Does everyone love the Veyron?

[Bas Jaski]

Standard Veyron?

No thanks.

I do like the Supersport though.

the thing that irritates me relentless is that the normal Veyron looks like a very posh Bentley inside, claiming luxury. But in fact, at 70mph cruising around, it's louder than a 911 GT3 RS doing the same speeds. False advertising if you ask me, and perhaps more irritating, fan boys claiming it's as luxurious as a bentley.

The supersport, with alcantara inside, and lots of carbon, takes a lot of that away which I like.

Mind you, there's a lot of cars that'll come before the Veyron SS still in my mind. But I have no doubt that if I where to own one, I would have great fun blasting from southern spain all the way to Holland.

The Zonda F with some cinque bits appeals to me much, much more. And at half price of a supersport, I could throw in an F40, F50 and still have cash left over for a 2nd hand continental flying spur. Because that thing is actually luxurious, and with a chip it still reaches astronomical speeds .

[4REphotographer]

Originally Posted by Bullfighter

Not arguing, the Veyron is an incredible achievement. And many/most high end cars are more comfortable than a 458 (997 Turbo, for example). But to experience its unique capabilities you can't even use an "ordinary" track. IIRC, the Top Gear segment(s) on the car had to be filmed at Ehra Lessien, the VW test circuit with a huge straight section.

It's kind of like buying choice real estate on the moon. You have it, but it's irrelevant.

If I had infinite money and a 20 car garage, I'm still not sure I'd have a Veyron. From a market perspective it's kind of like a Maybach, IMHO -- can't argue with its exclusivity or excellence, but when I see one I'm more curious about how the owner made his money than anything. The other problem with the Veyron is that for what I could sell it for I can immediately think of 4-5 other cars that are on my automotive fantasy bucket list.

I completely understand your points, one thing you can use is the acceleration though, 0-60 in <2.5s is just unimaginable and you can use it on the streets, let's not get into a discussion on if you should.

Somewhat on topic, I was talking with one of the original McLaren F1 test drivers and he was telling me about one of their customers who kept complaining of engine and gearbox issues. Turns out the customer commuted via the autobahn and would regularly take the car to work and hit at least 200mph daily.

[judge4re]

The fact that they didn't sell out immediately tells you what the market thinks...

[Prancing 12]

Originally Posted by 4REphotographer

I completely understand your points, one thing you can use is the acceleration though, 0-60 in <2.5s is just unimaginable and you can use it on the streets, let's not get into a discussion on if you should.

I have quite a bit of seat time in a 997 Turbo S, which does 0-60 in ~2.8 seconds. I can tell you that with the sport button engaged (for regular street driving ), it is too fast for the streets. A Veyron is just more of the same, in a more conspicuous package.

[BlackBird007]

Performance may be great, but the looks just aren't to my liking. In all honesty, the new Ferrari FF looks better than the normal Veyron. Though, different story with the Supersport.

I'd take a blue CF SS, but a normal Veyron (or any of the half-dozen or so "special editions"), no.

[Bullfighter]

Originally Posted by Prancing 12

I have quite a bit of seat time in a 997 Turbo S, which does 0-60 in ~2.8 seconds...

An astonishing car, although the Veyron next to you at the light will be .3 sec ahead and your girlfriend/wife will probably leave you at that point.

[spirot]

I agree they look MUCH better in person. Saw one in London and it was really breath taking like nothing else around it. I could not beleive someone had it in down town London traffic. Black & Red...

[ScuderiaWithStickPlease]

Thanks to Miller in Greenwich, CT, I've seen three of Veyrons so far, one being a Grand Sport. It is an incredibly well drawn, well executed car with unbelievable specs (even Captain Slow can break records in the thing.) But given the weight and handling of the Veyron, I'd go for a gated Zonda F even though the Bugatti's styling is far more to my liking. It's not even close.

[h2oskier]

Not a fan

100's of cars I'd pick before something like it.

[FlyingAttackPorcupine]

I'm not a fan of the interior or exterior styling. I realize it's full of amazing engineering, but it's not a car i'd ever buy myself. I honestly believe most of its fans are only fans because of the numbers on paper, not because of its appearance. If it had 458 Italia performance levels there would be a lot more people saying that it looks like a heavily bloated VW Bug.

[Bundy]

Originally Posted by GuyIncognito

I'd have to be Scrooge McDuck rich and Arthur drunk to buy one.

Nice!

[Mark(study)]

I've always thought the Veyron was a big "egg shaped" car, compared all the exotic cars that got me interested in this hobby over the years. The"Italian Art" aspect is missing... its a fast car, but more of a pin-up model for engineering by wind tunnel. And I understand that it has to be big to stuff all those extra radiators in. So it was built as function over form... to get amazing performance.

