Himafagy

Autocar has cobbled together what we know about the GT1 so far to create this rendering of what the Bugatti Veyron-beater might look like when it surfaces sometime in 2009. The info we already know hasn't changed much. The car will be a 950-bhp, street-legal version of Porsche's future Le Mans racer and use the Carrera GT's carbon fiber frame with a new nose and tail. The GT1's top speed will be 254 mph, 2 mph more than the Veyron.


Autocar's drawing is said to be inspired from leaked technical drawings, so this is more than an artist's best guess. The magazine also claims that Porsche has already begun testing 950-bhp engines, despite not knowing whether the GT1's powerplant will be a turbocharged version of the Carrera GT's V10 or a bored-out, twin-turbo version of the Cayenne S's V8. Regardless of which engine is chosen, the GT1 holds the promise of stealing the top podium spot away from the Bugatti Veyron.



[Source: Speed TV via GermanCarBlog]

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The Bugatti Veyron is the gold standard for supercars. There are but a few cars as fast and none as opulent or expensive as the seven-figure exotic. According to Autocar magazine, Porsche may be getting ready to go head to head with Bugatti using a roadgoing version of the Le Mans racer it is currently developing. Dubbed the GT1, the uber exotic will produce 950 bhp and hit a top speed of 254 mph, a couple clicks over the Veyron's best effort of 252 mph.


The GT1 could be view as a replacement to the recently cancelled Carrera GT, as it will use a modified version of that car's carbon fiber chassis but be skinned with a different body and feature a closed cockpit. The GT1's prodigious amount of power could be produced by either a modified version of the Carrera GT's V10 or a turbocharged version of the Cayenne's V8 with a larger displacement.


PistonHeads reports that Bugatti is already working on a faster Veyron, so Porsche better step on it before Bugatti moves the target.


[Source: Autocar via PistonHeads]

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Britain's Autocar magazine recently gathered a formidable roster of supercars (and one of the greatest sportbikes ever produced) for its annual 0-100-0 showdown.


The winner of the gathering was theBugatti Veyron, which continues to walk the walk like no supercar before it. Consider the breakdown of the Veyron's performance:

• 0-60: 2.8 seconds (!)


• 0-100: 5.5 seconds (double-!)

By the time the car came to a stop, 9.9 seconds had elapsed.

That is insane.


The Veyron weighs 4,100 pounds. This kind of performance should not be remotely possible. But it is -- and the Veyron carries its passengers in unapologetically luxurious surroundings to boot. This isn't a stripped out Ariel Atom (3rd place) or a Lotus 340R. This is a luxury machine that happens to be able to make the jump to hyperspace regardless of whether or not Chewbacca is riding shotgun. For heaven's sake, it beat a Suzuki GSXR-1000 (2nd place) . A Gixxer 1000! Good grief.


It is astonishing in every respect. Some are going to come out and say that other cars on the list after the jump are almost as fast for a tiny fraction of the Veyron's cost.

True.


But none of those cars have the presence of the Veyron. It is the ultimate showstopper. It breaks all ties. It is worth every single penny.


(Pics, press release, competition results all after the jump)



[Source: Autocar]
Photos:



Press Release:


Triumph for Bugatti Veyron


The Bugatti Veyron has wiped the floor with the opposition in Autocar's annual 0-100-0mph contest, featured in the current issue of the world's oldest car magazine, even managing to beat a Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbike.


Featuring 25 of the world's fastest cars, from the 14th placed £79,995 Aston Martin V8 Vantage to the second-placed £34,995 Ariel Atom, the shoot-out pitches the cars against each other in a straight fight to see which is the fastest to 100mph. There's more to it than just outright speed though – slowing from 100mph to a dead halt is just as important.


The Veyron, with its 987bhp 16-cylinder engine, wasn't necessarily the favourite to win. "A low weight tends to be the key to a good 0-100-0mph car," said Autocar's road test editor Adam Towler. "Cars like the Ariel Atom and Caterham Superlight historically dominate this contest."


But the 1890kg £880,000 Bugatti ripped through the gears to hit 60mph in 2.8sec and 100mph in an astonishing 5.5sec. It then stopped in just 3.4sec, giving a 0-100-0mph time of 9.9sec.


Not only is the Bugatti faster than the Suzuki, it creates more g-force at maximum acceleration than you'd experience in an F-16 jet fighter at take off or when skydiving.


But the lightweights still turned in an impressive performance, from the relatively unknown £32k Brooke Double R in fourth place to the £35k Ariel Atom 300 in second.


"Although the Veyron is undoubtedly the quickest road car ever, you can still have nearly as much fun for much less money," said Adam Towler. "It's good to see British sports cars doing so well against such an impressive machine as the Bugatti."


Autocar also brought along an A1 GP car, driven by Brit Robbie Kerr, to see how a purpose-built race car would compare with road-going machinery. The 550bhp single seater weighs just 695kg, and proved to be the fastest vehicle on the day with a 0-100-0mph time of 8.4sec.

