To quote James may " at top speed the tires will only last 14 minutes, which is fine because it will run out of fuel in 11"

"Jeremy Clarkson, patron saint of internal combustion".

It could definitely be argued that the McLaren F1 was the best production super car and the Veyron ushered us into the world of hyper cars.

At 200 mph, you’re Traveling 300 ft per Second… A football field EVERY SECOND!!😳 Truly an astronomical Effort of technology And passion…

It's not just a V-16 Engine. It uses a conglomeration 2 of the Volkswagen W-8 engines, each of which is a pair of 15° VR4 engines merged into one engine. So, yeah, it's a W configuration but with only 2 cylinder heads (as the VR4 engines only have 1 cylinder head for a double-bank of cylinders). I was watching some "How It's Made" type video talking about the Veyron. My mind was blown when I saw the engine block. Four banks of cylinders but only two heads.

It’s Ettoré damnit, and the Tuatara didn’t hit that top speed, it fell on its face

The Tuatara never hit 316mph, they had to hang their heads in shame when Shmee150 and Misha called them out on it and proved it falsified

That type 57 was freaking beautiful

If you have a couple of million spare for a Veyron, the other charges will not matter anymore. I have met a Bugatti owner and he literally employs someone to take care of his car. As Volkswagen planned, these cars are truly only for the super rich, not just those who think they have made big money. When these cars are used to their maximum, potential the bills for each track day can easily top 100k. Bugatti insists their technicians are on location, and for example the tires have to be replaced after only a couple of top speed runs. Not to mention how many liters of good fuel it drinks per km, or for example how often you have to get into the car to replace parts which come in at a premium Bugatti price of course.

I remember watching Top Gear at the time and hearing something along the lines that a Veyron's tyres would only last 20 minutes at top speed. It's not too dissimilar from an F1 car in that respect. It's the ultimate custom built car, and the inevitable costs that go with that are mind boggling.

"I build my cars to go, not to stop." -- Ettore Bugatti

"... And across the line.".

That was an awesome April 1st video!

I remember James May being moved to tears after taking the regular version to its top speed. A car that can make grown men cry. What a machine.

My son got a ride in Veyron Super Sport a few years ago. He loved it! Was an amazing experience.

YES!!! Best of both worlds. Simon and cars. lol AM I RIGHT PETER!?

Just adding that the Hennessey Venom never officially broke the Veyron's speed record as they never drove both directions of the track.

I have no idea why the Porsche 959 has not yet had a Megaprojects video.

“This is so much more than any car you’ve ever seen, I mean it’s as easy to drive as a normal car, but it goes like a bullet, & then when you’re going down a mountain road, it handles like a Lotus Elise.” ~ Jeremy Clarkson

I remember when Top Gear did an episode with the Veyron and VW allowed James May to drive it on a sloped track at full speed. He took it to a very scary somewhere near 400 kph. When he stopped and got out the whole emotional load hit him and he burst into tears.

The first production model still is my favorite by far. The color that was used in the first Top Gear piece about it also was as close to perfect for me as it gets. Compared to the other faster cars mentioned the styling is so much more appealing both inside and out.

1:15 - Chapter 1 - Bugatti's beleagured backstory 4:20 - Chapter 2 - Acquisition & development 7:55 - Chapter 3 - Design & performance 12:20 - Chapter 4 - Sales & impact

0:43 The Stig!

According to comedy television writer/television and podcast host, Conan O'Brien, the Bugatti requires a special fuel to actually run, that special fuel being, "liquid arrogance."

Fun Fact: The most valuable car on earth is Ettore's personal custom built all black Type 57 (The Black Car), it went missing in 1940 and if its ever recovered it could sell for as much as $750.000.000 at auction.

