2012 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport in Fuji Speedway time attack

From the same guys who brought us video of a street-legal Porsche 962C driving through the streets of Japan comes this latest video showing Le Mans-winning pro driver, Seiji Ara, lapping Fuji Speedway in a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. Most of the video centers around Ara's impressions, but there is plenty of great video showing the supercar carving up the track's numerous turns and blasting along its lengthy front straightaway.
Ara says this is the most powerful car he's ever driven, so we imagine it was as much for fun for him to drive as it is for us to watch. During the drive, the camera provides a sense of what it's like to pilot the Veyron on such a challenging track, and you can hear its turbos and wastegates getting a workout. Scroll down to watch this well-shot, well-edited video of Ara and the Veyron lapping Fuji Speedway. Oh, and be sure to stick around for the end, as there's a bonus three-way drag race you won't want to miss.

Bugatti teases something new on the horizon

Bugatti isn't keeping a secret that development on a follow-up to the Veyron is advancing, but the brand continues to be very cagey about what is coming. In a new teaser video, the company is at least giving us something to think about with a narrator asking viewers to "imagine the impossible." Sadly, the clip never shows an actual vehicle, but you can hear a growling engine at the end. While Bugatti isn't talking officially, rumors are heaping up about the future vehicle, reportedly called the Chiron. Spy shots show a design that so far is largely similar to the Veyron, but the 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 reportedly is pushed to 1,500 horsepower and 1,106 pound-feet. The extra oomph comes thanks to the fitment of electric turbochargers to compliment the standard ones, and some reports even suggest a hybrid setup. During the unveiling of the final Veyron, company president Wolfgang Durheimer admitted, "Our challenge is to make the best even better." It's interesting to see Bugatti teasing something now because a previous report suggests a launch in 2016. Here's hoping, we get a glimpse sooner than that.

Bugatti begins assembling the first 1,600-hp Centodieci prototype

Created as a tribute to the EB110, the Bugatti Centodieci is coming to life. The French firm has started putting together the running and driving prototype that it will use to fine-tune the model before it launches production. Although the Centodieci is an evolution of the Chiron, it's different enough to require its own development process. Engineers have spent over a year running simulations to find out how the model-specific parts react in a variety of conditions. They studied how air flows over the redesigned body panels, for example, including the fixed rear wing. They also examined how the new aerodynamic profile affects thermal management. "Every newly developed vehicle poses an immense challenge, as we are creating a very small series that at the same time has to meet and even exceed all of the quality and safety standards of a large series," said Andre Kullig, the technical project manager for one-off and few-off projects at Bugatti, in a statement. Bugatti started dyno-testing the prototype's chassis at its Molsheim, France, headquarters in early 2021. It's essentially a running and driving car — complete with an 8.0-liter, 1,600-horsepower W16 engine — without body panels. Images released by the firm provide a fascinating and rare look at what's underneath the surface. They reveal parts of the cooling system (including lines that run down both sides of the car) and miles of wiring. Everything went according to plan, according to the firm, so the next step involves building the first Centodieci body. Here again, data mined during months of advanced simulation work will guide the production process. "With the newly designed body, there are changes in many areas that we had to simulate using special computer programs. Based on the data, we were able to establish a basic setup as a starting point for series development and the first prototype," Kullig said. He noted that part of the development process involved adjusting the curvature of the different components to obtain a homogenous appearance regardless of lighting conditions. Kullig's team will then put the development prototype through its paces in real-world conditions, including high-speed and high-heat runs, before giving the Centodieci the proverbial green light for production. Bugatti plans to build 10 examples, and collectors claimed the entire production run before the model made its public debut in 2019. Pricing started at ˆ8 million (about $9.7 million) before options.