1,200 PS in a roadster — with the introduction of the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse in 2012 —  Bugatti set new requirements of energy and efficiency from a roadster. A 12 months later, the extraordinary hyper sports activities automobile cemented its distinctive standing within the automotive world by hitting a prime pace of 408.84 km/h — establishing itself because the world’s strongest and quickest manufacturing roadster — a report for open-top autos that also stands as we speak.

President of Bugatti Cars Christophe Piochon remembers how, after the Veyron 16.4 Tremendous Sport coupé launched the world to the 1,200 PS W16 engine, clients expressed their want for an open-top model which boasted the identical inconceivably excessive energy output. The engineers spent the following months growing the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse.

The best problem when it got here to the brand new roadster was attaining adequate driving stability and redefining the rollover safety and the detachable roof of the predecessor Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport. The Veyron’s very particular structural design wanted to be additional strengthened. To realize this, a detachable roof module created from light-weight polycarbonate was created, which made open-top driving potential in just some handbook steps. What sounds simple was in actuality something however – within the coupé the roof is an integral a part of the monocoque body that helps present the automobile with its excellent stability. Within the roadster, reinforcements with extraordinarily excessive torsional rigidity of twenty-two,000 Nm per diploma alongside calculated load paths needed to be added to realize the required rigidity and security requirements.

The extraordinarily sturdy and lightweight passenger compartment constructed within the monocoque design required an optimum mixture of physique rigidity and light-weight building. If an integral a part of the construction — i.e. the roof — is eliminated, the load paths have to be redefined with a view to keep the automobile’s excessive rigidity and crash security that embrace facet affect and rollover safety.

The monocoque was consequently strengthened across the facet skirts and the transmission tunnel, and the B pillars have been laterally stiffened by a carbon fiber assist. A central carbon plate beneath the transmission tunnel served to make sure the automobile was much less susceptible to torsional flexing than every other roadster. As well as, the facet doorways of the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse are created from carbon fiber and disguise an built-in longitudinal assist with pins that passes the load from the A pillar to the B pillar within the occasion of an accident, decreasing affect drive.

The 8.0-liter W16 engine delivers 1,200 PS and allows the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse to hit a prime pace of 410 km/h. On the record-setting drive, carried out by Chinese language businessman and race automobile driver Anthony Liu in 2013, a pace of 408.84 km/h was recorded, with the roof down.

“Minus the roof, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse demonstrates simply how unparalleled Bugatti’s engineering experience is. Though the burden distribution is totally completely different when the roof is down, the automobile stays secure and accelerates simply as impressively because it does with the roof closed,” explains Christophe Piochon. “With the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, Bugatti proved it was potential to construct an open-top hyper sports activities automobile with very excessive efficiency and energy output that drives extraordinarily dynamically and really comfortably.”

The predecessor of the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse that was unveiled in 2008 — the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport which boasted 1,001 PS — had already allowed clients to expertise phenomenal energy with top-down driving, however the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse amplified the expertise even additional, dwelling as much as its identify — Vitesse — which interprets to hurry. The rise of 199 PS in contrast with the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport was achieved at the beginning due to 4 bigger turbochargers, along with new intercoolers.

The design of the automobile was additionally overhauled; the entrance of the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse options vast air intakes as on the Veyron 16.4 Tremendous Sport. The underside air slot extends sidewards into the wheel properly, giving the roadster a particularly commanding look. Immediately beneath the air consumption is a brand new entrance spoiler. A double diffuser, a central twin-pipe exhaust system, and a roof edge spoiler all mix to provide the rear of the automobile an extremely placing design. In distinction to the coupé, the roadster’s pores and skin is made solely from carbon. Bugatti due to this fact additionally provides the choice of clear, seen carbon paintwork.

Not like the Veyron 16.4 Tremendous Sport, however like all the opposite Veyron fashions, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse has two air scoops on both sides of the engine cowl. Within the roadster, these serve two functions: firstly, they suck in air for the 16-cylinder engine and, secondly, they’re an elegantly built-in a part of the rollover safety.

Bugatti additionally strengthened all of the powertrain parts, together with the gearing of the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DSG). A gas system taken from the Veyron 16.4 Tremendous Sport that contains a four-pump tank provides the engine with adequate gas. To reliably and comfortably put the facility on the highway, Bugatti retuned the chassis together with ESP, tires, and brakes — all of which deliver the roll and pitch right down to an virtually imperceptible minimal.

With the roof closed, the predecessor mannequin, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport with 1,001 PS, hits a pace of precisely 407 km/h, matching that of the coupé. When the roof is down, Bugatti electronically curtails the pace to 360 km/h. Within the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, not solely is the facility output greater, so too is the highest pace. With its 1,200 PS when the roof is closed, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse accelerates to as a lot as 410 km/h, whereas its pace is proscribed to 375 km/h when the roof is down.

“The interior noise and turbulence are lowered to a minimal due to the roof edge spoiler and an elaborately designed wind deflector. Even at prime speeds of over 200 km/h, the passengers can nonetheless maintain a dialog with the highest down,” relates Christophe Piochon. “This was us catering to a elementary buyer want.” Along with carbon, aluminum, and magnesium, Bugatti included a particular moisture-resistant leather-based with effective backstitching within the inside.

The Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse was to be the final mannequin within the Veyron collection, with the 2013 model created as a part of the Les Légendes de Bugatti vary. Les Légendes de Bugatti celebrated not solely six historic Bugatti people — Jean-Pierre Wimille, Jean Bugatti, Meo Costantini, Rembrandt Bugatti, Black Bess, and Ettore Bugatti — but in addition Bugatti’s distinctive creativity and craftsmanship. To this finish, for the Les Légendes de Bugatti version of the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, the designers used ending strategies and supplies by no means earlier than seen like this in a automobile. All of the Légendes fashions, which have been restricted to simply three autos every, offered out instantly.

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