Jason Camisa has great videos about both the veryon and eb110 that also mention the lambo connection to the eb110. These together make a great complete story!

this is a surprise now i would love to see one of the mclaren f1 road car

The story of the Dauer 962 is actually pretty interesting in its own right. Porsche still wanted to compete at the 1994 24 Hours Of Le Mans but they didn't have anything that worked withing the new for '94 le mans rule set which had finally abolished the use of the old Group C cars in their entirety in favour of the new LMGT1 class. It just so happened that their old factory partner Dauer Racing was working on the Dauer 962 Le Mans street car, having modified it for street use eliminated most of the elements that violated the new rules for the WEC so porsche proposed that dauer would race the car at le mans on their behalf (with appropriate modifications to make it competitive on track). The catch was that they had to build enough street versions to homologate it for racing use and at the time they only had 4 orders so they showed the FiA/ACO the finished cars and pinkie promised that they'd build the rest at a later date (they never did) which was enough for them to be granted a racing license for the car.

Sadly no mention (even though I believe the clip was used) that Captain Slowly himself Mr. James May set a world speed record in the Veryon (the Super Sport if memory serves) and was (briefly) the fastest man in the world.

Bugatti Chiron is obviously more advanced. But the Veyron was the first 1,000 HP luxury sport offering

Simon, i don’t want to gate keep car enthusiasm from you in any way, but some research to go along with the script reading would do a lot for your videos. A Mclaren F1 Car and THE Mclaren F1 are two completely different vehicles with completely different performance metrics, the SSC Tuatara never hit the speed quoted, but probably more importantly is this. The explanation of why the Veyron NEEDED to hit such a high top speed and achieve such high performance targets is an very interesting aspect, and one that goes delves into different aspects of Ferdinand Piech, his leadership style within Volkswagen, and his desire to be #1 in every cookie jar they have their hands in. Piech is so ingrained into the development of the Veyron that not mentioning him or his engineering requirements does a major disservice to the legacy of this vehicle. The Bugatti Veyron is 100% a megaproject, but for more reasons than are outlined in the video. Deeper research into this kind of topic goes a long way into giving the listener/watcher a better understanding and appreciation of why this was so important in the automotive landscape.

That 3.3 v6 they showed as reference for the F150 is really the one that was in old dodge caravans lol, like 2010 and older Most of the V8 options in F150s since the 90s have made at least 250hp, and the newer coyote 5.0 V8s put out a healthy 300+! American pickup trucks tend to be pretty well endowed as far as driveline options, quicker than most would realize

Been waiting for this channel to cover cars

3:35 His name is Romano ARTIOLI, not whatever that was

7:05 One of the few production cars that look better than their final prototypes!

Your voice is so soothing. I want you to read at my funeral lol

Great video as always mate, Just 1 correction it’s 1001 hp to the crank not the wheel (about 890 wheel hp)

Immediately on opening this, “if you don’t mention the EB110 and it being a yardstick I’m going to scream”

your comment about the engine being two v8's joined at the crank is wholly wrong. It was two vr6 engines, each with an additional two cylinders joined to a common crank through an overly complicated gear setup.,

Excellent stuff bro

So much Top Gear footage. It's great!

That top speed of the Tuatara was found to be false. There are many videos that proved the actual top speed and SSC finally made it public that their claimed top speed of over 300 was not true.

Lol the F-150 V6 "b-roll" is actually a dodge 3.3l V6 in a grand caravan. That made me smile thanks.

A complete history of any car company would be cool kinda like Simon Whistlers version of up to speed.

@Megaprojects Could you maybe consider doing an episode on the unbuilt Concorde replacement from the 1990s? The BAC/Aeropostale Alliance AST. Comparable in size to the 2707 but flying at Mach 2 as opposed to Mach 3.

Very nice!

10:17 I had most definitely had heard of the 962 before this video. It’s one of the most LEGENDARY endurance racing prototypes ever.

Well done Simon.😎

Didn't expect to see car content here. Hopefully we'll get more!

😮thank you

when this thing hit the streets..the numbers were unheard of....it really was a "tour de force" by VW...they didn't move the goalposts....they rewrote the book on mind bending car performace.the 1st hyper car indeed.as for the ssc tuatara...the speed quoted is to my knowledge still yet to be offically ratified.

"$uperCar?" Guess you've never rode in a '94 GEO METRO!

Simon talking cars is my sweetspot

While it wouldn't have been my pick, I sure as hell can't fault the choice. The Veyron was, and is, spectacular. The noises that car makes are absolute bliss.

