BUGATTI News

A car that comes with a drone to see what’s causing the traffic snarl ahead, another that accepts deliveries while you’re at work, and a self driving car with seats that face backwards.

Volkswagen brand Bugatti has been duking it out with US brand Hennessey to see who wears the crown as the world's fastest production car. And the Americans may have just swiped it -- although the Guinness world records won't make it official.Hennessey has just unleashed their Venom GT at the Kennedy Space Centre landing tarmac, and -- clocked by leading GPS data-acquisition system maker Racelogic -- hit a speed of 270.49mph (435.31km/h) with director of Miller Motorsport Park, Brian Smith, at the helm.That trumps the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport's previous 269.86mph (434.30km/h) record, which has been sanctioned under Guinness rules. However, while there's been some argy-bargy about the Veyron in production form having a speed limiter -- while the record-setting car did not -- with its record being withdrawn and then reinstated, it seems Hennessey won't be officially handed the crown.In order for the speed to be recognised by Guinness, they require a pass in each direction to counter any advantage from wind. John Hennessey has already told media that he would have been willing to do so, but that NASA -- who operate the Kennedy facility -- would allow only one.And while the Bugatti Veyron is a special build by the Volkswagen Group halo brand, the Venom Gt is essentially built on a modified Lotus Exige chassis, and powered by a twin-turbocharged 7.0-litre V8 delivering 928kW of power at 6600rpm and 1566Nm of torque at 4400rpm to the rear wheels via a Ricardo six-speed manual transmission.Watch the Hennessey Venom GT hit 435.31km/h video on our desktop site.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Dubai is well known for its supercars, with even the police having their own fleet, and the university student carpark being crammed with the likes of Bugatti Veyrons and Rolls-Royces.And while those cars are the province of the wealthy in the booming economy, there's also increasing car ownership by the average less-monied residents -- and that means increasing traffic congestion.But Dubai's civic leader has a novel suggestion for clearing the roads: limit car ownership to the wealthy. "Everybody has their luxury life, but the capacity of our roads cannot take all of these cars without ownership laws," Director general Hussain Lootah said in a conference address in Germany that was reported in Arab Emirates news site The National.Lootah said one option to clear the roads would limit car ownership to those who had a monthly income above a certain level, yet to be decided. He added that car pooling would not work for the less wealthy, as the country had such a diverse population -- with more than 200 nationalities represented (many as indentured workers) -- so a public awareness program would be difficult.He believes restricting the ownership of cars would encourage the less-wealthy to use public transport such as buses, taxis and a new tram system in the process of being rolled out.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

