HighlanderNorth
Flashlight Enthusiast
**Warning: Frustration which leads to ranting....
This is one of those phenomenons that I will never understand. From the dawn of the first ever automobile, there were 2 guys somewhere who pulled up alongside one another and decided to see who could get from point A to point B the fastest. Shortly afterwards, someone decided to try and make his early automobile faster, and from then on, there has always been one simple, non-debatable philosophy that goes hand in hand with automobile performance and speed. In order to go faster, you need A. More power B. Less weight...........So people began modifying their engines, transmissions, etc., and at the same time always trying to find ways to save weight or to remove non-essential parts.
Now fast forward to today, and as has been the case for many decades, the ultimate expression of street legal speed and performance is the supercar. These cars, more than any others must rely on the "more power, less weight" philosophy, and they always have...........Til now!
If you look at supercars such as the Pagani Zonda(now discontinued) or the newer Pagani Huayra(pron. Why-rah), or the awesome Koenigsegg CCX, Ascari A10, the ugly Gumpert Apollo, etc., you see cars that weigh between 2400-3,000lbs. The heavier supercars like the new Lamborghini Aventador weighs 3400lbs, which is heavy compared to the others. But for this price point, and for the amount of money spent to build these cars, there is no excuse to use anything less than the most expensive and lightest materials for construction.
But then there's the Bugatti Veyron...... It weighs 4,400 lbs!!!!! To give you some perspective on how much 4,400 lbs really is, a 1965 Chevy Impala with a V-8 weighs 4,000lbs..... Its all steel, is the size of a tuna barge, and was one of the largest cars of the largest car era in American history! **ON a side note, Its ironic that we are talking about the size and weight of large cars, because the original Bugatti company back about 80 years ago built the wonderful Bugatti Royale which is probably the largest production car ever built, or close to it.
So, how exactly do you want or need to build a supercar that weighs 400lbs more than a 1965 Impala? Did they decide to forgo carbon fiber bodies and magnesium frames, and build them from tungsten carbide instead? Well, since they are soooo expensive and they allegedly lose money on them even though a Veyron SS costs like 2.5 million US dollars, maybe they used platinum for body panels. Its one of the heaviest elements, and its really expensive. Thats would explain both the ridiculous cost and the ridiculous weight at once!
Now, the excuse for such an extremely heavy supercar cannot be that they need that much weight to deal with the high speeds, because the Koenigsegg CCX is about the same size, was run officially only 10mph slower top speed, and is supposedly capable of 260-270 mph right now, and it weighs nearly a full ton less! (1,700 lbs). Actually the Veyron IS a full ton heavier than the Gumpert Apollo!
How can you possibly squeeze an extra 1,700lbs into a car thats roughly the same size as a car that weighs 1,700 less? Whats wrong with this picture?
Nonetheless, since they have also managed to squeeze a big 16cyl engine that pushes over 1,100 hp into it, they have managed to make it the fastest production car by a hair, and its fast on a flat, curvy road course as well, so they have created something special, but how much better could it have been without all the unnecessary weight?(and it is unnecessary!)
Oh yeah, and for the same price as a Veyron SS, you can buy 4 Koenigsegg CCX's! Also, for 1/4th price, Koenigsegg STILL makes money on their supercar, so whats wrong with that picture?:ironic:
This is one of those phenomenons that I will never understand. From the dawn of the first ever automobile, there were 2 guys somewhere who pulled up alongside one another and decided to see who could get from point A to point B the fastest. Shortly afterwards, someone decided to try and make his early automobile faster, and from then on, there has always been one simple, non-debatable philosophy that goes hand in hand with automobile performance and speed. In order to go faster, you need A. More power B. Less weight...........So people began modifying their engines, transmissions, etc., and at the same time always trying to find ways to save weight or to remove non-essential parts.
Now fast forward to today, and as has been the case for many decades, the ultimate expression of street legal speed and performance is the supercar. These cars, more than any others must rely on the "more power, less weight" philosophy, and they always have...........Til now!
If you look at supercars such as the Pagani Zonda(now discontinued) or the newer Pagani Huayra(pron. Why-rah), or the awesome Koenigsegg CCX, Ascari A10, the ugly Gumpert Apollo, etc., you see cars that weigh between 2400-3,000lbs. The heavier supercars like the new Lamborghini Aventador weighs 3400lbs, which is heavy compared to the others. But for this price point, and for the amount of money spent to build these cars, there is no excuse to use anything less than the most expensive and lightest materials for construction.
But then there's the Bugatti Veyron...... It weighs 4,400 lbs!!!!! To give you some perspective on how much 4,400 lbs really is, a 1965 Chevy Impala with a V-8 weighs 4,000lbs..... Its all steel, is the size of a tuna barge, and was one of the largest cars of the largest car era in American history! **ON a side note, Its ironic that we are talking about the size and weight of large cars, because the original Bugatti company back about 80 years ago built the wonderful Bugatti Royale which is probably the largest production car ever built, or close to it.
So, how exactly do you want or need to build a supercar that weighs 400lbs more than a 1965 Impala? Did they decide to forgo carbon fiber bodies and magnesium frames, and build them from tungsten carbide instead? Well, since they are soooo expensive and they allegedly lose money on them even though a Veyron SS costs like 2.5 million US dollars, maybe they used platinum for body panels. Its one of the heaviest elements, and its really expensive. Thats would explain both the ridiculous cost and the ridiculous weight at once!
Now, the excuse for such an extremely heavy supercar cannot be that they need that much weight to deal with the high speeds, because the Koenigsegg CCX is about the same size, was run officially only 10mph slower top speed, and is supposedly capable of 260-270 mph right now, and it weighs nearly a full ton less! (1,700 lbs). Actually the Veyron IS a full ton heavier than the Gumpert Apollo!
How can you possibly squeeze an extra 1,700lbs into a car thats roughly the same size as a car that weighs 1,700 less? Whats wrong with this picture?
Nonetheless, since they have also managed to squeeze a big 16cyl engine that pushes over 1,100 hp into it, they have managed to make it the fastest production car by a hair, and its fast on a flat, curvy road course as well, so they have created something special, but how much better could it have been without all the unnecessary weight?(and it is unnecessary!)
Oh yeah, and for the same price as a Veyron SS, you can buy 4 Koenigsegg CCX's! Also, for 1/4th price, Koenigsegg STILL makes money on their supercar, so whats wrong with that picture?:ironic:
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