New Cars Model

Written by: Ben Timmins
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February 22 2012 10:00 AM

What’s faster than a TGV train, has more turbochargers than you can shake a stick at, and boasts a convertible top? The answer is the new Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, which packs even more power into an already insanely powerful supercar.

Vitesse means “speed” in Bugatti’s native French, and the Grand Sport Vitesse has it in spades, thanks to a little extra power underhood. Bugatti took its 1000-horsepower Grand Sport and tweaked it along the lines of the world record-holding Super Sport coupe. When Bugatti finished the job, it was left with a Veyron SS-inspired roadster with 1200 horsepower on tap.

Bugatti said that it accomplished this by enlarging the 8.0-liter W-16 engine’s four turbochargers and intercoolers, along with beefing up the Veyron Grand Sport’s chassis to withstand the fury of 1106 pound-feet of torque. The company also says that the car carries many of the design and driving characteristics of the Veyron Super Sport, including the SS’ sleeker front end (which reduces drag) and revised suspension tuning.

The Bugatti Veyron is nothing if not a car with a massive top speed, but the Grand Sport Vitesse’s manufacturer was surprisingly mum about the car’s top end. The standard Grand Sport was limited to 217 mph, enough to make it the world’s fastest production convertible. The extra oomph from the Grand Sport Vitesse’s engine could push that number up, but the Vitesse’s open-roof form means it likely won’t reach the Super Sport’s 268 mph level.

It could reach the Super Sport’s level in price, however: Bugatti hasn’t announced just how much this high-performance droptop will cost, but a “standard” Grand Sport starts around $2 million, while the Super Sport coupe commands roughly $3.3 million. Seeing as the Grand Sport Vitesse blends aspects of both cars together, we wouldn’t be surprised if its price tag slots somewhere between those two extremes.

Look for the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse to make its official public debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show in March.

Source: Bugatti

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After a slow drop of sales thanks to the economic crisis, the Audi Q7 is going to attempt a comeback with a brand new generation of lightweight proportions. For a while, it seemed as though it was merely a rumor, but now the largest SUV in Audi’s lineup has been spotted testing for the first time, in mule form.

From these spy images, we can see that the fenders on this Q7 mule are wider than its predecessor and it also looks like the front overhang is shorter. It has been rumored that the next Q7 will lose about 400 kgs, or about 880 lbs compared to the current model. For this, Audi will be using lots of lighter materials like aluminum and carbon fiber.

Rumors about the power source for the next generation Audi Q7 are also interesting. It seems that Audi will drop the current, larger engines in favor of some smaller sources. A hybrid version may also be offered.