Bugatti Veyron

As of this writing, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is the fastest street legal car on the planet. In addition to this, it is also the most expensive car in the world. A number of tests have shown that the Bugatti Veyron can reach a maximum speed of 253 mph, or 407.5 km/h. The production for this car was initiated in 2005. Bugatti Automobiles SAS was responsible for the production of the car, and it is a subsidiary or Volkswagen AG. The name given to the car comes from Pierre Veyron, a race car driver who emerged victorious in the 1939 24 hours of Le Mans. It would be an understatement to say that the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is an engineering masterpiece. The initial development for the car was started by the end of the 1990s.

The Veyron was originally a concept car that was showcased at the Tokyo Motor Show. It should be noted that the concept design for the car is very similar to the design that was used in the final production. The person who was responsible for designing the Veyron was Hartmut Warkuss. Production plans for the Veyron were revealed for the first time during the Geneva Motor Show held in 2000. Ferdinand Piech promised that it would be the fastest and most costly car in history, and his words would come to pass. The price tag for the Bugatti Veyron is approximately $1.3 million, making it much more expensive than even the Maybach.

The actually development for the Bugatti Veyron started in 2001. Even though the company originally planned for the car to enter into production by 2003, a number of technical problems caused delays. Many of these problems dealt with the high speeds that were planned for the vehicle. At 250 mph, it is very challenging to keep a vehicle stable, and the car crashed during one demonstration and spun out during another. Even though Piech would eventually retire from the company, Bernd Pischetsrieder made the Veyron his priority once he became head of the company. It should be noted that Bugatti didn't plan on making a profit from selling the Veyron.

Because of the high production costs, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is more of an engineering project to experiment with high end automobile technology. While the car is likely been sold for less than what it costs to produce it, making a large profit isn't the primary goal of the company. It is very possible that the technical feats discovered in the Veyron will be used with standard cars that are massed produced. When it comes to specifications, the Veyron is very impressive. It uses a W16 engine, which means it comes with 16 cylinders. This is the same as two V8 engines. The individual cylinders will each be comprised of 4 valves, bring the total to 64.

The engine is connected to four turbochargers, and the car also uses a DSG manual transmission that is connected to a computer. It should also be mentioned that the Bugatti Veyron can be controlled by an automatic transmission as well. An all wheel drive system was added, the this was done to transfer power to the surface. The tires for the Veyron are customized Michelin models that are designed to handle the high speeds.