Latest news with #Piëch
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The long and difficult gestation of the Bugatti Veyron
Anti-clockwise from top right: the EB118, EB218, 18/3 Chiron and 18/4 Veyron concepts In 1998, Volkswagen bought the rights to the Bugatti brand from the bankrupted Italian firm that had given us the V12-engined EB110 supercar. Seven years and more than €1 billion later, we drove a Veyron for the first time. It was the fastest and most powerful production car the world had ever seen, by quite some margin, and it hit, if not exceeded, all of the targets that had been set – except for cost, because there was no constraint on that, and, despite it retailing for €1 million, Volkswagen allegedly lost €5m on each one. Or rather company supremo Ferdinand Piëch lost it, because the Veyron was his car through and through. The idea only came to fruition because his attitude was: 'You will get it done, and if you can't, you will be replaced by someone who can,' according to Chrysler chief Bob Lutz. But then the Veyron was never meant to be a money-making exercise. In our final issue of 1998, Peter Robinson commented: 'Without Piëch's astonishing assault into car territories once beyond the wildest fantasy of staid old VW, the task of writing Autocar's weekly Grapevine column in 1998 would have been much harder.' Indeed, Piëch had tried to buy Rolls-Royce, Volvo Trucks, BMW, Cosworth, Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti all in that year, succeeding with the last four and setting about planning a sprawling new model range using monstrous engines. The world had its first glimpse of Veyron madness at the 1998 Paris motor show: the EB118, an ostentatious coupé concept with a 555bhp 6.3-litre W18 engine that 'arose from a simple sketch [Piëch had] made on a serviette during a dinner'.At the 1999 Geneva motor show, even while Volkswagen's W12-engined Syncro supercar was still on the cards, Bentley revealed an 8.0-litre W18 supercar of its own and Bugatti the EB218 concept, a saloon version of the EB118. The intention was for the brand to return to the market position it had enjoyed in its original pre-war form, so 'Volkswagen insiders were buoyed that the Mercedes team developing their own limousine, the Maybach, awarded the EB218 'benchmark' status after visiting Bugatti's stand', we reported. This was shortly followed by the 18/3 Chiron and 18/4 Veyron supercar concepts, which were much closer in style to what we know today. In 2000, though, it emerged that development of the W18 had slowed. 'It seems the cost of having both 16- and 18-cylinder engines frightens even Piëch,' we suggested. Soon after we sampled the 18/4 Veyron on condition of silence, and the big boss told us: 'We have the technology under control.' Clearly they didn't, though, because only a few months later, the supercar evolved into the 16/4 Veyron. Instead of three banks of two three-cylinder engines in line, it had VR8s grafted together into a W16 – much simpler. Nevertheless, there were fears that the Veyron project had become too expensive, even for Piëch and even after all the other planned Bugatti models had been canned. Brand president Karl-Heinz Neumann, who was also in charge of the entire group's powertrains, reassured us: 'Volkswagen has the money. From the end of 2003 or the beginning of 2004, we plan to build 50 Veyrons a year – a total of 200.' But by August 2003, Neumann had been 'given his marching orders'. 'Despite the upheaval,' we said, 'Bugatti officials deny the supercar's performance claims will be scaled back. They say the four-wheel-drive Veyron will hit 60mph in just 2.9sec and top 252mph.' And upon launch in September 2005, the Veyron did so. In fact, it was even quicker, hitting 60mph in 2.5sec. We were delighted and quite relieved to be able to at long last experience 'a peculiar cacophony that sounds a bit like two TVRs on full reheat plus an industrial-strength air hose' being 'accompanied by mind-bending, heart-stopping acceleration, the like of which has never been felt before in a road car'. ]]>
Top Gear
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
The Bugatti Veyron was first sketched on a Japanese bullet train with a W18 engine
Supercars Bugatti opens the history books to show us four concepts that paved the way Skip 10 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Around 25 years ago, the late Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Piëch said he wanted to build a car that boasted 1,001PS and would be capable of over 400kmh. They'd figure out to get there along the way, but the targets had been set. Interestingly, the all-conquering Veyron was originally planned to have a W18 engine. Bugatti has released these concept car pics outlining the journey from Piëch's train ride to the fastest car in the world, taking in a few very important concepts. Advertisement - Page continues below It was that original ride on a Japanese Shinkansen – the 'bullet train' – back in 1997 where Piëch sketched out an 18-cylinder powerhaus that'd fuel his dream of 1,001PS and 400kmh+. He asked Italdesign's Giorgetto Giugiaro to deliver him a concept capable of bearing such a thing. The front-engined EB 118 arrived at the 1998 Paris Motor Show as a massive two-door homage to the Type 57CS Atlantic whose long bonnet hid a 6.3-litre naturally aspirated W18 engine with 555PS (547bhp). A long way off his target, but the stage had been set. You might like A year later came the EB 218, also designed by GG, this time taking the form of a lavish front-engined four-door that doffed its considerable cap to both the Type 41 Royale and the earlier EB 112 concept from the Artioli era. Longer than the EB 118, it too was powered by that 547bhp W18 lurking under the nose. It took until September 1999 for Bugatti