The Volkswagen engineers have done it again – they’ve put another bug on the road that’s not easy to squash. The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse top down made an appearance at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. As beautiful as the Bianco and Light Blue open-wheel racer looks on the pedestal, the test of the mettle is on the road. And roadsters were not disappointed when they took the Vitesse for a test ride.
Here’s what they found:
Road tests proved Bugatti’s claim that the Vitesse can go from 0-62 mph at an amazing record time of 2.6 seconds. Under the hood is a forced-induction quad-turbo W16 engine that racks up an output of 1,200 horsepower at 6,400 rpm, and a maximum torque of 1,100 lb./ft. at 5,000 rpm. Top speed of almost 255 mph can be reached on the laps. Normal road driving can push the pedal only up to 233 mph. The Vitesse has a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and a modified air ducting on the drivetrain. Even with the increased output, the engineers of this Bugatti have succeeded in coming up with system configuration that result in reduced fuel consumption. Its four-pump fuel tank takes after the earlier Bugatti Super Sport.
This bug is definitely no ordinary bug. Although more than a few units of this Bugatti rolled off the factories, there is not likely to be a lot of these on the roads. The production of the Grand Sport line of Bugatti is capped at 150, including all variants of this model. The limited number of units of this Bugatti and its high price tag of more than 2 million dollars make this speedster truly a car for the elite. As the moneyed scramble to get their hands on one of these bugs, Jay Leno already has one of his own — a Grand Prix winner, parked in his garage.
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