How the Bugatti Veyron Works

Found this cool article on How Stuff Works about the Bugatti Veyron.

How would you define the most amazing production car in the world? Would it be:

• The car with the most horsepower?
• The car with the fastest top speed and acceleration?
• The most expensive car?

At the moment, the Bugatti Veyron appears to have it all:

• A W-16 engine that can produce 1,001 horsepower
• A top speed of 250+ mph (400+ kph)
• A zero-to-60 time of three seconds
• A zero-to-180 time of 14 seconds
• A price tag somewhere in the $1.2 million range.

In this article, we will take an in-depth look at this amazing automobile and see how it is possible to fit so much performance into a single machine. It all starts with the engine...

The Bugatti Veyron is a car built around an engine. Essentially, Bugatti made the decision to blow the doors off the supercar world by creating a 1,000-horsepower engine. Everything else follows from that resolution.

So let's start with the engine. How would you begin the design process for an engine this powerful? If you have read How Car Engines Work, you know that if you want to create a 1,000-horsepower engine, it has to be able to burn enough gasoline to generate 1,000 horsepower. That works out to about 1.33 gallons (5 liters) of gasoline per minute.

We need a 16-liter engine to burn 1.33 gallons of gas per minute. That actually makes sense -- the engine in the DodgeViper is 8.0 liters in displacement and produces 500 hp.

But there's a problem: A 16-liter V-8 engine would be very large. And the pistons would be massive, so there would be no way it could turn at 6,000 rotations per minute (rpm). It might turn at a maximum of 2,000 rpm, meaning that you would need an immense 48-liter engine to generate 1,000 hp. Clearly an engine that big is impossible in a passenger car.

So how did Bugatti fit 1,000 horsepower into a passenger car? Find out on How Stuff Works.

Fastest Cars 0 to 60 mph

This is a list of cars that reach 0-60 in the fastest time. No surprise Bugatti is on top of the list!

Bugatti Veyron
0 to 60: 2.6 seconds
Price: $1,500,000
Four Turbos!

Lamborghini LP670-4 Superveloce
0 to 60: 3.11 seconds
Price: TBA
Fastest Lamborghini yet

Koenigsegg CCX
0 to 60: 3.14 seconds
Price: $912,397
Boasts a top speed of 245mph.

Nissan Skyline GT-R
0 to 60: 3.41 seconds
Price: $76,840
Best value for your buck.

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
0 to 60: 3.45 seconds
Price: $106,520
This is the fastest American production car ever produced, and its at $100k.

Ferrari F430 Scuderia
0 to 60: 3.50 seconds
Price: $257,456
One of the Fastest Italian Exotics; tested and tuned by Formula One ace Michael Schumacher.

Lamborghini LP 640
0 to 60 3.52 seconds
Price: $382,400
LP640 is a former champ of the Itallian bulls.
Porsche GT2
0 to 60 mph 3.60 sec
Price: $194,860
GT2 is rear wheel drive and its loads of fun at the track.

Dodge Viper SRT-10
0 to 60 mph 3.64 seconds
Price: $102,350
Strong 8.4L engine.

Porsche 911 Turbo
0 to 60 mph: 3.7 sec
Price: $130,860
The 911 Turbo offers all-wheel drive. This is the German engineering at its finest.

Mercedes-Benz SL65 Black Series
0 to 60 mph: 3.8 sec
Price: $299,000
The SL65 Black Series is the fastest Mercedes produced by DTM.

Bugatti Veyron Sang Noir

If you're thinking about dropping $1.5 million on a set of wheels, would a special edition really tip the scales one way or another? Well, Bugatti evidently thinks so. After having produced the Pur Sang and the Fbg par Hermès editions, the ultra-premium auto marque revealed the Sang Noir last month.

Now, after disgruntled U.S. buyers lost out on the opportunity to buy the Pur Sang when it sold out to an invited group of European customers in Paris, Bugatti has announced that its American clientele will get first crack at the limited run of 15 Sang Noir Veyrons before they're offered elsewhere in the world. And who said holding American citizenship isn't worth what it used to be?