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Bugatti Veyron 16.4
World Premiere - The new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is celebrating its world premiere as a series production vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show. The production of this super
sportscar in Molsheim, near Strasbourg in France, the home of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., only started a few weeks ago."Japan", explained Dr. Thomas Bscher,
President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. on the exhibition stand in Tokyo, "is one of the most important markets for luxury automobiles in general and for Bugatti in
particular. We know that the marque Bugatti enjoys great respect in Japan and we are very happy that this is where we are for the first time presenting the series
model of the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4." Tokyo has been the scene of a Bugatti Veyron world premiere before – in 1999, when the Bugatti Veyron EB 18/4, with an
18-cylinder engine, but even then with the unmistakable, typical Veyron design, was revealed to the world's public.
The official vehicle designation is: Bugatti Veyron 16.4. The technical specifications
are unique in the automobile industry: 1,001 hp – 16-cylinder engine – 1,250 Nm at 2,200 rpm – top speed 407 km/h – four turbochargers – permanent four-wheel
drive. Never before has such a concentration of technical innovations and top specifications been realised in a series vehicle. In spite of this accumulation of high
performance technical data, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 can be driven in everyday traffic like a "normal" car – that too is a hitherto unattained synthesis between practical utility and fascinating peak values.
The world's most innovative high-performance sportscar
High-tech equipment for the most ambitious project in automobile history.
Maximum safety for driver and passenger in every driving situation and unique driving dynamics were the essential development goals for the exceptional
sportscar, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. To achieve them, the Bugatti development engineers under Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber drew on the latest knowledge gained from
the premier class in motor sport. The most innovative solutions in contemporary automobile construction were adapted. The new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is a classic
example of an optimum combination of structural rigidity and lightweight construction. The survival cell for two persons consists of extremely strong, but
feather-light carbon fibre. It is designed as a monocoque construction and is the central element in the vehicle's structure. It is connected at the front to a
lightweight aluminium frame. Mounted above at the rear are carbon fibre side members. Below is a steel frame which holds the W16-cylinder engine. The external
features at the rear consist of aluminium sheeting and also function as so-called crash boxes. This sports coupé with a top speed over 400 km/h is powered by a
16-cylinder engine with a cylinder capacity of 8.0 litres and four turbochargers, which owes its compact dimensions to the unique array of its cylinder banks in a W
configuration. The power unit produces 1,001 hp at 6,000 rpm and supplies a maximum torque of 1,250 newton metres between 2,200 and 5,500 rpm. The
enormous power is portioned out by the world's "fastest" gearbox, a direct shift DSG unit with seven forward gears and a dual clutch, exclusively developed for the
all-wheel drive Bugatti Veyron 16.4. It is distinguished by its unequalled short shift times and lack of traction interruption. Optimum power distribution between the
front and rear axles is provided by a Haldex clutch integrated behind the front axle differential. The rear axle differential has a multiple disk lock.
Using technical know-how from the aerospace sector, the braking system realised for the fastest series automobile of all time itself sets new standards with its
unique deceleration values. It consists of a high-performance brake unit generating up to 180 bar brake pressure with carbon fibre disks and eight-cylinder monoblock
brake callipers. Their titanium pistons have a stainless-steel crown with ceramic heat shielding. For braking from speed ranges above 200 km/h, the tail wing
functions as an airbrake for a further increase in braking performance. For this purpose, the wing is set at an angle of 113 degrees in less than 0.4 seconds. The
downthrust over the tail immediately rises to about 300 kg, permitting higher braking moments on the rear tyres. Full braking from 400 km/h brings the Bugatti
Veyron 16.4 to a halt in less than 10 seconds. The very high handling requirements of this exceptional sportscar are supported by a complex control installation of
aerodynamic assistance systems. These solve conflicts of purpose arising from the simultaneous desire for low air resistance to achieve higher speeds, adequate
downthrust for good road-holding and the most favourable airflow to the high-performance aggregates for optimum cooling. The heart of the control
equipment is a computer-controlled hydraulic system that regulates the road clearance of the sports coupé. There are three speed-dependent level settings. In
addition, two actively controlled diffusor flaps in the front underbody increase the downthrust over the front axle. The same effect is achieved at the rear by venturis
in the underbody and the tail wing. The normal driving level, with tail wing and spoilers lying flush with the bodywork, is maintained up to 220 km/h. Above this
speed, the bodywork is automatically lowered and the tail wing and spoilers are deployed. In this "handling setting", the diffusor flaps remain open. Higher
downthrust forces are generated. The decision to drive the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 in the speed range above 375 km/h is made by the driver after a thorough review of
the safety situation. With a second key in the cylinder to the left of the driver's seat, he can grant authorisation for access to the top speed in excess of 400 km/h.
As a complement to the extraordinary complexity of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the interior has an appearance of clarity and all the instruments can be operated
intuitively. Fine materials and accentuated surfaces show their inspiration in historic Bugatti automobiles. The driver's workplace follows state-of-the-art
ergonomic principles and is designed to be driver-centred. In his field of vision are the large central tachometer, the speedometer on the right and a new type of
engine performance indicator on the left. This indicates the current engine performance in horsepower in steps of 100 up to 1,000.