You don't often see a Ferrari used as a camera car. In front of the camera, yes. But fitting one out with a camera rig to film other cars ... that's rare. But it's also one of the choices the production crew of Need for Speed is tinkering with, as they prepare to start shooting high-speed scenes.This footage takes you behind the scenes, where chase vehicles for the upcoming movie are being built. In addition to the Ferrari, they're modifying an Audi A6 and a Ford GT Mustang with a supercharger that boosts it to deliver 466kW of power, plus uprated high-performance gears and brakes.Because when you're filming something like a Bugatti Veyron at high speed, you have to rig up a vehicle that can keep pace without too much effort, and handle deftly, allowing the camera team to concentrate on getting the best footage. Or, as one of the production crew simply puts it: "you need a badass car".The only question we'd like answered is what happens to the chase cars after the filming is done. It seems like some of the crew would be volunteering to give them good homes.Watch the Need for Speed - the chase cars video here.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Bugatti has formally axed plans to build what was to become the world’s fastest and most powerful sedan, and officially confirmed a Veyron successor is being developed instead.Bugatti boss, Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, told the UK’s Top Gear magazine: “There will not be a four-door Bugatti. We have talked many, many times about the Galibier, but this car will not come because ... it would confuse our customers.”Dr Schreiber said Bugatti would instead focus its efforts on a Veyron replacement, and also said there would be no more higher-powered versions of the current Veyron.“With the Veyron, we placed Bugatti on top of all super-sportscar brands in the whole world. Everyone knows that Bugatti is the ultimate super sportscar,” Dr Schreiber told Top Gear. “It’s easier for current owners, and others who are interested, to understand if we do something similar to the Veyron (next). And that is what we will do.”Bugatti unveiled the Galibier sedan concept in 2009, just after the Global Financial Crisis took hold, but had been relatively quiet on its development since then. Bugatti has sold out of the 300 coupes it built since 2005 and just 43 of the 150 roadsters, introduced in 2012, remain to be built before the end of 2015.When asked if Bugatti would send the Veyron out with a much-rumoured bang after it built a special edition capable of 431km/h in 2010 (up from the 408km/h top speed of the original) Dr Schreiber told Top Gear: “We will not produce a ‘SuperVeyron' or Veyron Plus, definitely. There will be no more power. 1200 (horsepower) is enough for the chapter of Veyron and its derivatives.”Dr Schreiber said the new Veyron would have to “redefine the benchmarks … and the benchmark today is still the current Veyron. We are already working on it (the successor).”Given that Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche have adopted petrol-electric power for their latest supercars, will the next Bugatti Veyron have hybrid power? “Maybe,” Dr Schreiber told Top Gear. “But it's too early to open the door and show you what we have planned. For now we have to keep the focus on the current Veyron, and help people to understand that this really is the last opportunity to get the car, which will have run for ten years from 2005-2015. Then we will close this chapter and open another one.”The German Volkswagen Group bought the French supercar brand in 1998 and immediately commenced work on the Veyron. After several concept cars and numerous delays the production version was finally unveiled in 2005.During the Veyron’s development, engineers struggled with cooling the massive W16 engine, which has four turbochargers. Despite having 10 radiators, one of the prototype cars caught fire on the Nurburgring racing circuit during testing.The original Veyron, powered by an 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged W16 engine (two V8s mounted back-to-back), had 1001 horsepower (736kW) and 1250Nm of torque.With power delivered to all four wheels via an all-wheel-drive system and a seven-speed dual clutch “DSG” gearbox, the Veyron could do the 0 to 100km/h dash in 2.46 seconds.On the Veyron’s top-speed run it gulped 78L/100km, more than a V8 Supercar race machine at full speed, and ran the tank out of fuel in 20 minutes. By way of comparison a Toyota Prius sips 3.9L/100km.The Bugatti Veyron claimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest production car with a top speed of 408.47km/h on Volkswagen’s private test track at Ehra-Lessien in northern Germany in April 2005.In June 2010, Bugatti beat its own top-speed record with the Veyron SuperSport, which had the same W16 engine but with power increased to 1200 horsepower (895kW) and 1500Nm of torque. It managed a staggering 431.072km/h.Of the production run of 30 Veyron SuperSports, five were named the SuperSport World Record Edition, which had the electronic limiter switched off to enable them to reach 431km/h. The remainder were limited to 415km/h.The original Veyron cost 1 million Euros plus taxes, but the fastest Veyron of all time, the SuperSport, cost almost double: 1.99 million Euros plus taxes. None were sold in Australia as the Veyron was exclusively left-hand-drive.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

We've seen Tax The Rich punishing a Ferrari Enzo before, but this time they're giving us a closer look at the action in all the grace of slow-motion.It's the latest in a series from the mystery team, who take supercars to places they're never supposed to be. Over the past couple of years we've seen the Enzo, a Ferrari 288 GTO, Bugatti EB110 SS, Rolls Royce Phantom, twin Ferrari F50s and a Jaguar XJ220 thrashed through farm paddocks and down crumbling rural bitumen, dirt and gravel roads.While the identity of the Tax The Rich driver is officially unknown -- and despite his denials -- it's becoming increasingly obvious there's a connection to Harry Hunt, the rally driver son of Brit real estate magnate Jon Hunt, who's the owner of the palatial Heveningham Hall manor estate identifiable in some of the videos.Watch the Ferarri drifting, sliding and doing burnouts.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

As sure as night follows day, Bugatti will continue to march out special editions of the Veyron Grand Sport until it reaches its 150-unit planned production run.The latest example -- the Meo Costantini edition -- gets an official unveiling at the Dubai motor show this week. The Costantini edition pays tribute to its legendary Bugatti race driver namesake, and is the latest of six Les Légendes de Bugatti models commemorating the brand’s history.We’ve already seen the Jean-Pierre Wimille edition at Pebble Beach this year, the Jean Bugatti edition at Frankfurt, and the Rembrandt Bugatti edition expected soon, but the Costantini edition is in honour of the race driver that won the Targa Florio twice in the Bugatti Type 35 before managing the French brand’s factory team. Like the other Les Légendes models, the Costantini edition is based on the 408.84km/h open-roof record-holding Grand Sport Vitesse, with an 895kW/1500Nm 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engine and 0-100km/h capability of 2.6 seconds.Specific to the Costantini-edition is its French Racing Blue carbon fibre bodywork, offset by clear-coated polished aluminium, with the Targa Florio route emblazoned on the rear wing’s underside and between the seats inside.Costantini’s signature features on the fuel cap and seat headrests, among cognac and dark blue leather interior trim with silhouettes of the Type 35 racer laser-etched into the door trims. If this combination tickles your fancy, you’ll be one of three owners to take home a Costantini edition, and be willing to part with €2.09 million ($2.96 million) for the privilege.This reporter is on Twitter @Mal_Flynn 

