Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Monday September 02 2019, @09:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the whooosh dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

When it comes to the vital statistics of a modern hypercar, surely none have as little relevance as its top speed. You can make use of a sub three-second 0-60mph time in most parts of the world without causing a ruckus—just find the nearest toll booth on a highway. Pin the throttle flat and for a brief moment, until respect for one's fellow humans or fear of the speeding ticket takes over, and it's possible to experience all of the torque and power. But reaching the Vmax for most of these hand-built exotics remains an abstract idea, even on Germany's derestricted Autobahns.

Fast forward another nine years and Bugatti replaced the Veyron with the Chiron, another scarab-like hypercar but this time with even more powerful 8L W16 engine, packing almost 1,500hp (1,103kW). But when the new car arrived, Bugatti revealed that its top speed was actually electronically limited to a maximum of 261mph (420km/h). It could theoretically go faster than that but its specially designed Michelin tires would fail under the extreme forces. [...]

Bugatti and Wallace spent four days at Ehra-Lessien, and eventually found enough confidence in the car to keep it flat over "the jump", a resurfaced section of track that would unsettle the Chiron as it crossed it at warp speed. "After it landed and had a bit of a weave about I thought it was the best it's been, the cross wind was a little bit less and I just kept it pinned," he told Autocar.

The result was a scarcely believable 304.773mph (490.484km/h), giving Bugatti hypercar bragging rights that will probably be difficult to beat. (Particularly since Bugatti, like Ehra-Lessien, is owned by Volkswagen.) At the same time, Bugatti is a European company, and therefore works in metric, as do most of its global customers. You have to wonder if discussions have already begun about trying to find an extra 10km/h so it can break the 500km/h barrier as well…


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Monday September 02 2019, @11:49PM (6 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Monday September 02 2019, @11:49PM (#889030) Journal

    oy vey, but the cars with central engine are aesthetically unbalanced by default, because the pilot is pushed forward. the miura the countach and very few others manage to mask this. Plus the electric rimac concept one sidesteps the problem and is one of the best looking cars ever IMHO. (the concept 2 is too lamborghinous).

    --
    Account abandoned.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday September 03 2019, @12:12AM (5 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday September 03 2019, @12:12AM (#889042) Homepage

    Any kind of drive is going to murder its driver in iced-road conditions, unless that drive is front-wheel drive.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @02:36AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @02:36AM (#889075)

      I"ve driven more on ice than you ever will.

      Front wheel drive is not a panacea. If you knew more about vehicle dynamics you'd understand this.

      The ORIGINAL version of Audi's quattro system, which had two differentials that could be locked via pneumatic servos, was the most stable drive system on ice.
      How do I know this ? I drove 300 miles on ice with both diffs locked and I was towing a 5x8 UHaul trailer. It was well beyond hairy. I was literally the ONLY vehicle on the road for that 300 miles. This was in southern Idaho, on Interstate 84, which is normally a fairly busy stretch of pavement. The reason no other vehicles were on the road was that the road was basically covered in ice, and most people knew better than to try driving on it. I was under orders from a government agency and I had no choice but to drive.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday September 03 2019, @01:28PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday September 03 2019, @01:28PM (#889183) Journal

        pfah I-84 is for pussies. I-90 between St. Regis, MT and Coeur d'Alene is the way to cross Idaho. Real men do it in rear-wheel drive pickups, at 75mph, in January.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 03 2019, @04:40AM (1 child)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 03 2019, @04:40AM (#889113) Journal

      I've seen snow and ice within ~100 miles of San Diego. Someone who claimed to know said it was the first time in more than 30 years. I don't think you need to worry about ice very much, EF. Stay off the mountain passes, and your chances drop to real close to zero.

      As for FWD, experienced drivers just don't care. Steer into the skid, front, rear, or middle. Yeah, middle, as in articulated vehicles. Rear or mid engine vehicles are far more of a factor than where your drive wheels are located.

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @05:40AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @05:40AM (#889122)

        Meh. it gets cold and icy up by Alpine east of San Diego in the winter. it occasionally snows there and further up the hills, like Julian.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @05:18PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @05:18PM (#889232)

      Any kind of drive is going to murder its driver in iced-road conditions, unless that drive is front-wheel drive.

      Nope. The skill of the driver makes far more difference than the drive type. A skilled driver will navigate slippery snow and ice using a rear wheel drive car better than an unskilled driver in a 4WD car.

      Now, that same skilled driver will obviously do better with 4WD than rear wheel drive in ice/snow, but again, it is the driver's skill level, not the drive type, that makes up all of the difference.