5 ms·

Mmmmhmmm, don't really see it as an issue here given that not many folks are going to be buying a £2.5m hypercar to drive at three times the speedlimit to work

Mmmmhmmm, don't really see it as an issue here given that not many folks are going to be buying a £2.5m hypercar to drive at three times the speedlimit to work on a Monday morning.

mrweasel 7y ago
True, but that just makes the whole exercise even more pointless. There's really no point in building a car that can go above 150km/h, but perhaps some of the aerodynamics can translate into more fuel efficient car. I'm also slightly annoyed by the usage of the word "barrier". There's physical or perceived 300mph barrier. People have built cars that will go a super sonic speeds, so there was never any doubt that it would be possible. Admittedly it is a little funny that the Bugatti is faster than a Formula 1 car.
- ollie87 7y ago
  A lot of things humans do are pointless, but all the same we do them. Doesn't stop it being fun does it?
  - w56rjrtyu6ru 7y ago
    Believe it or not, for some people the pointlessness of an activity greatly ruins the fun of it.
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    0-180 in the same time and hitting a speed limiter is going to be just as much fun for everyone. Unless you happen to have laid out a strip at Bonneville Salt flats. That seems poor justification.
    - ollie87 7y ago
      I'm talking about the challenge, building a car that can do 300mph and then also drive to the shops seems like a really difficult engineering task.
    - Tempest1981 7y ago
      I thought he meant that the design work was fun. The challenge. What is the point/justification of Olympic sports?
- dvdbloc 7y ago
  I know you are probably just speaking in jest but "faster" is all relative. If you put this Bugatti in an F1 race, it probably wouldn't win. They are both engineered to do their very specific things.
  - cs02rm0 7y ago
    Just to put some numbers to that... at the Nordschliefe in 1974 Lauda dipped under 7 minutes. The original Veyron managed 7:40 in 2005. BMW engineers estimated their 2006 car could lap it in 5:15. Basically, put a few corners in and I don't think it would even be close. There's quite a few cars that can claim a faster top speed than an F1 car though.
- awesomepeter 7y ago
  Going around 160km/h on highways in Europe is pretty common, also higher speeds for eg. in Germany
  - riffraff 7y ago
    > Going around 160km/h on highways in Europe is pretty common is it? That is 20-50km/h above the limit in all european countries other than Germany. There are people going that speed, but in my experience across a few countries 99% of the traffic does not go that much above the limit. Sources: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/knowledge/speed/speed_limits/current_speed_limit_policies_en#targetText=The%20general%20speed%20limit%20for,urban%20roads%2050%20km%2Fh https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/knowle.... https://autotraveler.ru/en/spravka/max-speed-limits-in-europe.html https://autotraveler.ru/en/spravka/max-speed-limits-in-europ...
    - gambiting 7y ago
      Have you ever been to Poland? The legal speed limit on the motorway is 140km/h, but 160km/h is more common, especially since there is effectively no fine for going that quickly, police are mostly interested in people going 200km/h+, because the fine for doing 160km/h would be like 100PLN(~$30/£20). I've driven my Mercedes-AMG some time ago through Germany and then through Poland, and yes, on the Autobahn I was able to hit 250-260km/h for maybe 4-5 minutes at the time(legally, which is amazing and I would 10/10 recommend to anyone who likes driving, scary as all hell though), but overal I can guarantee that my average speed was higher in Poland, the traffic is just moving a lot quicker and there's less roadworks compared to the autobahn.
