Bugatti Veyron 16/4 beats Koenigsegg CCR Top Speed Record

I was just reading my copy of Evo magazine and saw that the Bugatti Veyron 16/4 recently surpassed the Koenigsegg CCR’s top speed record. The Bugatti has a 16-cyclinder engine with four turbochargers making a cool 1,001 horsepower. It clocked in at 400kph (248.5 miles per hour) at Volkswagon’s Ehra-Lessien test facility. This is the same place where the mighty Mclaren F1 set the 387kph (240.14mph) record in 1998 which it held for almost seven years. The car to break that record was the Koenigsegg CCR back in February of 2005 at Nardo when the car ran 388kph (242mph). The difference is that Nardo is a huge oval and the Mclaren only went 372kph (232mph) so it remains to be seen if the CCR can beat the Veyron 16/4 at the Ehra-Lessien facility.

Something interesting to note is that Veyron has been delayed for a very long time because of the car’s stability at those high speeds. In normal conditions, you won’t be able to reproduce the 400kph top speed due to safety reasons so Bugatti came up with a novel solution:

Every owner will be supplied with a special second key, made from aluminium in best Bugatti lightweight tradition (originally it was going to be silver but it was deemed to be too heavy). With the car stationary, this key has to be inserted to the left of the driver’s seat, down by the sill.

The words ‘Top Speed’ then appear on the facia and the car begins a series of safety checks on such things as tyre pressures. Once complete, the chassis squats to just 65mm above the road at the front and 70mm at the rear. From now on, the diffuser flaps remain closed and the angle of incidence of the rear aerofoil is minimised to reduce wind resistance. The final action of this high-speed mode is to disable all limiters (the car is otherwise limited to 375kph). Touch the brakes, however, and the car reverts to standard settings.

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July 14, 2005 | Filed Under Cars 

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