I like to photograph it next to other cars, it gives a better sense of its size, and Easter Egg shaped profile.

[icon]

waaaaayyyyyyy TOO heavy!

beauty is in the eye of the beholder . . .
my eyes see no beauty in the veyron.

[wizzells]

"Love" it? No.

Appreciate it for some of the technical and engineering design that is involved? Yes, absolutely.

[ScuderiaWithStickPlease]

Originally Posted by Mark(study)

I like to photograph it next to other cars, it gives a better sense of its size, and Easter Egg shaped profile.

When I saw the car it struck me as far smaller than I thought it would be given its mission.

-- Cayman's length of either 172.1in or 172.3in, to 458's 178.2in, to 599's 183.7in, to Enzo's 185.1in, to Veyron's 175.7in.

-- Cayman's wheelbase of 95.1, to 458's 104.3, to 599's 108.3in, to Enzo's 104in, to Veyron's 106.7in.

-- Cayman's width of 70.9in, to 458's 76.3in, to 599's 77.2.in, to Enzo's 80.1in, to Veyron's 78.7in.

-- Cayman's front track of 58.7in, to 458's 65.8in, to 599's 66.5in, to Enzo's 65.4in, to Veyron's 67.5in.

-- Cayman's rear track of 60.4in, to 458's 63.2in, to 599's 63.7in, to Enzo's 65.0in, to Veyron's 63.7in.

-- Cayman's height of 51.4in, to 458's 47.8in, to 599's 52.6in, to Enzo's 45.2in, , to Veyron's 45.6in.

The Veyron v Enzo numbers are interesting given the pics Mark(study) has shared. I look at the above and conclude that while the Veyron is no Elise dimensionally, it's not out of control huge, either.

Now where's that Zonda F Roadster . . . aaah . . .

http://www.instablogsimages.com/1/20...ster_oyavc.jpg

[PAP 348]

Originally Posted by bdelp

I saw one on the street the other day. Honestly, it looks so much better in person than in photos.

I thought the same thing when I saw this red one in person, in LA, back in 2007.

*I almost scored a ride in one also while I was there, but circumstances changed and I missed out. *

[ScuderiaWithStickPlease]

Here's a good article, Gordon Murray commenting on the Veyron:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/da...-of-a-supercar

I have a "real-world" checklist when designing road cars: 1) size or perceived size; is the car intimidating to drive? 2) ergonomics; primary and secondary controls, pedals; 3) luggage capacity, cabin storage; 4) driveability, slow traffic engine characteristics, overtaking; 5) ride and handling; 6) ease of parking.

A road car should be designed with a checkmark against all six.

With the F1, we set out to design the best driver's car we could, and by being innovative with componentry placement, we squeezed three occupants, a V-12, 90 liters of fuel and good luggage space into a car the same size as a Porsche Cayman.

As the drag increases as a square of the speed, the power requirement increases as a cube of the speed because the power itself is speed-dependent. The Veyron because of its high CDA figure and huge cooling drag needs 1001 hp to go 12 mph faster than a McLaren F1 producing 627 hp. To help understand the problem of starting a car program from a weak point aerodynamically, we do some calculations: A turbocharged F1 producing 1001 hp would achieve 281 mph assuming the same drivetrain efficiency. Another way of looking at this equation is that an F1 would need "only" 740 hp to reach the Bugatti's top speed. All this demonstrates just what an uphill struggle the Bugatti team faced to achieve their targets.

Although the Bugatti is quite short, it is very wide and suffers from most of the rear mid-engine problems, such as high cowl height, pedal offsets, no luggage space and poor three-quarter rear view.

[DriveAfterDark]

Gordon Murray will find faults on any supercar you show him... To him, the McLaren F1 is the best of the best and that's it!

Love the Veyron - mainly because I saw a couple of shows on how it's made and was mindblown by the technology and craftsmanship that goes in to making one. Don't lust after one, but respect it.

[ScuderiaWithStickPlease]

Originally Posted by DriveAfterDark

Gordon Murray will find faults on any supercar you show him... To him, the McLaren F1 is the best of the best and that's it!

He loved the NSX, and he does make some great points in the piece.

Love the Veyron - mainly because I saw a couple of shows on how it's made and was mindblown by the technology and craftsmanship that goes in to making one. Don't lust after one, but respect it.

Same here.

[DriveAfterDark]

I agree, he has good points, but they are still two very different cars for different markets. His approach on the Veyron is too technical. Much like the new McLaren vs. the 458 Italia discussions, where they made the Mc' brilliant technically but forgot the variables called lust, passion, emotion etc. Volkswagen Audi Group went out to make the Veyron because they wanted to showcase their muscles, not build an all out street racing machine like the McLaren F1.

I have the same feelings for the McLaren F1 too - don't lust after it, but respect it a lot for what it is.