Invisible to the occupants are numerous technical innovations which might be said to be on a second operative level. These are unique in series automobile
construction and support the intelligent lightweight construction and the complex safety functions. The electrical system includes a total of 2.7 kilometres of cable,
sheathed in very strong and extremely light glass fibre. This weighs only five kilograms and carries the communications of 26 control units. The new Bugatti
Veyron 16.4 is fitted as standard with a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), which can load vehicle data through a Bluetooth interface and, for example, can forward
security-relevant data automatically via a GSM mobile phone network. The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 instills new life into the traditional marque of the designer genius
Ettore Bugatti. It not only redefines the performance limits for an automobile, but also sets new standards for dynamic driving control. As the former racing driver and
President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., Dr. Thomas Bscher, says: "The Veyron is easier to handle than any other sportscar even approaching its performance class.
The spontaneity with which it carries out the wishes of its driver is fascinating. And the high standard of its safety equipment is as unique as most of its details are exclusive."
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History & Time-Line
50 years down the road, a car make once again
In 1956, the final attempts had failed, in the wake of the death of the company's founder in 1947 – preceded in death in 1939 by his son Jean, with whom he
collaborated – to keep the substantially weakened company alive. After 47 years' production, in the course of which 7,950 Bugattis of models 13 through 251 had been manufactured, the gates to the Bugatti factory in
Molsheim were forced to close.
Today, nearly 50 years later to the day, the production of Bugatti automobiles is resuming, making Molsheim once again the hub of the Bugatti world. As a centre for
reminiscence, this picturesque, small city near Strasbourg has never lost its significance. The area's "Enthusiasts Bugatti Alsace", together with their friends in the various Bugatti clubs throughout the entire
world, are in large measure responsible for keeping the brand alive over the decades – even in the absence of the product itself. This is an experience in which various other prestigious automobile brands with
melodious names have not shared.
It is in this fact that the strength of the Bugatti brand values is expressed most clearly. The admiration for "art on wheels", the cool achievement of the aesthetic tenacity
of Ettore Bugatti was a man who was first and foremost an artist, not a technician. The grandeur of the victories in the glorious years of dirt-encrusted heroes on the racecourses of this world and, not least, the
suitability of these racing cars for everyday driving the latter is what made Bugatti cars accessible to a broader clientele. The prestige of inspired design and the exclusiveness of individual models that helped
catapult certain Bugatti models into the astronomical price classes.
1998 through 1999: four design studies in 15 months' time In April 1998, the Volkswagen Group took over the Bugatti trademark, presenting the brand to the public for the first time at the International Motor Show in
Paris with a study for a two-door coupe it had commissioned Italdesign to create: the Bugatti EB 118. A few months later, in March 1999, at the Geneva Motor Show, a design of the EB 218, itself also created at
Italdesign, caused a sensation with a four-door saloon using the same 18-cylinder, 6.3 litre engine with 555 hp. This was followed, the same year, at the IAA in Frankfurt, by the centre-engine design, the Bugatti EB
18/3 Chiron; once again Giugiaro was responsible for the design. And shortly thereafter, in Tokyo, the Bugatti EB 18/4 Veyron celebrated its world premiere, a model designed at the "Volkswagen Centre of Excellence
Design" under the directorship of Hartmut Warkuss. No more than nearly a year later, in autumn 2000 in Paris, the Veyron 16.4 was shown for the first time. The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 with the ultimate in performance
features, the 1,001 hp, 8-litre, 16-cylinder engine and its technological specifications – 1,250 Nm at 2,200 rpm, peak speed of more than 400 km/h, four turbochargers and permanent four-wheel drive – features that
have remained in place to this day, celebrated its debut at the IAA in Frankfurt in September of 2001
2003: New team – new objectives
In 2001, the decision was made to go into serial production of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 with a lot not to exceed 300 cars. In December of the following year, "Bugatti
Automobiles S.A.S." was established, a subsidiary of "Volkswagen France" with headquarters in Molsheim. And nearly a year to the day thereafter, at the end of 2003, Dr. Thomas Bscher took overall charge of the
Bugatti project as the new President of "Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.". Appointed to assist him was Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, serving as technical director and simultaneously as head of "Bugatti Engineering GmbH" in
Wolfsburg, where all of the development work for the new Bugatti is co-ordinated and, in part, carried out. His functional mission was to put the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 on the road. The new team subjected the entire
project to a technological and financial feasibility study commissioned, among other things, to develop a realistic timeframe for the launch of production of the new Bugatti. Shortly before the 2004 Geneva Motor
Show, the Executive Board at the Group approved plans for the "new" Veyron project, scheduling production to begin in September 2005. This schedule has been met to this day.
