It was only a two-hour test, and it was lightly raining. But I got a glimpse of greatness.
First, there is a belch of turbo(s) from the Vitesse exhaust that happens each time you accelerate and ease off the pedal, like the sound of a very large, dangerous creature exhaling a large volume of air.
This gives the driver a feeling of being really “there” with the ride and each push of the pedal.
You can, and I did, rocket from zero to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds. That isn’t a world record, but the car also stops equally quickly, so if you’re on the highway and you spot Smokey, consider this – the Vitesse will accelerate to 100 mph and come to a dead stop in under 20 seconds.
It houses a 1,200 horsepower, 7.9-liter, W16 engine. That’s an increase of 199 horsepower over the Vitesse’s kid brother, the Grand Sport, and the extra oomph is achieved mainly via its four larger turbochargers.
Bugatti had also extensively reinforced all of its drivetrain components, that they might safely transfer the immense forces.
It also looks like a million bucks. No, two million. Wait – make that $2.5 million, which was the Vitesse’s sticker when it came out.
And if you’re thinking, “Nobody would ever pay that for a car!” consider that China was asking and getting a 170-percent tax on this ride, bringing its grand total for those who bought the Vitesse there to $4,250,000.
Though it’s not a large car, the front-end’s horseshoe-shaped honeycomb grille, cruel slit-eye headlights, and carved V hood give it a dangerous countenance rather than an ostentatious one.
Most people don’t know what this car is when it rolls up, just that it looks like Tony Stark is going to leap out when it comes to a stop. Its monster engine is visible at its rear.
In normal handling mode, the car is electronically limited to “only” 233 mph. Me? I got it up to 127, a snail’s pace in this ride. But at 100 mph, it felt like 40. It’s that smooth, that effortless.
And let’s not forget to talk about mileage, typically the Achilles’ heel of supercars: Most cars of this get something like 11 miles to the gallon, if that.
But the Bugatti rep who rode shotgun with me said that with all cylinders firing at a cruising speed of 55 or so miles per hour, you could squeeze out as many as 24 miles per premium gallon. Inside, the seats are sports-car snug.
Carbon fiber dominates the interior appointments, including the center console extension, the belt outlet covers on the seats, the décor on the center console, the doorinserts, and the adjoining trim on the instrument panel.
There’s also a special seat design for the Vitesse which you may or may not take to, depending on the size of your butt or length of your legs, and contrasting stitching between the seat base and the side sections enhances the two-tone leather seat covers.
Though I spent a mere two hours navigating Bugatti’s Grand Vitesse around the winding turns and twists of the back roads near Pound Ridge, New York, those 120 minutes left a deep and unique impression on the body, soul, and spirit.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
