06-24-2009, 09:31 PM
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| Edmunds First Drive: 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport
        Quote: Blowing the Roof off the Greatest Show on Earth
Bugatti's Olivier Thevenin gestures at us from the passenger seat and we come to a stop on a deserted, arrow-straight road somewhere in Sardinia. His serious look suggests he has something big to say.
"Now," he says. "Use all of the power — really. Then feel the brakes." As his was meant to be the voice of corporate reason during our drive of the 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, we could have kissed him.
We floor the throttle and the car simply takes off. Since we've got a quadruple-turbo 8.0-liter W16 behind us that pumps out 986 horsepower and 922 pound-feet of torque, we expect a battle of physics with the Haldex all-wheel-drive system and limited-slip rear differential that should leave the tarmac with emotional scars and end with the car off the road. But instead the Veyron simply leaves the vicinity like a bullet from a sniper's rifle.
The power meter on the instrument panel swings round and just for a second we are godlike, using the full force of the ultimate car.
And now it's got a removable targa-style top.
The Greatest Show on Earth
The engine of the 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport is just a collection of whistles, whines and whinnies at low speed, but now it suddenly finds its turbocharged W16 lungs and roars next to my head. The 100 km/h (62 mph) mark falls in 2.7 seconds and then 200 km/h (124 mph) arrives in just 7.3 seconds. With every flick of the shift paddles, the seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission punches us forward and the W16 sucks a fresh gulp of air into those perfectly sculpted airboxes above my head.
Were there space, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport would blast through 300 km/h (186 mph) in just 16.7 seconds. This is pure, unadulterated power. And with the roof removed and the engine now exposed and nestling right next to the luxuriously trimmed sport seats, it's an even richer experience.
Of course you don't just chop the roof off a 250-mph car. That's why the Veyron's carbon-fiber monocoque has been strengthened by reinforcing the B-pillars, door sills and the transmission tunnel, while there's a structural plate beneath the transmission. The doors are now made from carbon-fiber and a crash-protection beam of aerospace steel lies within. The engine's exposed airboxes are also reinforced so they'll provide rollover protection.
What makes this a convertible is the targa-style transparent polycarbonate roof. You'll also notice the Grand Sport's slightly higher windshield and the LED running lights.
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