Thread: Why has nobody raced (competitively) a Bugatti Veyron?

Just as a note to everyone here who keeps talking about the weight of the Veyron or the power figures of car X, Y, Z and what is faster than what...

When you want to really start discussing which car is faster and why etc etc ad nauseum, use a more appropriate and relevant metric that will also be a much better estimation of the cars actual abilities please. It has nothing to do with how much power is generated by the car per se (after all it could be a lead sled for example). It also has nothing to do with the weight of the car per se either (even though it could be relatively light it could also be terribly underpowered).

Try discussing it in terms of its Power-to-Weight ratio. That is the only metric that truely means anything when referring to how fast one car is over another in raw terms without getting too technical and getting into really difficult to compare terms like aerodynamic coefficients of drag, for example. Any racer should know that and will also tell you so.

And now for the class lesson:

Power-to-weight ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can also look up a lot of cars you might be familiar with here on this page (these figures represent the HP per tonne):

SUPERCARS.NET - Comprehensive Specifications, Galleries & Forums since 1996

As you were...

I raced mine one time.... In Forza....

Originally Posted by KingNikan

Veyrons are not race cars. They are too big, too heavy, too luxurious to be a race car. The Veyron was developed to go fast in a straight line.
I would say this car is a GT (Grand Tourer). Unlike for example the Enzo or the McLaren F1 this car is built to have comfort and simply to be outrageous.

You hit the nail on the head.

The reason these aren't raced is there is way too much stuff that would have to be done to make it into a racer. The car would almost have to be completely re-engineered. For instance, to convert it into the GT1 class of cars it would need a completely new engine with a max of 600hp. You could take the turbos off the current engine but a 8L W16 still uses far too much fuel, is far too complex, too heavy, and sheds too much of its power into heat which means heavy radiators to cool it.

IMO the Veyron was built to push the limits of automotive technology. It tore up all the rule books from the last 100 years of car making, threw them in the garbage and completely redefined the super car. The Veyron is a car to be marveled at, not something to race. Racing occurs when something needs to be proven (my car is faster than your car, i am the best manufacturer, etc..). The Veyron has nothing to prove, it is what it is and I think it might be the biggest feat in automotive engineering this world has seen so far. Sit in a Veyron and you will realize why nobody races it. It's already won.

Originally Posted by Charles DuPont

IMO the Veyron was built to push the limits of automotive technology. It tore up all the rule books from the last 100 years of car making, threw them in the garbage and completely redefined the super car. The Veyron is a car to be marveled at, not something to race. Racing occurs when something needs to be proven (my car is faster than your car, i am the best manufacturer, etc..). The Veyron has nothing to prove, it is what it is and I think it might be the biggest feat in automotive engineering this world has seen so far. Sit in a Veyron and you will realize why nobody races it. It's already won.

I'd like to know what you think about it is pushing the limits of automotive technology. People always seem to use this phrase describing the Veyron but never provide specifics. From the top of my head all I can think of is the transmission and tires. This car was built to be excessive, not necessarily push the limits of technology. Just take a quick look at the motor and you can see what I mean: 16 cylinders, 4 turbos, 1001hp, 12 radiators. What it has accomplished could have easily been done with less but they chose not to. This is where the Veyron stands on its own.

Originally Posted by srock

I'd like to know what you think about it is pushing the limits of automotive technology. People always seem to use this phrase describing the Veyron but never provide specifics. From the top of my head all I can think of is the transmission and tires. This car was built to be excessive, not necessarily push the limits of technology. Just take a quick look at the motor and you can see what I mean: 16 cylinders, 4 turbos, 1001hp, 12 radiators. What it has accomplished could have easily been done with less but they chose not to. This is where the Veyron stands on its own.

The breaks developed for the car, the aerodynamic of the car keeping it from flying down, the transmission, the carbon fiber construction, the technique behind building such a powerful motor, putting all the power on the street, building a car that can both go 250mph but still be easy enough to be driven day to day by nearly anyone.

It's not too hard taking a car and throwing a big motor in it to make it go fast. But all of these other cars are very hard to drive, uncomfortable to drive with on regular roads. Developing the Veyron engine took years and a lot of expertise to make a motor that can produce this kind of power and the engineering to put it on the road with spinning and turning and killing you on the first corner

Originally Posted by KingNikan

1. The breaks developed for the car, 2. the aerodynamic of the car keeping it from flying down, 3. the transmission, 4. the carbon fiber construction, 5. the technique behind building such a powerful motor, 6. putting all the power on the street, 7. building a car that can both go 250mph but still be easy enough to be driven day to day by nearly anyone.

It's not too hard taking a car and throwing a big motor in it to make it go fast. But all of these other cars are very hard to drive, uncomfortable to drive with on regular roads. Developing the Veyron engine took years and a lot of expertise to make a motor that can produce this kind of power and the engineering to put it on the road with spinning and turning and killing you on the first corner

1. Brakes are brakes and carbon ceramics have been around for a decent amount of time. They may be bigger than the ones on say an Enzo but that's about it.
2. This car's aerodynamics could have been much better, it was a battle between the designers and engineers and resulted in tons of compromises. High drag (coefficient of 0.36) and lots of body modification for stability at high speed.
3. Already said. It is impressive, but no one knows how reliable they really are because no one puts miles on their Veyron. Sad to say the least.
4. Nothing special, has been done on tons of cars.
5. What technique? A motor is a motor. So people in lab coats in fancy rooms put them together, not exactly pushing the limits of engineering.
6. Big power = big tires. This is the only other area besides the transmission that I think is special.
7. McLaren did that 15 years ago albeit 10mph slower.

