10 years is a long time for car brands to develop groundbreaking models and technologies to help change even the fate of a car company. However, some things were “good” even 10 years ago. A typical example is the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, which 10 years ago set a speed record and until now, this car model still maintains its title after a long time.
Immediately after its debut in 2012, the open-top Hypercar broke the speed record for open-top cars at 408.84 km/h and successfully preserved this record to this day. Equipped with a powerful W16 engine from the French automaker with a vehicle capacity of 1,183 horsepower.
Bugatti’s biggest challenge is ensuring that the car will remain stable at high speeds and be able to handle the risk of rolling over. For added reinforcement, the brand machined the removable roof from a piece of lightweight polycarbonate, and the part became a key part of the car’s rigidity and safety standards.
However, when the hood comes off, the car must still be rigid and strong enough to protect the driver in case of an unfortunate accident. The monocoque must then be optimized to accommodate the change. The car is reinforced with a side tire while the B-pillars are stiffened with a carbon fiber bracket. The transmission tunnel is also reinforced with carbon panels to resist torsion. The doors are also made of carbon fiber and have vertical supports with pins that help transfer the load from the A-pillar to the B-pillar in the event of an accident. Even the air intakes on both sides of the engine cover are integrated into the protection.
“The Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse demonstrates Bugatti’s unparalleled technical expertise,” said Christophe Piochon, president of Bugatti. Even though the weight distribution is completely different with the roof open, the car is just as stable and accelerates impressively as with the roof closed. With the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, Bugatti has proven that it is possible to build a convertible Hypercar with very high performance and power output for extremely dynamic and very comfortable driving.”
To add 196 horsepower over the standard Grand Sport, the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport’s front air intakes were added to feed more air into the coolers for the W16’s four turbochargers. Below the air intake, the car is also equipped with a new front spoiler and is supplemented by a double diffuser, giving the car more aerodynamic control. Meanwhile, a central dual-pipe exhaust completes the striking appearance of the unique Hypercar model.
All of this helped the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse reach a top speed of 408.84 km/h and become the fastest convertible car in the world and is still a record that still stands today. . “Interior noise and turbulence are minimized thanks to the elaborately designed roof edge spoiler and wind deflector,” says Piochon. Even at a maximum speed of over 200 km/h, passengers can still chat with each other. This is us responding to the basic desires of our customers.”
The last model in the Veyron line, the car’s 10th anniversary marked an important milestone in the brand’s history and was the car that launched the modern Bugatti we know today.