Power to burn

Motoring editor ALASTAIR SLOANE checks out Bugatti's new EB 164 Veyron and finds a supercar which is likely to shatter existing benchmarks.

There are a couple of things Bugatti won't say about the EB 164 Veyron, its new mid-engined supercar unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.

One is the price. "Just say hundreds of thousands of dollars," said a spokesman. The other is the car's oomph. "Top speed and maximum acceleration values will be announced at a later date."

The later date will be next year, after Bugatti has finished testing the four-wheel-drive Veyron and before the production version is signed off for sale in 2003. A rough guess is that it will be good for 320 km/h and a sub-4sec 0-100 km/h sprint. Those are accepted supercar figures.

But the Veyron isn't just another supercar. For a start, its mid-range power is expected to shatter existing benchmarks. This is because the car is powered by an 8-litre, 16-cylinder engine, or two V8s joined at the hip. This configuration is called a W16, the result of overlapping and adding up V8-V8. Get it? This is new.

So, too, are the four turbochargers. The boosters help the all-alloy W16 to produce a mind-boggling 793kW (1001 bhp) at 6000 rpm and 1250Nm of torque, or pulling power, available between 2200 and 5500 rpm. These figures are seriously muscular.

The Veyron is 4380mm long, 1206mm high, 1994mm wide. Its wheelbase is 2650mm, and it has a front track of 1712mm and a rear of 1640mm.

The engine is compact, measuring 710mm long and 771mm high. It sits in front of the rear axle and drives all four 20-inch aluminium wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox. The front tyres are 265/30 R20, the rear 335/30 R20. Wheelbarrows aren't much wider.

The design of the engine, with roller rocker fingers and four overhead camshafts with variable-valve timing, is unique in international engine construction.

Four exhaust turbochargers provide the 7993cc direct-injection unit with the sort of thrust that would give any Formula One car impressive lap times. Air coolers sit above the cylinder heads.

Sixty-four valves control the inlet and exhaust functions. The fuel is injected via electro-magnetic injection valves directly into the combustion chambers.

This process makes it possible to precisely define the moments at which fuel is introduced in the power stroke of each cylinder and the time needed for the petrol and air to mix, says Bugatti.

For the perfect coordination of all the parameters of the W16 engine, Bugatti utilises a master-slave computer setup: two independently functioning computers for each cylinder bank are managed by a central control unit.

Bugatti itself is in awe of the car and its oomph. "No other production car can offer this kind of power development," it says. "It is almost impossible to describe.

"The only physical force that can noticeably affect the Veyron is gravity. And that is only because the aluminium space-frame body develops enormous downward pressure on account of the perfectly balanced underfloor and overall dynamics. By contrast, wind resistance, or the mass to be accelerated, are practically insignificant for this car."

The Veyron marks the start of a new age for Bugatti, which has been owned by Volkswagen for the past couple of years. It is named after racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 1939 Le Mans 24-hour race in a Bugatti 51A, the most successful Bugatti racer.

The first Bugatti was built by Ettore Bugatti at his headquarters near Strasbourg, France, more than 90 years ago.

Ettore, and later his son Jean, designed vehicles which were far ahead of their time in styling and technology. Types such as the T 57 SC Atlantic, or the many versions of the T 41 Royale, are some of the most valuable motors of all time. But the mystique is not founded solely on the coupes, roadsters, convertibles and saloons driven by the rich and famous of the 1920s and 30s. It also developed in the racing activities of those decades.

Between 1933 and 1937, Veyron enjoyed particular success with the Bugatti 51A, winning eight grands prix. The 1.5-litre eight-cylinder produced 102kW and had a top speed of 210 km/h. Veyron and two other drivers set six international speed records on January 23, 1934, at the historic circuit of Montlhery, near Paris.

A year later, on March 30 and 31, three further world records were set on the same circuit. Veyron and the Bugatti 51A established for all time the design genius of Ettore Bugatti, or EB.

Veyron's Bugatti 51A is owned by a collector in America and was flown to Geneva to share the stand with the EB 164 Veyron.