Bugatti vs Man from Wolverhampton

[ranjan united]

Are you a big Bugatti Veyron fan? Are you convinced that it is the world's fastest accelerating street legal car? Annoyed of others claiming of faster cars "may" exist but don't show proof? Don't worry. Here to put an end to your misery is a .... Vauxhall !!!!

Ah, but not just any ordinary Vauxhall... its a 1993 Vauxhall Calibra !!!
Oh wait, it is an ordinary Vauxhall.
Not this baby, though.

Its got a twin turbo-charged Chevy 11.5L V8 and a nitrous injection system.
End result as of 2006:
0-60 = 1.0 second
Top Speed = 186 MPH

And now as you slowly lift your lower jaw back up to close you mouth... let it drop again. The entire car was built by Steve Pateman, a transmission repair guy, from Hitchin in Hertfordshire (close to Bedord, though I think he has now moved to Wolverhampton) and he built the car single-handedly in his work-shed, including the nitrous injection system, from scratch. As he becomes more and more famous, a few more people have jumped in to help him maintain and continue development on this mean machine. As of 2007, who knows how fast it will be accelerating. It did the 1/4 mile early this year in a earth-shaking 7.8 seconds and yet, there is scope for more improvement.

Over the years, the car cost Steve close to 100,000 pounds. So this car actually out-accelerates the Veyron and costs a quarter of the price.
And heres the real killer:
Veyron: 4 MPG
Steve's Vauxhall Calibra: 5 MPG !!!

The car is completely street legal, which means it is registered, has a license plate and is insured. Steve's best deal - since his car falls in the 1993 and pre-1993 era, its TAX-EXEMPT !!!





courtesy: Fifth Gear for featuring this car and enlightning me...
and BBC UK and MSN Auto UK for the pictures

P.S. If you liked (or disliked) the article I typed up, leave a reply with comments and suggestions. Your thoughts to a budding car journalist.

[adya33]

Nicely written article ranjan united.
And definitely a great job by Steve Pateman.

It might be fastest car but it won't be quick car around track. That is something I just so very much love about Veyron.
Plus then we get to the reliability part.
Nevertheless a great find.

[Gordon]

Impressive work that is.

Its not a production car.
The Bugatti Veyron is claimed as the fastest production car in the world.
Of course, there are other cars that may have faster top speeds, better acceleration figures - but I doubt you'll be able to live with it everyday, drive it around everyday OR most importantly enjoy the luxuries and fame that the Bugatti offers.

[Boom Shiva]

Looks like some kind of supertaxi. Brilliant if you're in a hurry eh?

[v1p3r]

Old news. Car's floating around elsewhere on the forum.

I don't mean to be a sceptic, but did you actually type all of that out, or cut-paste it? Because it's all miles, and you seem awfully familiar with the local geography of England.

[aniguchisan]

Lol @ Viper.

Since when did Veyrons start costing around £400k?

Anyway, informative article, but it's atleast a year old one these forums itself.

[naveendhyani]

good to see workshop guys in the west taking big names head on, be it any industry, they are not afraid, surely not like us

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by naveendhyani

they are not afraid, surely not like us

What makes you think we are afraid? All our engine-swap dragsters are way quicker than the quickest Indian production cars. It's a start...

[naveendhyani]

i was simply pointing out that the developments in the cottage industries in the west is way too high compared to india. did not want to offend nybody or nypractice.

[ranjan united]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

I don't mean to be a sceptic, but did you actually type all of that out, or cut-paste it? Because it's all miles, and you seem awfully familiar with the local geography of England.

Wow!!! That has to be the best compliment anyone has ever given me. So I did convince someone that perhaps the article is the work of a professional. I personally wrote out the entire article and find it awesome that somebody thought of it as a pro-job. As for England's geography; I have been to England twice every year since 1987 to 2005 (had to stop for studies sake, since I am in University now). When you have to travel that much, its best to know a bit about the place you frequent so much.
Hope to come up with more articles soon...
stay tuned for my F1 season wrap-up article featuring a Schumacher special.

[v1p3r]

My apologies, and my compliments.

[ajinkya]

@ Ranjan United

The Vauxhall Calibra may have better acceleration, but the veyron has a higher top end speed (250+ mph according to howstuffworks.com).

@adya33

If you're talking about going around a track faster, I'm pretty sure a Ferrari Enzo or a McLaren F1 (maybe with a turbo) will beat even the Veyron.


On the whole, I agree with Tiff Needell that the McLaren F1 is the most practical, supercar, with a 6 litre V-12 delivering 627 bhp.

One question: If 550 McLaren F1's were produced, does it count as a production car??? They had an output of 3 cars a month. Does that count as an assembly line??? (or production line???)

[ranjan united]

Originally Posted by ajinkya

One question: If 550 McLaren F1's were produced, does it count as a production car??? They had an output of 3 cars a month. Does that count as an assembly line??? (or production line???)

Only 100 McLarens were ever built, but it was enough to qualfy the F1 for GT (Gran Tourismo) racing championships. Any car that makes it to the GT championship can be defined as a production car, since the rules of GT states that only production cars will qualify and be allowed to enter the GT championship. I believe the current number for a car to qualify is 25 "for sale" models. As for assembly line, even with 100, it qualifies for having an assembly line.

[Shan2nu]

The Bugatti Veyron is claimed as the fastest production car in the world.

Yup, thats how it is.

I know there are many that are faster than the Veyron but none of them are stock production cars.

And then, the Vaux couldn't turn for nuts and it maxes out at 186mph.

Shan2nu

[ajinkya]

According to a Top Gear video I saw of the McLaren F1, 550 engines were ordered from BMW for the F1. That is why I assumed 550 cars were built.
If only 100 were ever made, what happened to the remaining 450 6.1 litre non-turbo V-12's? Any idea?