    - mytailorisrich 7y ago
      From experience, in France there are stretches of motorway where you would simply fit in the fast lane traffic by going at 160km/h (and yes the speed limit is 130km/h and cars going that speed stay well on the right).
    - cs02rm0 7y ago
      Last statistics I saw showed ~50% of all traffic (which includes vehicles with speed limiters) travel in excess of the 70mph motorway limit in the UK. Personally, I tend to cruise at an indicated 100mph because above that enforcement ratchets up. Which is about 160kph. I certainly think it's fair to describe that as not uncommon. I do similar speeds in France and Germany and am rarely the fastest vehicle around.
- jhrmnn 7y ago
  Useless does not equal pointless.
- zone411 7y ago
  It sounds like you don't know about track days or drag strips. That's the way to enjoy a car that goes faster than 150km/h fully. A 300mph Bugatti is still way above any speed you'd reach, though.
  - SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
    Even in that case a much lighter (and cheaper!) car like an Atom or Caterham will be a lot more fun than one of these hulking great monstrosities. Often faster as well, depending on the track.
    - gambiting 7y ago
      That's a matter of taste though - for some people, a smaller, lighter, weaker can is more "fun" than a car that is stupidly fast but only in a straight line. But then there are people who only care about that and that 0-60mph run is what does it for them, not tossing an MX-5 around on a twisty road.
    - ehnto 7y ago
      Bugattis aren't meant for motorsport enthusiasts anyway. They are too expensive and complicated to be track day cars and an enthusiast would buy something more driver oriented rather than stats oriented. You could definitely enjoy one on a track if you had one. But you would probably spend more time just enjoying the thought that you own it, keeping it safe, then you would take your actual track car to the track.
    - zone411 7y ago
      Yeah, I wrote the same thing in another response. But a few track days per year is a good way to have real fun in a supercar.
    - ollie87 7y ago
      Launching an Atom or Caterham with big power is incredibly hard for most people, even for those who own them. Not really a drag strip car, more a club circuit vehicle.
- avar 7y ago
  > There's really no point in building a car that can go above 150km/h. Even if you're "only" going to be driving at 160-180 km/h (as is common e.g. on the German autobahn) you want to be in a car that can do 220-240 km/h. You don't want to be 100% maxing the car out at your cruising speed.
- ollie87 7y ago
  It's a 300mph barrier for a road going car you could easily drive to your nearest supermarket if you so wanted.
arethuza 7y ago
I remember reading about a German chap who used a McLaren F1 for a commute on an unlimited section of the autobahn - his average speed was so high McLaren contacted him to check that everything was OK. The F1, in pre-internet days, literally phoned home to McLaren with telemetry. Edit: I think you had to physically plug it into a phone socket... in case anyone was being put off buying an F1 for security/privacy reasons. ;-)
- ollie87 7y ago
  Yeah the F1 had a modem that would phone home and give diagnostic and telemetry data.

