VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron finally does Power Lap on Top Gear, is it the fastest?
Click above to see the Veyron do the Top Gear Power Lap
For the past few years, the Top Gear Power Lap has been one of the standards by which we judge the world's fastest supercars. The Stig has piloted everything from the Ascari A10 to the Pagani Zonda around the course, with the Gumpert Apollo S recently taking the top spot with a time of 1:17.1. However, there was always a car absent from the list - the almighty Bugatti Veyron. With four-digit horsepower on tap, the Veyron has the potential to be one of, if not the, fastest car to ever go 'round the Top Gear test track. Well, Top Gear finally got their hands on one and put the Stig behind the wheel to see what it could do. Did it top the Gumpert Apollo? Follow the jump to watch the video and find out. Thanks for the tip, Chad!
[Source: YouTube]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
HotRodzNKustoms 3:13PM (11/24/2008)
Several years of anticipation come crashing down in a rather anti-climatic fashion. The Bugatti's saving grace is the amazing acceleration. If Top Gear measure lap times from a more traditional flying start it would be further down the list and the lap board would look much different.
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2004m3driver 3:23PM (11/24/2008)
Meh not really, most people knew this was just a very grand tourer. Rich people know they can get a very fast car for much less, but thats not what the hyper exotic club is all about. Still nice to see that giant wing turn almost 90degrees up.
Adam Marcello 3:46PM (11/24/2008)
Totally agree 2004. This car was made to go to 250 as comfortably as possible. It looked to be rolling a good deal by supercar standards as well. A stiffened suspension might make a higher number. That wing is awesome though.
How long till a sheikh guts one and makes it a racer?
Soccer Mom 3:54PM (11/24/2008)
It wasn't designed to be The fastest track car. It is the fastest luxury car. All other supercars known to men are stripped down, bare-bones track machines. That includes Zondas, Ferraris, Lambos and countless others. Bugatti, on the other hand, offers quality ride of a limo and blazing performance of a supercar. There is no other car of this kind. It is in Top 5 (Top Gear's Top 5) in terms of performance, and it will be in Top 5 in terms of luxury. 4 others Top 5s will be at the bottom of the list when it comes to their ride comfort and interior luxury features.
Bugatti made this lap look like a walk in a part on a nice day, whether other cars worked hard to get that extra 1/10 of a second ahead of it fighting their way up the list like no tomorrow. If you are after pure driving numbers - get a go-kart. Bugatti is built for a different purpose.
RJ 4:00PM (11/24/2008)
No surprise here; just look at its Ring time - 7:40. Only two seconds better than a Z06 with 1/2 the power, and crappy Good-for-a-Year runflats.
Put PS2 Cup tires on the Vette and it'll probably run circles around the Veyron on any track.
HotRodzNKustoms 4:25PM (11/24/2008)
We all know it's a GT but if you think back to when the Top Gear presenters were voicing their opinion that the Bugatti would top the board. Scary part is when the Bugatti came out it would have had the fastest time.
UhOh 3:14PM (11/24/2008)
OH. HELL. NO.
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Tim 3:15PM (11/24/2008)
Not really surprising given its porky curb weight and the fact that it's tires need to be capable of 250 mph, thereby rendering them less than ideal on a track.
I haven't seen the Youtube clip, but on my copy of the show you can see smoke coming off the left front tire as he comes around Gambon corner indicating it was working r e a l l y hard.
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Craig 10:05PM (11/24/2008)
Did you notice the rather large dent in the sill panel on the right hand side of the Veyron? I wonder if it was chucked sideways into some of those landing lights.
Brendan 3:16PM (11/24/2008)
goes down as one of the least dramatic laps ever...
seriously the Bug made it look like a trip to the corner grocery
and then the Zonda came in sideways, squealing, smoking, and generally trying to make the Stig road kill
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Scooter 3:25PM (11/24/2008)
Absolutely! It was still an impressive lap to watch, just to see how a car that's that heavy can take those corners so effortlessly. I'm sure the Stig was still working pretty hard in there, but the fact that the car makes it look so easy, and maintains its near-perfect composure through most of the lap really shows how well-engineered it is.
In Clarkson's written review of the car a while back, he did mention how easy it was to drive, even when pushing it a bit through curves, and I think this lap is representative of that.
Golferal 4:14PM (11/24/2008)
Seconded. Every other car I've seen make the rounds whether at the hands of The Stig or not looked like it was working a lot harder.
This thing was absolutely drama free and looked spectacular every second!
Doodie 7:19PM (11/24/2008)
I am sorry guys. You are all right but, a driving enthusiast - like Clarkson said before revealing the lap time - wants drama when driving a car. It is the fact that if you are not careful that the car will punish you, is what gives me a rush when I drive fast. Think of the thrills you get watching Sam Hubinette race vs. Jeff Gordon. But if you are an oldman with brittle bones and a wallet the size of Capitol Hill, Veyron it is I guess.
Biomech 3:16PM (11/24/2008)
Everyone hoped it would absolutely own the top spot on the board, but the Top Gear Test Track has just too many turns for the Veyron. If it was a track full of fast straights then it may have been a different story. It was still one of the best episodes of Top Gear ever, even if it did end on an.. err.. bombshell. :P
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John 3:17PM (11/24/2008)
I'm still incredibly impressed with the car. over 250mph, right around 2 tons of weight, near as makes no difference 1000bhp, and all the comfort in the world. You know, I can take losing by a few tenths of a second for all that. Oh and I forgot to mention, the INCREDIBLE sound of that quad turbo W16. Its even more amazing in real life by the way.
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XJ 3:18PM (11/24/2008)
For those of us who have YouTube blocked at work, could you at least put down in text what happened "after the jump"? I hate waiting till I get home to find these things out. And yes, I'm on my break.
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Dmac 3:30PM (11/24/2008)
Spoiler Alert:
1:18.3
Still damn fast.. and it has a radio! Woohoo!
Stuka 3:31PM (11/24/2008)
It did its laptime in 1:18.2, which puts it in fourth place. There wasnt any real drama on the lap. It was all pretty clean, except for at the end it had a bit of a twitch, and smoke was coming off the front left tire around the final curve.
pmiddle5 4:38PM (11/24/2008)
5th place! It was immediately bumped by the Zonda F
Iridium 3:19PM (11/24/2008)
It is still the fastest car you could actually drive like a real car by a large margin.
It has what two tons of extra weight over a Koenig and the Apollo.
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