Omg 😮 Those performance numbers

Ugh, Scirocco forbidden fruit💔My first car was an 08 Jetta, loved it!(the Scirocco was the same platform but not brought to the states😕)

11:08 I own a McLaren. I was recently at their dealership to get some work done, and I happened to be looking through the cars on display. They had a Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport 😚🤌 Pure chef’s kiss-levels of beauty.

2 years ago I work at the hotel Bel Air in Bel Air California. And Bugatti before the concourse the elegance up in Monterey all met up at the hotel. And there was 40 of them in the parking lot from first edition. All the way to the Devo. Pretty excellent. They all started up together to take off to Monterey while I was there.

This, brought back Top Gear - James May memories; God Speed, Captain Slow !!

Would like to see more cars!

nice

The title of the world's greatest car ever made changes like the weather.

Please make a video on top fuel dragsters

please bring back bloopers in the end, for all channels

Finally! An episode of Megaprojects that commands my full attention, not just background noise. Please do more car episodes!

This is an interesting little tidbit of information "During combustion, some 2,400 PS of additional heat is generated for 1,200 PS of drive power. To cope with this, the Bugatti engine has two water circuits. The larger circuit contains 40 liters of coolant water in three radiators in the front section of the vehicle to keep the engine at operating temperature." That equates to 3600PS or 3550 BHP or 2647KW of total energy produced. This is absolutely insane. Imagine if they could somehow harness and then use that extra heat energy

Love your content as usual Simon but if I'm correct Bugatti actually started the endless need for speed by making aircraft not cars....the Bugatti P-100 which is an aviation jewel and worthy if a video itself

It amazing me that the land speed record was at 300mph and getting there was a challenge. And now that's a road car speed. And if you know the right garage, it's possible on quite a few cars.

There is some weird voice resonance in the audio of your recent videos. Just FYI. Fantastic video anyway!

What I think of these days when I see these is how much changes they did to the versions after the original Veyron, I did not now they needed to change it so much, the super sport and grand sport and what not was MUCH improved over the original car... I love these tho, many think it looks ugly but I think its a lovely car, the Chiron is much better looking but also much more aggressive!

Nice to see The Stig make an appearance

This may be your best video!

The cost is truly nothing for the owners though. The average Veyron owner has 84 other cars in their collection, 3 private jets and a yacht. They have no care in the world about the maintenance costs of it

Amazing feet of engineering, and Jeremy did it proud

Unlocking and playing with this in Gran Turismo was amazing. I don't remember if it was GT3 or GT4. But it's the closest I'll ever get to the real thing. Man was it fun to race with though. Although, still not as fun as the formula one cars. Those things can stop on a dime. Make a hairpin turn. And be right back to 200mph faster than you can say Simon Whistler.😂

Fact is, the veyron's 253mph top speed was limited due to the tire technology at the time. Had there been a more better tire, its top speed could go faster, some say it can go past 300mph

Good stuff! Now do one for Top Fuel and for the Lambo Egoista.

I remember seeing a Bugatti Veyron up close, and I think the only non-specialised piece that Bugatti put is the ignition key, which is standard Volkswagen item.

Towards the end of the video, you mentioned the ssc tutara hitting 300 mph that run was not counted as they used the wrong measurements and are yet to try go again you also seemed to not mention Bugattis main competitor Koenigsegg who have also been challenging the bugatti run it's also wierd how you mentions the tutara but nothing of thr chiron by the time the tutara was out the chiron had already set its 300+ run

Pretty laid back episode of up to speed man

Well done.

It’s crazy how much super car brands will charge for maintenance and parts. My McLaren was part of a recall to replace the in-vehicle infotainment display. If you did the replacement during the recall window, it was free. If you missed the recall window, allegedly it cost $30,000 to replace the display, according to another McLaren owner I know. The infotainment display is basically just a low-powered Android tablet 🤷‍♂️

The Mercedes c111 was already fast enough to set multiple records, but Mercedes wasn't done yet. A later version employed a 4.8-liter twin-turbo V8 good for 500 hp that propelled the prototype to more than 250 mph - decades before the Bugatti Veyron, and with roughly half the power.