Competing Cars 0-100-0 Time (seconds)

A1 GP 8.40

Bugatti Veyron 9.90

Suzuki GSX-R1000 10.70

Ariel Atom S'Charged 11.00

Ariel Atom 450 11.05

Atom Private Owned 11.05

Caterham CSR260 11.95

Brooke Double R 12.50

Porsche 911 Turbo 12.50

Ford Focus WRC 13.57

Lambo Gallardo 13.65

Ascari KZ1 13.80

Corvette Z06 13.80

Alpina B6 14.80

BMW M6 14.95

TVR Tuscan 2 15.00

BMW M5 15.20

Audi RS4 15.80

Aston V8 Vantage 15.81

BMW Z4M Roadster 15.95

Porsche Cayman S 16.46

Lotus Exige S 16.60

Nissan 350Z 18.80

Vauxhall Astra Sprint 18.85

Vauxhall Astra VXR 19.05

Renault Megane F1 20.55

Mazda 6MPS 21.00

Ford Focus ST 21.35

Vauxhall Vectra VXR 22.35

Vauxhall Astra Thurlby 22.65

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Last week, Greenwich, CT motorists were joined on the roads by a particularly special guest: the mind-blowing Bugatti Veyron. Now, exotics in Greenwich are actually quite commonplace -- the area is very affluent and is home to several successful high-end dealerships.



Miller Motorcars sells Ferrari, Maserati, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and Aston Martin in three showrooms all within a stone's throw of each other. For car lovers, the trip up West Putnam Avenue and past the Miller dealerships is similar to attending a car show -- a really, really good one, at that.


Two Veyrons had arrived at Miller Motorcars' Bentley / Rolls-Royce facility at the beginning of last week so that prospective customers could have an opportunity to inspect the cars up close. I grabbed my camera and drove out to Miller one afternoon instead of having lunch, figuring that this is one of the few opportunities I'd have to get a really good look at the car. I saw the prototype in 2004, but it was behind a glass wall at a show.


This was altogether different...


(Click to continue reading. More photos follow after the jump.)


Inside the Rolls showroom was a Black/Titanium Grey Veyron with a Grenadine (dark red) interior. I don't think its possible to overstate how impressive the car is in person. It's big, but it's so well-proportioned, it looks more compact than it actually is. Sharing the floor with the Veyron was a Wempe display showcasing the Bugatti-branded jewelery line being released in conjunction with the car. I introduced myself to Michael Parchment, the dealership's Rolls-Royce general manager, and he graciously allowed me to climb into the Veyron to see how it felt. Build quality is absolutely rock-solid. There was nothing fragile about the car at all. The turned aluminum centerstack was beautiful to behold, and all the switchgear worked with authoritative, heavy clicks. The carbon fiber seats were wrapped in leather and incredibly supportive, and the interior surfaces were all of the most premium quality you could imagine.


I moved outside next, where the second Veyron was parked. Finished in White/Soft Silver with a light interior color called "Silk," this car was wearing California manufacturer tags. It was being used to take clients out for test rides, and the driver handling those duties was none other than Dyson Racing's Butch Leitzinger.


While I was there, Butch came out and started the car, revving the engine a bit for the small group that had gathered around. The sound was one of the most authoritative, goosebump-inducing things I'd ever heard. At idle, a pronounced burble emanates from the center-mounted exhaust, but overall, the car is very quiet. At higher revs, however, it breaks into song -- loud, deep, and mixed with an almost supercharger-like whine that lends an added sense of urgency as the gigantic 16-cylinder quad-turbo spools to life. It's a sound you remember, from a car that is utterly unforgettable.


Leitzinger told us that the car is quite easy to drive, actually. This sentiment was reinforced by Michael Parchment, who told me that some customers who own other supercars commented that while they'd never consider driving one of them to dinner, for example, that the Bugatti is so easy to pilot, they'd happily use it for a night out on the town.


The gathering broke up as Butch jumped in the driver's seat to take someone out in the car. It growled at us as it pulled onto the street. Perma-grins were affixed to most of the faces left behind.


It's pretty incredible when you think about it: a $1.4 million (depending on the exchange rates -- officially, the car's cost is 1.1 million Euros), 987-horsepower street missile that's gentle enough to take to the grocery store, yet capable of 248 mph under the proper conditions.


Some would look at it and dismissively label it as being absurd. To me, a different word comes to mind:

Sublime.


Many thanks to Miller Motorcars and Michael Parchment for their time and the access to their automobiles. You can visit Miller Motorcars on the web at www.MillerMotorcars.com.


Photos: Alex Nunez.







Just for fun, here are a few of the other denizens of Miller's Bentley/Rolls-Royce/Aston martin complex:

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Here's what we call a newsbrief - In the a short Dow Jones Newswire piece, Volkswagen denies a report in German newspaper the Leipziger Volkszeitung that it is shopping Lamborghini and Bugatti, and that it is discontinuing the brand's top-rung Phaeton luxury sedan.

This is the first we've heard of the rumors, and while Volkswagen has been conducting some aggressive restructuring over the past several months, it would appear that both of the supercar marques' model portfolios (present and near-future) are tied too closely to the mother ship to make such sell-offs viable. Word of the Phaeton's demise also comes within hours of aFreien Presse report indicating that VW has designs on replacing the luxury sedan in 2009.

[Sources: Dow Jones Newswire via Morningstar.com; AFX News Limited via Forbes; Volkswagen]

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