even for the people who can actually afford one, its top speed is purely a party trick. Now, the Nissan Skyline... :)

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

In some car magazine, in some supercar test, I read that the driver was concerned about the tires, since they'd wear through in about half an hour of top-speed driving. The engineer said not to worry about it, since he'd be out of gas long before then.

[bluegargantua]

In fact, I'm pretty sure that the car would've run out of gas before I reached the finish line. I found that kind of amusing.

later
Tom

[mpgalvin.livejournal.com]

the original Veyron was surpassed by the Shelby Aero, briefly, and I *think* the Supersport took the title back.

Still waiting for Shelby to answer that. :P