Hyundai has given a look at the first of its show cars headed for SEMA in November: a loudly blue Genesis Coupe modified by Bisimoto Engineering.Based on a Hyundai Genesis 3.8 R-Spec, the concept added two turbochargers to the donor car's naturally aspirated V6, which also gained a raft of other changes, including forged pistons, a bigger fuel pump to feed the unit and the aggressive exposed radiator look of an intercooler to cool it -- resulting in a power output of 745kW.Yes, 745kW -- 200kW more than a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. In fact, it also trumps the Bugatti Veyron's 736kW. The Bisimoto Genesis Coupe sports an eye-gouging blue paint job set off by carbon fibre and black panels, and rides low-slung on 20-inch Incurve aluminum wheels.The cabin gets track-ready kit, including a roll cage, racing seats and harnesses --fitting with Hyundai's statement the Bisimoto Genesis aims to blend "the reliability of a street car but with the outrageous power of a no-holds-barred racer." Hyundai and other carmakers will be revealing other outrageous concepts ahead of SEMA's opening in Las Vegas on November 5.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Afzal Kahn has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds building up one of Britain’s most impressive private plate collections.  And the most desirable of the registrations is his beloved 'F1', which currently sits on the front of his Bugatti Veyron supercar.The entrepreneur caused a stir when, in 2008, he paid a staggering £440,000 ($765,300) for the cherished plate -- a British record. But it’s proven to be a savvy investment with the plate’s value increasing by more than ten times after one ultra-rich individual offered £6million for it.Drivers in the United Arab Emirates are even more fanatical about personal registrations. The single digit ‘1’ sold in February 2008, for £7.25 million ($12.61m) , reportedly to Abu Dhabi businessman Saeed Khouri, then 25.Personal plates can be a good investment, if you make the right choice. VIP 1, which originally belonged to Pope John Paul II’s Popemobile, was bought for £62,000 ($107,840) in 2004 – two years later Roman Abramovich bought it for £285,000 ($495,730).However, Mr Kahn, who runs A Kahn Design in Bradford, rejected the offer believing it is worth considerably more. Indeed, he has no pressing need for new cars, with our pictures also showing him posing with the plate attached to his Mercedes SLR McLaren. Mr Khan's refusal to sell the plate means that he still likely holds the record for spending the most money on a UK registration plate.A spokesman for Mr Khan's company said: 'We have received a significant multi-million pound offer for the F1 plate which we rejected out of hand. Mr Kahn has no interest in selling F1, which is his favourite plate. Cherished number plates, unlike property or other investments tend not to fluctuate in value, they only go up. It really shouldn’t be a shock to people that the number plate is worth millions of pounds.'The 109-year-old registration was on a modest Volvo S80 when Kahn bought the plate in 2008. It was used by the chairman of Essex County Council with the local authority using the funds from the sale to raise money for a charity which aimed to raise the standards for young drivers. 'F1' now makes up part of Mr Kahn’s impressive plate collection which includes the registrations ‘4HRH’ and ‘NO1’.  

Volkswagen is looking good to claim the crown as its two biggest rivals, Toyota and General Motors, both run into trouble.Brand T has been hit badly by its reliability and safety scare in the world's biggest showroom, the USA, and hurt in many other countries - including Australia - by the production troubles triggered by the Japanese tsunami and earthquake earlier this year.Volkswagen is already number one in Europe, with sales of 2.8 million vehicles - nearly triple the annual sales rate in Australia. Meanwhile, General Motors is still rebuilding after its bankruptcy and is also impacted by sluggish sales at home in America.Volkswagen Group has been aiming for the top spot for several years under the aggressive leadership of Ferdinand Piech, and forecasts it will hit the target in 2018 as it aims to increase its annual global sales to around 10 million vehicles.It is spending around $100 million to increase production across the   world, as well as developing a vast range of new models currently   headed by the value-driven baby Up.But, with the troubles at its rivals, three forecasters are now saying it will finish on top at the end of 2011. The respected JP Power organisation in the USA, as well as IHS Automotive and PwC Autofacts, believe Volkswagen's worldwide sales this year will rise by around 13 per cent to 8.1 million.Its biggest successes are coming in China off the back of the Volkswagen brand, but VW Group can also claim totals from a huge range of brands including Bugatti, Bentley, Audi, Seat and Skoda. At the same time, Toyota's total is forecast by Power to fall by 9 per cent to 7.27 million.The Japanese slide is worse than it looks, as it could also cost Toyota second place to General Motors after the hard work to become global number one in 2010. Power says GM's sales will improve by 8 per cent to 7.55 million, although the margins at the top of world motoring will be very tight by December 31.