VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron's W16 engine being milled
If you're the type who gets excited at the thought of viewing an engine block being machined out of a solid piece of metal, then get ready to indulge all your fantasies with a look at the Bugatti Veyron's mighty W16 being carved up by a computer-controlled milling machine. Inch by inch, the tiny spindle meticulously cuts away at the single block of metal until eventually the first few cylinders start to appear, and before long the lifeless lump of metal starts to resemble the familiar W-patterned heart of the Veyron supercar.
The machine in the video is a Matsuura MAM72-42V 5 axis CNC, a model that first appeared back in 1991 and has since sold over 500 copies to various companies. Inside is a small electric motor that spins the greased up spindle anywhere between 12,000 and 30,000 rpm. The machine is rated at only 15 hp, which is small change compared to the 1001 hp that the W16 block it's machining will have to endure. Now if we could only install one of these babies in the Autoblog Garage, we're sure hours of fun would ensue.
Video after the jump.
[Source: YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ken 6:05PM (6/14/2007)
Please tell me how much that machine costs!!!
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Brad 7:51PM (6/14/2007)
A decent 3 Axis CNC machine is about $500,000. That Matsuura is probably worth more than a Bugatti Veyron.
Todd 6:13PM (6/14/2007)
Is everyone at autoblog drunk today?
That is a 1/4 scale model of an engine - its a demonstration program that they run at trade shows.
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Chris Vitale 7:19PM (6/14/2007)
Intersting fact, but I don't think anybody cares. That was wicked.
Andy 10:21PM (6/14/2007)
Wow.
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yoinkers 8:09PM (6/14/2007)
Apparently I'm blind because that looks like a V-12. Is there something I'm not seeing here?
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Aaron Slater 8:17PM (6/14/2007)
Actually, it's 12 cylinders, yes, but the offset makes it a W-12. it's 16.4 Litres.
yoinkers 9:25PM (6/14/2007)
I see where I was mistaken about the "W" configuration. Thanks Wikipedia!
Evan Brom 8:10PM (6/14/2007)
It looks like a W12 to me.
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God 11:11PM (6/14/2007)
you retard its a W16 and the 4 means 4 turbo not valves
Aaron 8:15PM (6/14/2007)
1/4 size... for a 250bhp go kart? sweet!
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mongo 8:17PM (6/14/2007)
What's wrong with me? I have yet to see a video when it says there's a video. All I get is a .jpg and the story, followed by "Video after the jump", whatever that means. No visible link for video. Running Netscape 8.1 and Firefox 1.5. - both display same. Even tried it in MSIE 6.0. SOL!
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The Doctor 8:13PM (6/14/2007)
It can't have been easy to find a noise more annoying than the one made by that drill but whoever chose that music managed it.
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PirateTaco 4:50AM (6/15/2007)
no Aaron it stands for 16 cylinders 4 valve/turbos
dumbass
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Ed 9:16PM (6/14/2007)
an extra pair of cylinders magically appears in each bank around the 2-minute mark. so for those of you who didn't watch to the end... yes, it's a w16
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Keith Wakeham 8:52PM (6/14/2007)
Everyone who says its a w12 is wrong. I'm sorry but you are and blatant, you either never finished watching it or you didn't observe in the last 2 minutes. Just before 2:07 remaining it is spinning with only 12 cylinders, but its pretty obvious that their is a crank slots on the bottom for 4 more pistons. But the next scene those are drilled out and their is 8 cylinders per bank.
Why? Well if your like me and have used a CNC, you will know that their are clearance issues. It is likely that it couldn't cut out the cylinders because it was to close to the base, therefore it had to be taken out, rotated and diffferent program ran to cut those cylinders.
I'm not sure if its scale, likely would be, but that program is huge, and that shows that the CNC is very capable. I'd give a lot to have regular access to a machine like that.
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Mulad 12:18AM (6/15/2007)
Eeep. Those cylinder walls get awfully thin in spots...
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T Randell 8:59AM (6/15/2007)
Since the machining envelope for this machine is only 520mm/730mm/510mm (20.47/28.74/20.07 in.) It must be a 1/4 demonstration scale model. A neet demonstration though!
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Randy Taylor 1:58PM (6/15/2007)
As neat as this is I don't see any water passages so this must be a demo scale model. From the confusion over what the W16 demo scale model seems like a good idea. Autozine has a good article on the VW/Audi/Bugatti inlive vee engines at (http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/engine/tech_engine_packaging.htm#W16)
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J.K. 3:07PM (6/15/2007)
that's not Veyrons engine, and btw engines are not beeing milled they are casted
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