My passenger Olivier Thevenin waves me to a stop on an arrow-straight road in the Sardinian backwater and the serious look suggests something big. “Now,” he says, “use all of the power, really, and then feel the brakes.” Since I am sitting behind the wheel of the 1.4 million euro Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the soft top Veyron, and his is the voice of corporate reason designed to keep it safe, this is sweet, sweet music.
I floor the throttle and the car simply takes off. A Haldex clutch and rear transverse diff lock battle with 987bhp and 1,250Nm of torque that should leave the tarmac with emotional scars and the car off the road. But revealing this internal conflict with the simple laws of nature is not the Veyron way. It simply goes like a bullet from a sniper’s rifle. It flattens 100kph in 2.7sec, 200kph in 7.3sec and with enough road it would have done 300kph in just 16.7sec without the slightest hint of drama. With the roof on, it will match the ‘standard’ Veyron’s 407kph, too, although it’s limited to 350kph with the top off. The plastic roof won’t fit in the luggage bay either, and the car is limited to 100kph with the emergency cover — which looks suspiciously like an umbrella — in place. But these are petty concerns for real world people and the Veyron Grand Sport is simply beyond such things.
The al fresco version is worth the eye-watering money for the tapestry of noises, the sound of the fuel injectors, the four turbos joining the fray and even the music of these perfectly engineered pistons at work. Every fibre of this grand construction that the cynics decried as an act of madness, every moment of the five years of agony that went into creating what could just be the epoch car — the best in our lifetime — comes to the fore. This is not a simple exhaust note, this is the symphony of Bugatti’s quad turbocharged 16-cylinder masterpiece.
The skin tightens on my neck and my stomach impacts on the perfectly sutured sports seat. Then, as soon as the sheer insanity starts to kick in, the horizon has arrived and it’s time to jump on the 400mm front ceramic brakes that haul 1,990kg of carbon-fibre, aluminium and other exotic materials down to a dead stop in a perfect, straight line.
In the corners, too, the Veyron is without parallel and the weight just evaporates as it cuts through bends at a speed that would leave a Ferrari sliding sideways into the trees. There was not one corner on the island that ruffled the car’s immaculate feathers and it simply hunkers down and powers through on the epic 14in wide Michelin Pilot Sport Pax rear tyres that were created specially for this car.
An overtake is just a twist of the wheel and a stamp on the gas away and the Veyron flies past one, four or 10 cars with barely a moment for a regal wave. It just decimates straights before they have mentally registered and while there are cars that claim to be faster at the top end, there is none that can get there like this in the hands of anyone that can hold a wheel.
And yet in the smoothest super sports car in the world I adopt a staccato rhythm, lifting constantly because the weakest part of the car, the part holding the steering wheel, needs time to assess what lies ahead. This is the beauty and the frustration of the Veyron; it’s faster than the human brain and it is simply too good to be manhandled. The Veyron cannot be thrown sideways, it drives like a surgical instrument and yet it remains special as it throws every preconception of speed, fast driving, even of a fast car, in the bin. And it’s even better than that.
Many Veyrons have high mileage because for those who can afford the fuel bill, it is
a go anywhere supercar with a bulletproof clutch, or two, thanks to the DSG, none of the embarrassing supercar lurches through town and carefully considered ground clearance that means it won’t rip a nose that costs more than a small apartment in Dubai Marina off on the first speed bump. These are the most important factors when the whole world is watching the car’s every move.
It’s the complete car, at 30 or 300kph, and on a drive to the shops it will make the person behind the wheel feel like a movie star, which makes it worth every bit of that 1.4 million euros asking price.
And, on that back road, with the throttle mashed to the floor and the infinitely cool power meter swinging like a circus hammer round to 1001PS, this landmark of engineering, this historic machine, felt absolutely priceless.
Model Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport
Engine 8.0-litre quad- turbocharged W16
Transmission Seven-speed dual clutch
Max power 987bhp @ 6,000rpm
Max torque 1,250Nm @ 2,200rpm
Top speed 407kph
0-100kph 2.7sec
Price Dh7.6 million (approx)