to shuffle the W18 to the middle with the reveal of the EB 18/3 Chiron. This time, GG's son Fabrizio was in charge of the pencil case, adjusting the shape to accommodate the 547bhp W18 in the middle of the car. It's the point where the Veyron really began to take shape, all cab-forward aggression wrapped up in a two-door coupe. Advertisement - Page continues below A month later, it'd morph again into the EB 18/4 concept penned not by the Giugiaros, but in-house by Jozef Kaban, credited with the final Veyron's design. Named after Bugatti's development and test driver Pierre Veyron – who'd won at Le Mans – the 18/4 originally debuted with the same W18. But, 'the immense challenge of reliably extracting over 1,000PS', as well as managing the heat and complexity of the nat-asp W18 meant in 2000, it was downsized by two cylinders to an 8.0-litre W16. It was also turbocharged to within an inch of its life – four, don't forget – which allowed Bugatti to hit its targets. And lo, the Veyron arrived. (And yes, around the same time, Bugatti's stablemates were toying with their own Veyron-esque creations, in the shape of the 1999 Bentley Hunaudières and 2000 Audi Rosemeyer concepts. Both featured a WR16 layout.) Not a bad motor, that Veyron, by all accounts. Pretty quick. Quite luxurious. Bit expensive. Produced 1,001PS (987bhp) and of course, went on to very much exceed 400kmh in the Super Sport. Job done. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
Auto Car
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
How the Bugatti Veyron went from harebrained idea to a 252mph, €1 million production reality
At the 1999 Geneva motor show, even while Volkswagen's W12-engined Syncro supercar was still on the cards, Bentley revealed an 8.0-litre W18 supercar of its own and Bugatti the EB218 concept, a saloon version of the EB118. The intention was for the brand to return to the market position it had enjoyed in its original pre-war form, so 'Volkswagen insiders were buoyed that the Mercedes team developing their own limousine, the Maybach, awarded the EB218 'benchmark' status after visiting Bugatti's stand', we reported. This was shortly followed by the 18/3 Chiron and 18/4 Veyron supercar concepts, which were much closer in style to what we know today. In 2000, though, it emerged that development of the W18 had slowed. 'It seems the cost of having both 16- and 18-cylinder engines frightens even Piëch,' we suggested. Soon after we sampled the 18/4 Veyron on condition of silence, and the big boss told us: 'We have the technology under control.' Clearly they didn't, though, because only a few months later, the supercar evolved into the 16/4 Veyron. Instead of three banks of two three-cylinder engines in line, it had VR8s grafted together into a W16 – much simpler. Nevertheless, there were fears that the Veyron project had become too expensive, even for Piëch and even after all the other planned Bugatti models had been canned.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Volkswagen Put An Experimental W10 Engine In BMW's Best M5
The legend of the Volkswagen Group's rebellious, daring, and absurdist creations pitched and produced under the rule of Ferdinand Porsche's grandson, the late Ferdinand Piëch, continue to enchant and mystify the automotive community. The team at DriveTribe uncovered and drove a perfect example of this daring absurdity in a YouTube video about an E39 BMW M5 that hid quite an oddity under its hood: A one-of-two experimental W10 engine that Piëch ordered to be created. No, my fat fingers didn't accidentally press the wrong key — this 10-cylinder engine was created by connecting two narrow-angle V5 engines in the same way VW did with the Passat's W8 and the Phaeton's W12. Now, why would Volkswagen go and put this experimental engine under the hood of a German competitor? Drivetribe presenter Mike Fernie explains that it was due to Piëch's desire to produce an M5 competitor, but since the Volkswagen Group didn't have a comparable model at the time, Piëch himself signed off on putting his experimental W10 right into an M5. Then, he reportedly used it as his daily driver because he was so impressed by the outcome. Must've been a mighty compelling thing, then. Read more: 2024 Acura TLX Type S Is A Different Kind Of AWD Sport Sedan Now, if you're familiar with the unique wail of a five-cylinder engine, then you are probably desperate to hear what two narrow-angle V5 engines connected at the crank sound like. Unfortunately it doesn't have quite the throaty growl that you may expect, though it does sound interesting. But as Fernie points out, that's kind of the order of the day when it comes to the VW Group's W-oriented engines. Neither the W12 used in an array of Volkswagen Group products, nor the quad-turbocharged W16 used in the Veyron and other Bugattis are particularly sonorous engines. Go on YouTube and type "straight piped W8 Passat" into the search bar, though, and you'll find a few videos showing the ripper of a sound that the W8 produces. Anyway, back to the W10. The owner of the W10 E39 M5 mule tested it out on a dynamometer and found out that it produces 480 horsepower and about 436 pound-feet of torque. Unfortunately I cannot offer any driving impressions from my own experience, but Fernie seems quite smitten with the manual-equipped, W10-powered E39 M5, and I can't blame him. He's experiencing a one-of-one driving experience, as the only other W10 known to exist is mounted to a post in the owner's garage. What a cool experience — I'm only slightly irate with jealousy. Apparently it's for sale, though, if you happen to have a spare $500,000-ish laying around. If you're like me and you don't have a cool half-mil to burn, then we can just watch this video on repeat. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