Mmmmhmmm, don't really see it as an issue here given that not many folks are going to be buying a £2.5m hypercar to drive at three times the speedlimit to work on a Monday morning.

mrweasel 7y ago

True, but that just makes the whole exercise even more pointless. There's really no point in building a car that can go above 150km/h, but perhaps some of the aerodynamics can translate into more fuel efficient car. I'm also slightly annoyed by the usage of the word "barrier". There's physical or perceived 300mph barrier. People have built cars that will go a super sonic speeds, so there was never any doubt that it would be possible. Admittedly it is a little funny that the Bugatti is faster than a Formula 1 car.

ollie87 7y ago
A lot of things humans do are pointless, but all the same we do them. Doesn't stop it being fun does it?
- w56rjrtyu6ru 7y ago
  Believe it or not, for some people the pointlessness of an activity greatly ruins the fun of it.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  0-180 in the same time and hitting a speed limiter is going to be just as much fun for everyone. Unless you happen to have laid out a strip at Bonneville Salt flats. That seems poor justification.
  - ollie87 7y ago
    I'm talking about the challenge, building a car that can do 300mph and then also drive to the shops seems like a really difficult engineering task.
  - Tempest1981 7y ago
    I thought he meant that the design work was fun. The challenge. What is the point/justification of Olympic sports?
dvdbloc 7y ago
I know you are probably just speaking in jest but "faster" is all relative. If you put this Bugatti in an F1 race, it probably wouldn't win. They are both engineered to do their very specific things.
- cs02rm0 7y ago
  Just to put some numbers to that... at the Nordschliefe in 1974 Lauda dipped under 7 minutes. The original Veyron managed 7:40 in 2005. BMW engineers estimated their 2006 car could lap it in 5:15. Basically, put a few corners in and I don't think it would even be close. There's quite a few cars that can claim a faster top speed than an F1 car though.
awesomepeter 7y ago
Going around 160km/h on highways in Europe is pretty common, also higher speeds for eg. in Germany
- riffraff 7y ago
  > Going around 160km/h on highways in Europe is pretty common is it? That is 20-50km/h above the limit in all european countries other than Germany. There are people going that speed, but in my experience across a few countries 99% of the traffic does not go that much above the limit. Sources: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/knowledge/speed/speed_limits/current_speed_limit_policies_en#targetText=The%20general%20speed%20limit%20for,urban%20roads%2050%20km%2Fh https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/knowle.... https://autotraveler.ru/en/spravka/max-speed-limits-in-europe.html https://autotraveler.ru/en/spravka/max-speed-limits-in-europ...
  - gambiting 7y ago
    Have you ever been to Poland? The legal speed limit on the motorway is 140km/h, but 160km/h is more common, especially since there is effectively no fine for going that quickly, police are mostly interested in people going 200km/h+, because the fine for doing 160km/h would be like 100PLN(~$30/£20). I've driven my Mercedes-AMG some time ago through Germany and then through Poland, and yes, on the Autobahn I was able to hit 250-260km/h for maybe 4-5 minutes at the time(legally, which is amazing and I would 10/10 recommend to anyone who likes driving, scary as all hell though), but overal I can guarantee that my average speed was higher in Poland, the traffic is just moving a lot quicker and there's less roadworks compared to the autobahn.
  - mytailorisrich 7y ago
    From experience, in France there are stretches of motorway where you would simply fit in the fast lane traffic by going at 160km/h (and yes the speed limit is 130km/h and cars going that speed stay well on the right).
  - cs02rm0 7y ago
    Last statistics I saw showed ~50% of all traffic (which includes vehicles with speed limiters) travel in excess of the 70mph motorway limit in the UK. Personally, I tend to cruise at an indicated 100mph because above that enforcement ratchets up. Which is about 160kph. I certainly think it's fair to describe that as not uncommon. I do similar speeds in France and Germany and am rarely the fastest vehicle around.
jhrmnn 7y ago
Useless does not equal pointless.
zone411 7y ago
It sounds like you don't know about track days or drag strips. That's the way to enjoy a car that goes faster than 150km/h fully. A 300mph Bugatti is still way above any speed you'd reach, though.
- SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
  Even in that case a much lighter (and cheaper!) car like an Atom or Caterham will be a lot more fun than one of these hulking great monstrosities. Often faster as well, depending on the track.
  - gambiting 7y ago
    That's a matter of taste though - for some people, a smaller, lighter, weaker can is more "fun" than a car that is stupidly fast but only in a straight line. But then there are people who only care about that and that 0-60mph run is what does it for them, not tossing an MX-5 around on a twisty road.
  - ehnto 7y ago
    Bugattis aren't meant for motorsport enthusiasts anyway. They are too expensive and complicated to be track day cars and an enthusiast would buy something more driver oriented rather than stats oriented. You could definitely enjoy one on a track if you had one. But you would probably spend more time just enjoying the thought that you own it, keeping it safe, then you would take your actual track car to the track.
  - zone411 7y ago
    Yeah, I wrote the same thing in another response. But a few track days per year is a good way to have real fun in a supercar.
  - ollie87 7y ago
    Launching an Atom or Caterham with big power is incredibly hard for most people, even for those who own them. Not really a drag strip car, more a club circuit vehicle.
avar 7y ago
> There's really no point in building a car that can go above 150km/h. Even if you're "only" going to be driving at 160-180 km/h (as is common e.g. on the German autobahn) you want to be in a car that can do 220-240 km/h. You don't want to be 100% maxing the car out at your cruising speed.
ollie87 7y ago
It's a 300mph barrier for a road going car you could easily drive to your nearest supermarket if you so wanted.

arethuza 7y ago

I remember reading about a German chap who used a McLaren F1 for a commute on an unlimited section of the autobahn - his average speed was so high McLaren contacted him to check that everything was OK. The F1, in pre-internet days, literally phoned home to McLaren with telemetry. Edit: I think you had to physically plug it into a phone socket... in case anyone was being put off buying an F1 for security/privacy reasons. ;-)

ollie87 7y ago
Yeah the F1 had a modem that would phone home and give diagnostic and telemetry data.