Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

May 30, 2012 | Cars, Expensive Cars

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport appears to be the car that has it all; the most horsepower, the fastest top speed and acceleration and it just happens to be the most expensive. What else could a car aficionado ask for? Well, how about:

A W-16 engine that can produce 1,001 horsepower
A top speed of 250+ mph
A zero-to-60 time of three seconds
A zero-to-180 time of 14 seconds
A price tag somewhere in the $2,400,000 for the Bugatti Veyron Super Sports.

Okay, so maybe you don’t really want the price tag. But you have to admit the Veyron is one stylish car. The interior is almost completely leather, the dash, the seats, the floor and sides are all leather. But more than that the Bugatti Veyron Super Sports is the most expensive, yet legal street car available today.

The Veyron is named for racing driver Pierre Veyron who won the 24 hours of the Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the Bugatti Company. Designed specifically for the Volkswagen group The Bugatti Veyron was first launched in 2005.

There’s no hood on the Veyron, but if there was one to look under you would find an 8.0 liter, quad-turbocharged, W16 cylinder engine. That’s equivalent to two narrow angle V8 engines. Each cylinder had four valves for a total of sixty four. However, the configuration of the staggered V8 allows two overhead camshafts to drive two banks of cylinders, so only for camshafts are actually needed.

Because it burns about 1.33 gallons of gasoline per minute, the Veyron has a massive radiator to deal with the excessive heat. The unique transmission has to harness about twice as much torque as previous sports cars, so it has seven gears, a dual clutch system, sequential shifting, a paddle-driven, computer controlled shifting system.

A special key is required to “unlock” the Veyron’s top speed of 250+ mph. The car is then lowered to just 3.5 inches from the ground. A hydraulic spoiler extends at speed, and it can also serve as an air brake.

Even the tires on the Veyron are unique. To handle the stress of driving at 250 mph they’re specially designed by Michelin. They need to be sticky like those on a race car, but they also need to last longer than the 70 or so miles of a typical race tire. So, they’re designed for about 10,000 miles of normal use.

The tires Michelin created to handle the Veyron’s unique requirements measure 14.4 inches in the rear, and 9.5 inches in the front. The rims are about 20 inches in diameter. In other words, they’re massive and are actually the widest tires ever produced for a passenger car.

The tires use the Michelin PAX system which monitors the pressure automatically. Michelin says the run-flat detection system “plays an integral role in active safety in PAX System. Its role is to inform you of a loss of pressure, either gradual or sudden. When PAX warns you of a leak, you can reduce speed and head to an appropriate tire repair center. The unique thing about the PAX system is that the run-flat ability eliminates the need for a spare tire.

But take care of your tires if you buy one of these, because they’re replaceable at $42,000 per set. So take the SUV when you’re just running to the market for milk and bread.

The Bugatti Veyron was named the Car of the Decade (2000-2009) by the BBC television show Top Gear.

The Veyron is manufactured at Bugatti’s HQ (Château Saint Jean in Molsheim, Alsace, France). While the car was commissioned by Volkswagen, the Veyron is sold only through the Bugatti manufacturer and cannot be found at any Volkswagen dealer.