The Veyron: An unrivalled synthesis of top performance with the everyday
This is made all the more remarkable by the fact that the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, despite its very limited production, is called upon to
meet all of the specifications of the Volkswagen Group in their entirety. This means innumerable time-consuming trials and tests throughout the entire world, all devoted to the fulfilment of a single objective: to
measure up to the strict, indeed relentless quality and quality-assurance standards the company has laid down. This ensures that this super sportscar will be suitable for everyday driving as well, to a degree never
before witnessed in any other serial-production vehicle of this type. In the world of modern, serial-production automobiles, the synthesis which has been brought to fruition in the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is a synthesis
between easy and problem-free operation in day-to-day traffic and breathtaking driving in the high-performance area. A reference which would be music to the ears of Ettore Bugatti, whose early successes themselves
were rooted in this unique combination.
Extensive construction work in Molsheim
Tandem to the ongoing activities in the product area, extensive construction work has been launched at the location in Molsheim. To begin with, the Château Saint Jean
– an edifice that Ettore Bugatti never used as a residence but rather only as a form of what, in today's parlance would be termed a customer service centre, was completely renovated. The two stalls located to the
south and the north of the castle, which in Bugatti's day served as stables, were telemetrically surveyed, dismantled and, using as many of the original elements of the structure, such as wall segments and woodwork,
as were still usable, reconstructed in a faithful copy of the original structures. In this new "Bugatti Era", these structures will for the most part have an administrative character; in one of the spaces, clients
will also be able to receive their Bugatti Veyron in an historical setting. The core of the investments made in Molsheim is the "Atelier" in which production of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is beginning in September
2005. In its architectural form, this modern production facility has been given stylistic features dipping back into the history of the automotive brand. With a southern exposure, the lightfilled, glassed main hall
is only partly evocative of an automobile-manufacturing operation in the classical sense of the term – it reminds the beholder more of a "Formula One laboratory". The setting is dominated by clinical cleanliness and
precision workmanship with highly developed component parts. And yet the "Atelier" can still hold its own against the "major players". A runway for the measurement of relevant functional-performance data and a
generously proportioned water-spraying system for testing vehicle water tightness are to be found here, alongside a light chamber under the glaring lamps of which the slightest inconsistency in a car's paintwork
mercilessly catches the eye. A small test course has been laid out in the green spaces in front of the building. It can be used to supplement the road-test programme compulsory for all Veyrons and which concludes
the vehicle's production process. A logistics centre erected next to the "Atelier" rounds out the complex of buildings in Molsheim.
Historic location
Thanks to Bugatti, Molsheim has been elevated from anonymity to find its own place on the map – not just of the automotive world. And this is certainly justified, both for the location of
Ettore Bugatti's production facilities and his private residence, which is located immediately adjacent. With the purchase of the Château Saint Jean and the property surrounding it, comprising some 140,000 m2 and
the site of all other modern-day Bugatti activities as well, this has changed somewhat in purely geographic terms. To be precise, the property is situated in Dorlisheim which, while within sight of the former
Bugatti factory, is nevertheless located on the other side of the Bruche River. This has been the source of inspiration for a "postal sleight of hand" on the part of the new management at Bugatti. To be able to
carry the historic value of the location in Molsheim into the Bugatti future while at the same time satisfying the administrative regulations of the Land, a compromise was negotiated with local authorities. A
Solomonic solution was arrived at with the latter – who took a very favourable view of the entire Bugatti project right from the beginning, providing their active support throughout its development. The correct and
complete address of Bugatti "Cru 2005" is: Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., 1, Château Saint Jean, Dorlisheim, F-67120 Molsheim. Bugatti is on the threshold of a new era. Its location is Molsheim. The company is
international. Ettore Bugatti was born in 1881 in Italy. He completed his technological instruction in Germany, first with De Dietrich in Niederbronn in Alsace – at the time still a part of Germany – and then at
Deutz in Cologne, before he built his first automobile in 1909 in Molsheim. Since 1998, Bugatti has belonged to the Volkswagen Group as a French company with a French headquarters. The modern-day Bugatti team –
every bit as international as the company itself – views the legacy of Ettore Bugatti as both a challenge and an obligation. Thus, Dr. Bscher concluded his welcoming remarks with these words: "The Bugatti Veyron
16.4 will find its devotees here in Japan, we are sure of that", concluded Dr. Thomas Bscher. "We have brought this fascinating super sportscar on to the roads of Japan, transforming it from a visionary sketch into
the reality of today's automobile world. In doing so, we have laid the cornerstone for leading one of the most renowned and reputable makes of automobile from the virtuality of the past into the hard competition of
the future. The Bugatti brand will rise to this competition. The Bugatti Veyron is the best sports car in the world, a car the likes of which the world has, in this form, never seen before. Its technical data are
second to none. The Veyron closes the gap between myth and vision. We believe that we have interpreted Ettore Bugatti's ideas in the 21st century in much the same manner as he himself may have done. Whether we have
succeeded in this remains to be shown. But one thing is certain. The Bugatti Veyron is just the beginning. This automotive brand is alive – and will live on".
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