Monday, November 1, 2010

New Automotive Technology

Automotive Technology

worlds fastest car image
New automotive technology makes the Bugatti Veyron the fastest car in the world. Well the fastest full production car.
From what I have read in the most popular automotive magazines is that there are a few slightly faster cars available but the Bugatti is considered a true production car. This means you can actually order and buy this vehicle I will be describing below.

Worlds fastest car details

How about 1,001 horse power and 922 pound-feet of torque 0-60 in 2.5 seconds and a top speed of over 253 mph. The car sells for 1.2 million dollars and I can not believe I am saying this but it is worth it.
The automotive technology stuffed in this package is mind blowing. I would not want to work on it but I would pay big money to drive the worlds fastest car.
The automotive magazines are all coming out with stories on this unique super car. This article will be a sampling in my own words of what I learned about this modern marvel. Lets start with the things I have never seen in my 23 years in this business.
The Bugatti has a horsepower gauge on the dash, this is like an on board dyno that reports the horsepower at the wheels at any rpm. Also on the control panel is the power key that lets the vehicle obtain its maximum speed.
This power key activates on board systems that lower the vehicle by 2 inches in the front and opens undercarriage airports to actually suck the vehicle to the road using a Venture vacuum effect.
The power key on the worlds fastest car also deploys the rear wing to provide additional down force at high speeds. The wing is also dropped in the front on heavy braking to act as an air dam style brake. This very slick technology.
Now onto the automotive technology in the engine compartment. The 8.0 liter 16 cylinder engine has 4 turbo chargers that provide the neck breaking horsepower, motivating the world's fastest car.

automotive technology picture
Believe it or not this engine gets 19 mpg on the highway, which is better, then my Chevy blazer. The power gets put directly to the road using the most advanced automotive technology I have seen.
A seven-speed manual gearbox with a dual clutch system with a paddle shift control on the steering wheel. All of this automotive technology is funneled through an all wheel drive system that the automotive magazines are calling bulletproof.
The transmission also has a fully automatic mode for your trips to the grocery store or just cruising slowly on the strip. The rubber hits the road through Michelin's 14.4-inch wide tires (the widest ever made) and is custom built for Bugatti. 
These tires are of the run flat variety and are the only tires made with a speed rating to over 250 mph.
The tires are said to last around 10 thousand miles of hard driving and carry a replacement cost of around 12 thousand dollars for a set of four.
But if you can afford the worlds fastest car 12k for tires should be a walk in the park.
Yes new automotive technology in the brake department as well. Ceramic disc brakes and an unheard of eight piston caliper design stops this super car from top speed to 0 mph in under ten seconds.
The braking system uses the vehicles aerodynamics to help dissipate the heat generated by braking from such high speeds.
Speaking of cooling things down. Again new automotive technology in this vehicles engine cooling systems. This vehicle has 10 radiators working together to cool this beast down.
As a side note the parent company of Bugatti is Volkswagen. Volkswagen has poured over 1.5 billion dollars into the development of this super car.

Price of the worlds fastest car

The estimated price tag of 1.2 million dollars is actually below cost according to Volkswagen sources. The plans to build out 500 units would mean an average cost of 5 million per unit, taking in to account the research and development costs. The automotive magazines described driving this vehicle as a mind-blowing experience. What stood out to me the most is how the worlds fastest car works very hard at applying down force.
The faster you go the more adjustments are made on the fly to plant the vehicle on the road. One automotive magazine reporter described this as the faster you go the safer you feel. Now that is automotive technology at its finest.