Bugatti Veyron (06 on) - Review

Review by Simon Harris on
Last Updated: 16 January 2009
One man's hugely expensive folly or an engineering triumph? Dreamt up by Volkswagen's then chairman Dr Ferdinand Piech, he decided the recently purchased Bugatti brand needed a flagship supercar. He announced that the new car would achieve some startling numbers. A top speed in excess of 400km/h (250mph) and over 1000bhp was promised, VW's best engineers then given the task of achieving those lofty goals. Its conception might have proved troublesome, and cost VW countless millions but the engineers achieved what many thought impossible - the Veyron 16.4 arriving, late, in 2005. It really is a moonshot car, a Concorde moment in the automotive world, its 253mph top speed and 16-cylinder, quad-turbo engine massive 1000bhp-plus output still difficult to comprehend.
4.5 out of 5

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0.5 out of 5

Running costs

With a sticker price to rival a lovely house a few cars and a boat the Veyron isn't a purchase made with costs in mind. Bugatti claims the Veyron is bought like a piece of art, customers buying simply because they can. If you've got a private jet, multi-million pound homes in the world's hot-spots and the sort of bank balance that can cope with a million Euro car purchase then you're going to have no problem running your Veyron. Even so, fuel consumption is punishing, the official combined consumption being just over 11mpg - in town that dropping to just 6.9mpg. If you're keen to go on a long high speed run you'll need to fill up the 100-litre fuel tank with 98 RON super unleaded after 12 minutes. Depreciation is still relatively unknown, used Veyrons being very rare.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

12 months.

Warranty

Two years/30,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£0.00 - £0.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

0.5 out of 5

Green credentials

Emissions summary

Low marks here - an 8.0-litre, 16-cylinder engine is never going to win over the environmental lobby. Putting your foot down in the Veyron would result in being able to measure carbon dioxide emissions in kg/mile rather than g/km. The fact that the Veyron is very rare is the only one in its favour.

Find the exact engine and CO2