It's stupid easy to make power. Anyone can make power, even reliably at that. Since the car costs so much they were able to use billet and forged engine internals and those last a ridiculously long time, plus there are 16 cylinders so each cylinder only has to deal with 63hp. But this is nothing new, people have been using forged and billet engine internals (albeit mostly aftermarket) for years and years, nothing special. Putting power to the ground is easier than ever with modern day traction control systems (not to mention the car is AWD) and most all cars have them. You act like a 1001hp motor is a gigantic feat never been done before. Even new production cars like the Hennessey Venom GT (just an example, not comparing it to the Veyron) have 1200hp which is a joke for a LSx motor. I'd hate to see your reaction when you learn how much power top fuel cars make.

just a question, how many times can you use the lc in a row before the tranny goes bust? (on full hp)

[QUOTE=srock;1814121]1. Brakes are brakes and carbon ceramics have been around for a decent amount of time. They may be bigger than the ones on say an Enzo but that's about it.
2. This car's aerodynamics could have been much better, it was a battle between the designers and engineers and resulted in tons of compromises. High drag (coefficient of 0.36) and lots of body modification for stability at high speed.
3. Already said. It is impressive, but no one knows how reliable they really are because no one puts miles on their Veyron. Sad to say the least.
4. Nothing special, has been done on tons of cars.
5. What technique? A motor is a motor. So people in lab coats in fancy rooms put them together, not exactly pushing the limits of engineering.
6. Big power = big tires. This is the only other area besides the transmission that I think is special.
7. McLaren did that 15 years ago albeit 10mph slower.

It's stupid easy to make power. Anyone can make power, even reliably at that. Since the car costs so much they were able to use billet and forged engine internals and those last a ridiculously long time, plus there are 16 cylinders so each cylinder only has to deal with 63hp. But this is nothing new, people have been using forged and billet engine internals (albeit mostly aftermarket) for years and years, nothing special. Putting power to the ground is easier than ever with modern day traction control systems (not to mention the car is AWD) and most all cars have them. You act like a 1001hp motor is a gigantic feat never been done before. Even new production cars like the Hennessey Venom GT (just an example, not comparing it to the Veyron) have 1200hp which is a joke for a LSx motor. I'd hate to see your reaction when you learn how much power top fuel cars make.[/QUOTE

Quiet frankly, I think you actually have no idea what the development behind this car had encompassed. I'd advise you to watch the Nat Geo documentary on the Veyron. It will show you that not all brakes are created equal. You will also see that if the construction of the car was really that easy VAG would not have taken over $2 billion dollars of losses per car. The Carbon Fibre construction was not that common back in 05. And once again a Motor is not a Motor. I would like to know what the life span is of a Lsx motor with 1200bhp +. Nevermind that the F1 is not an easy car to drive. The McLaren is a purebred track machine and not a cruiser like the Veyron. Making a car go fast is not that hard but doing it properly so it can be drive by any bloke is a bit harder.

Originally Posted by Phaster

just a question, how many times can you use the lc in a row before the tranny goes bust? (on full hp)

The clutch(es) would go long before the tranny did, but I don't actually know when the tranny would blow. Someone with a Veyron care to find out? :P

Originally Posted by KingNikan

Quiet frankly, I think you actually have no idea what the development behind this car had encompassed. I'd advise you to watch the Nat Geo documentary on the Veyron. It will show you that not all brakes are created equal. You will also see that if the construction of the car was really that easy VAG would not have taken over $2 billion dollars of losses per car. The Carbon Fibre construction was not that common back in 05. And once again a Motor is not a Motor. I would like to know what the life span is of a Lsx motor with 1200bhp +. Nevermind that the F1 is not an easy car to drive. The McLaren is a purebred track machine and not a cruiser like the Veyron. Making a car go fast is not that hard but doing it properly so it can be drive by any bloke is a bit harder.

I have watched it an it didn't impress me. To someone who's never seen that kind of stuff before it might, but not me. I honestly see the Veyron as more of a nightmare than an engineering marvel from watching that. Again I will repeat there is nothing special about the brakes but their size, go watch a "How It's Made" on carbon ceramic brakes. Carbon Fiber construction had already been done on the McLaren F1 and the Enzo. A motor is a motor; explain to me what is so special about the Veyron motors construction compared to say, a Ferrari 599. The lifespan of a 1200hp LSx is not known because they don't fail. A more common use for the LSx is 2500hp dragsters and those do break but not very often. The F1 is a very easy car to drive slow, you must have not read/watched any reviews or heard from anyone who has drove them. The F1 (the road car at least) is very much NOT a purebred track machine, it was meant to be the ultimate ROAD car. This is shown by just how bad the few track times for it are, and the words from Gordon Murray himself.