On Top Gear the car has received considerable praise from all three presenters. Jeremy Clarkson declared the Veyron "the greatest piece of engineering ever. No, I'm sorry, this is the greatest car ever made and the greatest car we will ever see in our lifetime." James May proclaimed that the Veyron is "our Concorde moment". To review the car, Clarkson drove from Alba, northern Italy to London whilst racing James May and Richard Hammond who were travelling in a Cessna 182 aeroplane.
The Veyron's brakes use cross drilled, radially vented carbon fibre reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) composite discs, manufactured by SGL Carbon, which have a much greater resistance to brake fade when compared with conventional cast iron discs. The lightweight aluminium alloy monobloc brake calipers are made by AP Racing; the fronts have eight titanium pistons and the rear calipers have six pistons. Bugatti claims maximum deceleration of 1.3 G on road tyres. As an added safety feature, in the event of brake failure, an anti-lock braking system (ABS) has also been installed on the handbrake.
Bugatti Veyron
Bugatti Veyron
Bugatti Veyron Prototypes have been subjected to repeated 1.0 G braking from 312 km/h (194 mph) to 80 km/h (50 mph) without fade. With the car's acceleration from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 312 km/h (194 mph), that test can be performed every 22 seconds. At speeds above 200 km/h (120 mph), the rear wing also acts as an airbrake, snapping to a 55-degree angle in 0.4 seconds once brakes are applied, providing an additional 0.68 G (4.9 m/s²) of deceleration (equivalent to the stopping power of an ordinary hatchback).
Bugatti claims the Veyron will brake from 400 km/h (250 mph) to a standstill in less than 10 seconds, though in this time you will have covered a third of a mile.
The worlds most expensive Bugatti Veyron, wearing the F1 numberplate, is destined to be one of the highlights of next month's MPH prestige and performance auto show in the UK. The MPH Show features the Top Gear Live at London’s Earls Court between 5-8 November.
The car belongs to Afzal Kahn, the figure behind bespoke tuning firm Project Kahn and the same man who bought the exclusive F1 number plate last year for the princely sum of £440,625 ($721,743).
Afzal Kahn, who hopes his special car could be the right choice for the new F1 World Champion, Jenson Button. The soft white 253mph Bugatti Veyron F1 is able to get from 0 to 160 km/h in 5.5 seconds and outputs 1,010 bhp.
