Ferrari Mailing List: Re: BUGATTI WOW ! - (NFC)

[Fellippe Galletta (fellippe.galletta]

On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 10:26 AM, LS <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> I understand your points. But Murray's statement about not being able to
> build the F1 and Ferrari's about not being able to build the F40 again all
> are period statements. They always find a way some how...it is natural
> evolution and has a lot to do with materials technology, electronics, etc.
>
> Nobody (including VW) has put that much thought into the challenge of doing
> a McLaren F1 style car today. Murray had A/C and a CD changer in the
> original and it only weighed 2600lbs!
>
> VW took the easy way out and didn't impress anyone with the expended brain
> power. They just accepted standard practice for the difficult items (like
> weight) and counteracted with lots of complication. And, notice I didn't say
> "counteracted with lots of BHP", because that is a good thing. That
> VW powerplant is so big and heavy...a disaster. There are so many areas
> where they could shed weight and still meet all safety standards. The Veyron
> is a very lazy effort.
>
> LS


I sincerely believe that the safety regs have outpaced the Engineers in
terms of getting the weights down. Either that or it's completely down to
dimensions, which admittedly keep growing every generation of car!

We've seen HP shoot up dramatically since the early '90s, and not all of it
necessarily because of displacement. When I see $450k purpose built
supercars like the Porsche Carrera GT fail to weigh less than 3000 lbs, it
raises the question of whether the manufacturers are really lazy. Remember,
when you take away monetary design constraints from Engineers, you are
giving them exactly what they want. And if they fail, you have to ask
yourself why.

There's probably some middle ground between our arguments (i.e. dimensions),
but making a 2500 lb supercar with a 6.0 liter V12 might take awhile to make
reality.

With respect to the Bugatti Veyron, it's not so much an engineering exercise
to make the power, but perhaps to harness it and keep it from destructing.
If these cars last, I think props are due because all those radiators feel
like a recipe for trouble!

Also Clarkson pointed out that Ricardo had to engineer the transmission from
scratch as this motor is more powerful than an F1 car (wayyy more torque).
Maybe that is an overrated exercise as we have dragsters with that level of
power, but maybe it isn't.

FG