Really excited to see what bugatti will be doing this year as they move away from v12.

When this car came out i litteraly remember it when i was a kid. It litteraly stuck with me. And the ssc ultimate aero. But this car always stuck with me. Reading about it in the 2010 world record book litteraly blew my mind as a kid i was like WTF?!?! It literally messed my mind my up😂 i loved it all through its life cycle and the chrion's release and i still prefer the veyron. I literally have a model of the world record car. It gives me chills. I didnt understand car loving but this car definitely was my first. Whenever i got older i released the hype was ACTUALLY REAL with this car, yes its expensive to maintain, but other than that its a legendary car, ive heard insane stories from reputable sources. And all i can say is just a RIDE in a veyron or seeing one would mess me up for a couple days. Apparently 1 exists in my area so maybe ill cross its path one day. Legendary car i could make this 3 pages. This car really changed cars and made it more interesting and cool for me. Like alot of people. The veyron is litteraly my favorite car. Only car i have many models of. Thr veyron will forever live in my heart. Maybe ill see one cause i been looking to see one soon.

I love sports cars. Bugatti is one of my favorites.

My SW20 turbo Toyota MR2 is arguably just as fun and could keep up with the Bugatti on a tight track. Plus i can find most replacement parts at any autozone.

I never thought id see the dauer 962 mentioned here lol you should check out the peugeot wr88 that thing was even faster. Couldnt last more than a lap before the engine melted but it was crazy fast lol

In the world!!! ❤

Yes

Ain't no F-150 pickup doing 180 mph. You forgot to convert from kph to mph.

it would be totally worth making videos about Rembrant and Jean Bugatti

This takes me back to when I was 10.

I had the chance to drive a Veyron about 15 years ago. My godfather is a car nut and always wants to show and share whatever new car he's got, just so with the Veyron. It's a little underwhelming. You can sense the size and weight of it and get a feel for the engine which is right behind the cockpit. I'm sure the sound is precisely engineered so. When moving it's quiet and comfortable, the brakes are forgiving and the power comes in incredibly smoothly as drive by wire throttle engines tend to be. It's like a Golf GTI with the DSG box. On the motorway, it starts to get misleading. Passing a car doing 100 kph, punching the throttle brings it up to 200 kph in only a second or two, but it shrugs off that so easily when you brake you hardly notice the ludricous surge. We went to get lunch 30km up a motorway (and got there unfesably quickly) and I drove back, passing quite a few cars on the way. Nearly home, I noticed my Godfather looking over at me, and I noticed he was a bit worried until I looked down.... we, I, was doing over 230kph! (that's a buck-forty in freedom units) And had no idea! A Veyron has so much excess performance in hand that it is hard to feel how fast it is. I suspect that the only way to experience a Veyron is to get it over 300kph to actually feel it get its second wind. My S2000 at 200kph feels like the speed of bad news by comparison! My Godfather mentioned the price of the tyres only after we parked up! The only experience that mere mortals like us can afford are Hyperbikes like the Suzuki Hyabusa or Honda Super Blackbird. My own VFR1200F is in similar league and has the same kind of crazy acceleration/deceleration feel. A regular occurrence has me take a quick look down to the speedo and saying "oh shit" and slowing down real fast. As for the reason that VW built and paid for the Veyron? Ferdinand Piech said so.

You should do a megaproject video about christian von koenigsegg and his story. I's quite remarkable.

Simon, if you made an automotive channel I would die happy 😂 I know you're a car guy... maybe an automotive history channel?

Remember how Jeremey James and Richard laughed that it would never happen? Or that the brakes and steering would be ready at the last minute ?

The car was really epic. I wish you talked about the legacy of the car including driving across europe than Jeremy could fly in a plane, it could accelerate faster than a car that was being dropped from a plane. and Conan Obrien, when he lost his show on NBC boasted that he still had access to the bank account, so he bought a bugatti veyron with the money.

Deep dive into the engine, please!!

Thank you Volkswagen. You’ve given us Ace Hood.